Another Deception Read Online Free PDF

to a man he had never seen before. He looked at him apprehensively.
    “That’s me and who might you be?”
    “Captain Davis told me I could find you back here. My name is Frank, Frank Dear, sir! I...I am your new partner.”
         He could easily tell the new ones. They always bought a new suit for the job. Cranford had to admit though that this one had good taste. Looked like a real good suit, even if he did not personally like the tie… oh well, hell, let’s get on with it.
    “You call me dear?”
    “No, sir! My last name is Dear .
    “Hmm.”
         Cranford narrowed his eyes at the much younger man. Rookie was all he could see and it ticked him off that Davis would stick him with another young, wet behind the ears, rookie! After having Purcell for so long, how was he supposed to settle for such? He sighed deeply before taking the extended hand in his for the new buddy shake. Still wondering what was wrong with the way men used to shake hands, he thought such is life, as he silently thanked God this was his last year before retiring.
    “Ok son, let’s set some boundaries right up front, so we get along and all. To me you are just a kid, but if you swear not to call me Conroy, I will not call you kid either. You are welcome to call me Cranford or some call me Roy. Either one will do. Another thing...you smoke?”
    “Uh, yes sir! Sometimes I do, sir!”
    “Drop the sir already, this is not the military and do not smoke around me. I am allergic. Got me?”
    “Yes...uh,”
    “That’s all, except...”
         Cranford searched the young man's brown face.  He felt a certain pity for him. He still remembered how innocent and enthused a person who was coming in a rookie, untarnished and unsoiled was, and he also remembered how the real truths chipped away at that innocence until the finished product was what he saw every day when he looked into a mirror. The reflection never lied and it never told secrets either. Yeah, there was pity.
    “Shift starts at eight sharp so do not be late. I won’t wait, just so you know.”
    “Yes, sir!”
         Cranford could not help but smile as he walked away. He had a lot to learn, this new guy , but he looked like a bright, intelligent young man, so he should learn fast anyway. He would try hard not to run this one off. Making retirement would be so nice! This was his third partner since Purcell...poor Purcell...poor dead Purcell. Just like that, he was back in the past, remembering. Not wanting it to, he felt it sucking him in...Like a fan in reverse until he was reliving the horror of the evil which had taken Purcell's life and would have his too, if he was not careful.
         He went back to his office and did due diligence on his new partner. He shook his head when he read that the man was twenty-nine and his honors through the academy were exemplary, though the last few years were a bit sketchy. Rookie hell, the guy was a bloody genius!
         Cranford mused over the file for a while and after satisfying himself that the match may not be a bad one after all, he was actually thinking it was nice in one aspect to have a younger partner. They had more energy and they always wanted to please their superiors…well, at first anyway. He laughed, thinking about the last partner he ran off by his ridiculous demands. Maybe he would go a little easier on this one… just need to make the year out…
         The phone rang, startling him from his thoughts and answering it, he responded to the person on the other end with,
    “Be right there!”
         Another sore spot and reason for Cranford’s early retirement was he had been passed over again for the empty captain slot made available a few months earlier. It was the third time and another slap in his face, when the department brought yet another outsider in to fill the job that obviously he would never get.
         Making his way to the boss’s office, he knocked on the door.
    “Come on in! Cranford,