Citizen Driscoll

Terry Thorne had been in this town for months now and he barely got to know anyone. He was pretty tired of spending his nights alone but that’s the price one pays for hooking up with a professional woman. Doctors rarely had time, or so it seemed to him anyway. M was down in Sydney doing yet another update on cranial injuries or pediatric emergencies or something like that

It’s not that he wasn’t interested in her work. He barely had time to talk to her about it. Whatever the case may be, he wasn’t going to spend another night defrosting a prepared meal and sitting in front of the telly. One of Millie’s specials and a few G and T’s sounded good to him right now. Maybe he could hook up with some of the blokes for a game of darts or something, if he was lucky.

When he walked into the pub it was pretty quiet. There was one young bloke sitting at the corner of the bar but he didn’t seem like he was up for any convo.

Fuck it! Terry thought as he moved to the stool next to the young man. He wanted company and his only victim would either have to put up or deal.

"Hey, mate, "Terry said as he adjusted the stool under him. He motioned to Millie for a draught. "Never saw you before. My names Thorne." Terry extended his hand to the younger man.

East took the proffered hand in a firm grasp. "Driscoll. Ain’t been out much. I’m working over at the Meridus station and I don’t get out much."

"Me either, "Terry replied "But my reasons are different.

"Don’t reckon I should ask, eh?"

"Naw, mate ." Terry replied. "It’s complicated. Anyway, buy you a drink?"

"Never turned one down in my life."

Terry motioned for Millie again. She set the glass down that she was cleaning and walked over, placing a hand on her back to adjust for the discomfort her pregnancy brought on.

"You two guys are our only customers tonight. The whole town must be holed up and buzzing over the murder. I hear the sheriff got the son of a bitch today though."

East set his glass down hard. He really was out of the loop but what Millie just said explained a lot to him but it didn’t clear his mind from what he saw.

"What’s up, mate? Terry asked, noticing the man’s distress. "You know the girl?"

East shook his head. "Naw but I saw what went down today. Reckon I was in the wrong place at the wrong time but I saw that bloke grab Ahnna then I saw the sheriff put his lights out with one shot."

Millie covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my God. You mean the man is dead?"

"Caught and shot by the sounds of it." Terry added "Mate, maybe you should let the sheriff’s department know what you saw. There’ll be a lot of questions for Biebe and it might make the load lighter if he had another witness."

"I don’t want no part of this. "

Millie placed a drink in front of East then she patted his hand. "You have to do what’s right, East. We have to stand up for our sheriff. He’s a good man."

Terry agreed. "She’s right mate. So East is your first name, eh? You can call me Terry. First names makes us friends. I’ll go with you if you like. I’ll take you to the sheriff’s office.

East shrugged. "Alright, Terry. I’ll let em know I saw it all."

He was nervous about doing this but he was growing to love this town. Maybe it was about time he became an upstanding citizen.