Brian?”
“Just show me his mug shot and I’ll confirm. No need to drag it out.”
Thank God he did as asked, pulled the first paper closest to him off the table, and handed it over. “This him?”
“Yes. That’s him.”
“Good.” Again he wrote something and then tucked everything away. “That’s done. Now I need you to tell me what you remember of the night in question. As I said, we have video, just need to know if you remember hearing anything. What were you able to see?”
“Not that I think it will help since she came at me from behind,” I started, and then paused to take in a deep breath and square my shoulders. Talan tapped his fingers against the skin of my lower abs to remind me he was there. To lean on him and I did, both figuratively and literally speaking. “Janice was talking to herself throughout, sounded crazed and filled with so much rage. For months—at the shop, the Halloween party at Terry and Steve’s, and when I kicked her out of our home…she’s always claimed the same thing. That I’d stolen from her. That she wanted her life back. To matter. ”
“What about—”
“Wasn’t done, Detective.” Nodding, he went back to jotting something down in his notepad while I finished. “On the first blow I was surprised, and as the seconds passed, the pain that radiated through me intensified to the point where I couldn’t breathe. The second, I fell forward and hit my head on the car door and as I hit the ground, I saw her. Our eyes met and she smiled before delivering the next to my side. That’s when Brian came in and pulled her away. They argued…I could hear them, but at that point it became a garbled mess. Sounded far. I can’t tell you what was said, but I did see them both before I closed my eyes and darkness took me under.”
Talan stiffened beneath me, his hands tightening into fists against my stomach. His breathing was labored and it took me anchoring myself over his lap to keep him seated. My hands caressed his arm, tried to soothe the beast within the man that lurked beneath the surface.
Hate was a powerful thing. Made humans macabre and cold. Deadly. My biggest fear was that he would become lost in the need to seek revenge and I lost him.
“That does help.” Gulver watched Talan, but didn’t make a single remark toward the burning waves of ire that exuded from him. “Now, back to the Halloween incident for a moment.”
“What about it?”
“Is that the party where the physical altercation happened that led to the temporary restraining order?”
“Yes. That’s where she pulled a knife on us.”
“She had an involuntary seventy-two-hour hold placed against her too. From the reports we gathered from her stay, they set her diagnosis as schizophrenic with severe depression. Add to the heady mix a massive bout of rage, and she’d become an explosive cocktail.”
“ Fuck .” came from beneath me.
“Why do you think she attacked?” Gulver asked, looking at us intently.
“Because of me,” Talan answered before I could. “We’d slept together once and she, in her delusional mind, thought that made us more than friends. It was after that one drunken night that her behavior changed. She became clingy. Pushy. Rude to the female clientele that walked through my doors.”
“So why not fire her?” By asking this one question, Gulver hit the proverbial nail on the head.
“Really good question.” Tilting my head to the side, I stared him down and waited. We’d broached many topics in the past, answered questions, but never the “purpose” of keeping her under his employment.
“It’s not that complicated, really.” Uncapping the bottle I’d drank from earlier, he took a few gulps, emptying its contents and then setting it down. Except the cap. That he flipped in the air a few times while we waited for him to finish explaining. At the annoyed look on my face, he asked, “What?”
“Wrap it up, Casanova.”
“Why are you mad?” Now he
“Just show me his mug shot and I’ll confirm. No need to drag it out.”
Thank God he did as asked, pulled the first paper closest to him off the table, and handed it over. “This him?”
“Yes. That’s him.”
“Good.” Again he wrote something and then tucked everything away. “That’s done. Now I need you to tell me what you remember of the night in question. As I said, we have video, just need to know if you remember hearing anything. What were you able to see?”
“Not that I think it will help since she came at me from behind,” I started, and then paused to take in a deep breath and square my shoulders. Talan tapped his fingers against the skin of my lower abs to remind me he was there. To lean on him and I did, both figuratively and literally speaking. “Janice was talking to herself throughout, sounded crazed and filled with so much rage. For months—at the shop, the Halloween party at Terry and Steve’s, and when I kicked her out of our home…she’s always claimed the same thing. That I’d stolen from her. That she wanted her life back. To matter. ”
“What about—”
“Wasn’t done, Detective.” Nodding, he went back to jotting something down in his notepad while I finished. “On the first blow I was surprised, and as the seconds passed, the pain that radiated through me intensified to the point where I couldn’t breathe. The second, I fell forward and hit my head on the car door and as I hit the ground, I saw her. Our eyes met and she smiled before delivering the next to my side. That’s when Brian came in and pulled her away. They argued…I could hear them, but at that point it became a garbled mess. Sounded far. I can’t tell you what was said, but I did see them both before I closed my eyes and darkness took me under.”
Talan stiffened beneath me, his hands tightening into fists against my stomach. His breathing was labored and it took me anchoring myself over his lap to keep him seated. My hands caressed his arm, tried to soothe the beast within the man that lurked beneath the surface.
Hate was a powerful thing. Made humans macabre and cold. Deadly. My biggest fear was that he would become lost in the need to seek revenge and I lost him.
“That does help.” Gulver watched Talan, but didn’t make a single remark toward the burning waves of ire that exuded from him. “Now, back to the Halloween incident for a moment.”
“What about it?”
“Is that the party where the physical altercation happened that led to the temporary restraining order?”
“Yes. That’s where she pulled a knife on us.”
“She had an involuntary seventy-two-hour hold placed against her too. From the reports we gathered from her stay, they set her diagnosis as schizophrenic with severe depression. Add to the heady mix a massive bout of rage, and she’d become an explosive cocktail.”
“ Fuck .” came from beneath me.
“Why do you think she attacked?” Gulver asked, looking at us intently.
“Because of me,” Talan answered before I could. “We’d slept together once and she, in her delusional mind, thought that made us more than friends. It was after that one drunken night that her behavior changed. She became clingy. Pushy. Rude to the female clientele that walked through my doors.”
“So why not fire her?” By asking this one question, Gulver hit the proverbial nail on the head.
“Really good question.” Tilting my head to the side, I stared him down and waited. We’d broached many topics in the past, answered questions, but never the “purpose” of keeping her under his employment.
“It’s not that complicated, really.” Uncapping the bottle I’d drank from earlier, he took a few gulps, emptying its contents and then setting it down. Except the cap. That he flipped in the air a few times while we waited for him to finish explaining. At the annoyed look on my face, he asked, “What?”
“Wrap it up, Casanova.”
“Why are you mad?” Now he
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