Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
The officer Langston had called Mike narrowed his gaze. ‘We got told there was an intruder, some violent guy with a knife trying to kill people.’
‘That would be me.’ Langston opened his arms outwards, and both officers’ expressions widened in surprise.
‘What the hell ?’ the one he’d called Jerry exclaimed. ‘Sam, what’s going on?’
‘Sam, this was put out as a highest-level emergency,’ Mike said, sounding angry now. ‘I had a shoplifter I had to turn loose because of the priority level of this call . And you’re telling me it was, what, a – a…’ He threw both hands up, flummoxed. ‘Well, what is it ? Because I know you’d never be stupid enough to pull a damn prank call!’
‘Well…’ Jerry tilted his head to one side, giving them a meaningful look. ‘There was that one time.’
‘Oh, come on !’ Langston exclaimed.
‘Jesus, we were fifteen , Jerry!’ Mike said, joining him. ‘Are you the same idiot you were at fifteen? Actually, don’t answer that.’ He shot Jerry a filthy look.
‘I’ll remember that, Jerry,’ Langston said accusingly. ‘Next time I’m talking to your wife. You wait.’
Jerry opened his arms wide, a slightly panicked smile on his face. ‘Aw, come on, guys, I wasn’t serious …’
‘ Shut up , Jerry,’ Mike ordered, annoyance still sharpening his tone.
‘Yeah, let Mike think, Jerry ,’ Langston said, a trace of amusement in his voice now as he stepped back and folded his arms over his chest. He turned his gaze to meet Kate. ‘He’s still tryin’a figure out what’s going on here.’
‘Which is ?’ Mike asked him exasperatedly.
‘Beats me,’ Langston answered. His casual shrug and easy half smile were at odds with his intense glare. ‘I got back into town this morning and ended up crashing my truck, when some crazy tourist decided to stop in the middle of an intersection ,’ he began.
Kate let out an affronted gasp at the unfair spin he’d put on the event and glared back, but kept quiet, still not exactly sure what was happening here.
‘You stop?’ Mike asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Langston – or Sam, as it appeared was his first name – gave a scornful look that clearly said, Come on, who cares about stop signs? Mike shrugged back as if to say, Well that’s your own fault then, buddy .
‘Well, that wasn’t the end of my karmic kick up the ass for it,’ Sam continued verbally. ‘Squad car rolled out from behind the bushes and there was my old friend Healy .’
‘ Damn ,’ Jerry said with a low whistle.
‘I wasn’t in the best mood,’ Sam admitted. ‘So he managed to book me.’
‘Ahh, he’ll dine out on that for months ,’ Mike said with disgust.
‘Yep.’ Sam took a deep breath in and released it slowly, his deep blue eyes still boring into Kate’s.
The jittery panic in her chest heightened, and she looked away, wondering why she suddenly felt like she was the person in the wrong. She definitely wasn’t , she reminded herself. She was the victim here.
‘I got out about an hour ago,’ Langston continued. ‘So I finally came home, took off my jacket, walked in here to?—’
‘This isn’t your home!’ Kate blurted out, jumping on the lie like a lifeline. ‘ You don’t live here .’
‘ What ?’ he asked, seemingly shocked.
‘Lady, he lives here ,’ Mike replied, looking at her like she was insane.
‘No, he doesn’t! This house is – was – Cora and William Moreaux’s house. I have no idea where you live, but it’s not – it’s – it’s…’
She trailed off as her brain suddenly connected the fact that these cops had known him since adolescence, to the probability of them knowing where he lived. She bit her lip grimly and eyed him warily.
‘You live here ?’ she asked slowly.
He nodded.
‘Who are you?’ she asked with a frown. ‘Who were you to?—’
‘Who is he ?’ Mike almost yelled in disbelief. ‘Lady, who in the hell are you ? You come in here and stir up all sorts of crazy and then ask him who he is?’
There was a crackling noise, and a voice on the end of the police radio asked the officers to report in. Jerry walked out of the room to reply.
‘I-I’m the lawyer,’ Kate stuttered, feeling like a complete fool. ‘I didn’t know you existed,’ she said to Sam, hearing how lame that sounded as the words came out. ‘No one told me…’
‘Ahh, of course .’ Realisation dawned on Mike’s face. ‘I completely forgot.’ He turned to Sam. ‘You’ve been away. You won’t have seen the paper.’
‘The paper ?’ Sam asked blankly.
‘Yeah, I, um…’ He rubbed his stubble awkwardly. ‘You know what, it doesn’t matter. She’s legit. Cora left instructions for her lawyer to stay here while sorting everything. The rest ain’t important,’ he replied quietly.
Sam studied her with an uncertain frown. Kate cleared her throat and straightened up, trying to appear in control – which was no easy task, standing as she was in cocoa-stained pyjamas with bare feet and a bright red nose.
‘Look, I think we started out on the wrong foot,’ she said resentfully. ‘Not that you can blame me for jumping to conclusions. I was simply following the road laws, like I should , and then after nearly killing us both, you were very aggressive and rude.’
‘ Aggressive ? Lady, rude, you can have, but the rest couldn’t even be classed as full-blown irritation,’ Sam retorted.
‘Well, it is where I come from,’ Kate replied.
‘Well, you ain’t in Kansas anymore, Dorothy,’ he exclaimed. ‘And I have to say, I find it hard to believe my annoyance at wrapping my truck around a tree offended the delicate sensibilities of a woman who, not ten minutes ago, threatened to wrap a bat around my head.’
Kate felt the heat rush to her cheeks.
Jerry walked back in quietly.
‘Yes, well, obviously I had to try something ,’ she argued . ‘Like I’d stand a chance if you had decided to go for me. I mean, look at the size of you.’ She gestured to his broad muscular physique. ‘Imagine being five-foot-three in a town you don’t know, and then after the encounter we shared this morning, finding that guy downstairs , late at night, holding a knife.’ She gave him an accusatory stare. ‘And as if that wasn’t already reason enough to assume you had bad intentions, you’re hardly putting out choirboy vibes, either.’
‘What does that mean?’ he asked.
‘Oh, come on . The crazy hair and beard and…’ She stopped abruptly mid-flow, not wanting to be rude herself, but she didn’t quite stop her gaze quickly enough, and he caught her glance at his dirty rumpled clothes.
‘Wow.’ He nodded and leaned back on the counter. ‘OK.’
She tried to cover. ‘I just mean, your shirt, it’s buttoned wrong. And – and – alright fine ,’ she sighed. ‘You look pretty dishevelled. You can’t exactly blame me for noticing that, considering everything else.’ She shrugged unapologetically.
Sam just watched her silently.
Mike looked Sam up and down. ‘You do look like crap right now,’ he agreed apologetically. ‘And you could do with a bath.’ He leaned in and lowered his voice. ‘With all due respect, my friend, you stink .’
‘I’m aware,’ Sam replied. ‘And that had been the plan. You know I wouldn’t usually be around other people while I’m in need of a shower and clean clothes, but then I lost my truck’ – he took a couple of steps towards Kate – ‘and an entire day to a jail cell. And then I get home, and I’m jumped in my kitchen by a complete stranger.’ His glare simmered. ‘A stranger who’s moved into my house without my knowledge or permission , and who not only tried to have me arrested for the second time today, but who had the audacity to threaten me with my own baseball bat – which, by the way, lawyer girl , is not steel, it’s aluminum ,’ he told her witheringly. ‘And now , Mike, as we enter the last hour of this forest fire of a day, this British bee sting to the ass insults my appearance, too.’ Finishing his angry list of grievances, Sam eyed Kate with a hard stare.
Mike nodded and patted Sam’s shoulder.
‘Well…’ Kate exhaled heavily through her nose. British bee sting to the ass, indeed .
She knew, reasonably, that the best thing to do right now was just concede and apologise for the sake of peace. But after all she’d been through today, Sam’s attitude had burrowed right underneath her skin, and she ignored the pleading angel tugging on her shoulder.
‘ No , you know what, I sympathise with your shitty day. I do . But I’m not sorry,’ she told him. ‘I’m not apologising for a damn thing. You brought this morning on yourself. And maybe if you hadn’t been such a jerk , I wouldn’t have assumed you were here to kill me tonight.’
The devil on her other shoulder jumped with glee as the angel sat down and gave up. Kate held Sam’s gaze stubbornly, and the room fell into silence until Jerry broke it with a casually loaded question.
‘She’s a complete stranger, you said, Sam?’ One side of his mouth hitched in a hint of a smile.
A slow grin spread across Sam’s face. ‘I did indeed. You always were good with details, Jerry.’
Mike chuckled. ‘The best, ’ he agreed.
Kate’s eyes darted warily around the group as she realised where they were going with this. ‘I’m a lawyer ,’ she reminded them strongly. ‘ Cora’s lawyer. I’m supposed to be here, and you know it.’
Mike pulled out his cuffs. ‘Do you know that, Sam?’
‘No, I do not,’ he replied, watching the proceedings with open amusement now.
‘ Yes, you do ,’ Kate argued. ‘For God’s sake, this is ridiculous . I’m in my pyjamas for crying out loud.’
‘Not the best choice of outfit for a break-in, huh?’ Sam quipped, clearly enjoying himself.
‘Turn around please, ma’am,’ Mike said.
‘I’m not turning around,’ she said irritably. ‘And I haven’t broken into anything . I’m allowed to be here, and I have proof.’
‘What proof?’ Mike asked.
‘The contract,’ she replied, getting her confidence back as his visibly lessened. ‘It states very clearly that Cora wanted me here whilst sorting the details of her estate.’
Mike scratched his head and looked back at Sam.
‘Does it name you personally?’ Jerry piped up.
Kate narrowed her eyes. Jerry was becoming a real pain in the ass.
‘It instructs the lawyer in charge of their account, which is me ,’ she replied icily.
He smiled. ‘And who can officially confirm that’s you, Kate?’
‘I can show you emails?—’
‘Emails can be faked,’ Jerry said. ‘No, we’re going to need a senior representative of the firm to confirm you are who you say you are before we can accept your story. None of us have ever seen you before. For all we know, you could be one of those con artists we hear stories about from that big city of yours.’ Jerry exaggeratedly changed his accent. ‘This is a small town, ma’am, and we’re simple folk. We gotta be careful of strangers now, so you’ll need to come with us until this is all cleared up. But don’t you worry – someone will look into this just after nine tomorrow. Contact your boss for you. Now, will you be needing a lawyer while you’re staying with us?’ he asked, not quite hiding his grin.
‘ Nice ,’ Kate said sarcastically. ‘Good one, Jerry. OK, you guys have had your fun and made your point. Let’s just move on now and start over.’
‘Oh, I don’t think so, lawyer girl,’ Sam replied with a low chuckle. ‘Take this intruder away, boys. But be careful now. I think she may be crazy. What with breaking into my house in her nightwear and with her hair all wild like that.’ He grinned, taking great pleasure in turning the tables on her.
Kate narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head.
Sam gave her an exaggerated shrug. ‘Sorry. But between that and the threats with the bat, you can see how I’ve reached this assumption, I’m sure.’
‘Turn around,’ Mike ordered.
‘Seriously?’ Kate exclaimed, raising her knotted brows in disbelief. ‘Mike, come on. You’re a police officer. Surely you take your job more seriously than this?’
‘Oh, I do take it seriously. And you cost me a perfectly good shoplifter. Now turn around,’ he ordered, his tone brooking no nonsense.
Kate’s mouth dropped open, but she complied, knowing she couldn’t afford to be cited for resisting arrest. ‘This is ridiculous ,’ she repeated furiously as Mike cuffed her.
‘ Hey , you’re lucky I haven’t booked you for wasting police time,’ he snapped. ‘I’m only not because I believe you really did think Sammy here was coming for you, and I know you can’t afford that on your record, but don’t push me or I will.’
‘You’re wasting your own time if you actually go through with this,’ she responded. ‘And you’ll waste more of it still after I report this baseless arrest tomorrow, I assure you .’
‘Try it if you like; you won’t get far,’ Mike told her. ‘Jerry’s the detail king. He’ll have all the Ts crossed and Is dotted on the paperwork by morning. Go get her coat and shoes, Sam.’
Kate twisted to look back over her shoulder and saw him walk out of the room. They were really going to do this, she realised. They were actually going to make her spend the night in jail!
Sam arrived back and draped her coat over her shoulders, before dropping her new snow boots to the floor. The smile on his face pushed Kate over the edge.
‘You’re going to regret this,’ she seethed, the lid popping off her anger as it boiled over. ‘I am not kidding, Sam. This is so far beyond the line it’s a bloody dot in the distance !’
Mike propelled her forward with a tut. ‘Come on – let’s go.’
‘Don’t worry, Kate,’ Sam called after them, echoing her earlier words as she was led away to the squad car. ‘You’ll have many hours to look back and regret what an epic, epic mistake you made tonight.’