Chapter Fourteen.
April
Fuck. I’d really screwed up. Stone was implacable in his thoughts and words. However, I wasn’t totally to blame; he had to accept some of the responsibility.
“Look, can you at least see my point of view?”
Stone’s jaw clenched. “What do you believe I’m doing? I’m sitting here listening instead of cutting you loose.”
Stone’s comments stung and hurt. Wrestling my temper, I spoke calmly.
“Thanks for nothing. Do you think it’s easy to rely on you, Stone, to take a risk again?
Every time we get close, I see Chelsea fucking you.
That’s your fault, not mine. Damn you for putting that picture in my head, because no matter what I do, it doesn’t fade.
I’m trying to build trust. I asked you out, remember?
That’s not because I wanted to punish anyone.
Blame me all you want, but walk in my shoes.
Imagine you walked in and saw… I don’t know…
Smokey going down on me, how would you feel? ”
Stone flinched. “I’d hate it, but I wouldn’t live in that moment. April, you asked me out. If you can’t move on, why did you?”
“I’m trying to! Just give me time. Is that too big an ask?”
“How much time, April? Is this even worth the grief?” Stone shot back, and I recoiled.
“Stop driving, I’ll call for an Uber,” I whispered.
“April…”
“Pull over, Stone, now!”
Stone glowered but did as I asked. Distraught, I bit out, “I’m trying.
Ten years of hurt don’t go away overnight.
You scarred me, Stone. For a decade, I thought you cheated because I was the fat girl.
Chelsea was stunning, and I wasn’t. Chelsea was slim, and I was overweight.
You had lots of friends, and I was a loner.
Hell, Chelsea was popular, and I was the weird friend.
Sit there and be judgmental, Stone; that doesn’t reflect on me but on you.
“You did the damage and now think that it’s easy to put a decade of self-doubt, pain, and lack of confidence aside and move on. Fuckin’ move on? Guess what? You’re right. Is this even worth it? Honestly, I don’t know why I thought we could start again. You’re just as arrogant as ever!”
With that, I got out and fled. Luckily, we’d not driven that far, and I knew where we were. Quickly, I walked away and called an Uber. Stone could go fuck himself.
Harlequin
Shit, that had gone bad very quickly. April’s words hurt, and I felt the urge to chase after her, but my mood had worsened.
Margrave was making me vile, and April’s comments stung as well.
When April slapped me in the face with her self-doubt, I wanted to shake her and force her in front of a mirror.
If I could make April see herself like I saw her, I would.
Only time would convince April of her self-value.
But that was on me. I’d destroyed her in the worst way possible.
Even though it had been done with the best intentions, it was handled the wrong way.
My temper was dire when I arrived at Margrave’s. In a blatant show of assholery, I parked straight outside the house and got out of my car. I leaned back against my door and stared directly at it. An hour later, an older woman passed by walking a dog.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
She peered as Margrave finally appeared in his doorway. “You’ve been standing here a while.”
“Yup. See, this fucker is lying about a teenage girl’s disappearance? You got grandchildren, ma’am? Keep them away from this guy,” I said.
“You can’t say shit like that!” Margrave exploded.
The cocky, confident asshole was gone. I’d done something he’d not expected: confronted him outside his home. Around us, curtains rustled, and a few people in their front yards looked over.
“What? I can’t tell the truth that you claimed to see a missing girl leaving the library, and yet the library was shut that day? Think again, asshole. Your neighbours need to know to keep their kids safe!” I called back loudly.
“I’m calling the cops!” Margrave yelled.
“Go ahead. They want to talk to you about the discrepancies in your statement, too! Detective Emilio Hawthorne has been chasing your sorry ass down for a couple of days. Been ignoring Lio’s calls, have ya?”
Okay, so this wasn’t exactly standard PI tactics, but I was pissed.
“Shut up! I never lied!”
“No? How can you have seen Julie Rogers leave the library when it was closed? Come on, asshole, answer that!” I demanded.
“Told you I got the days confused!” Margrave was flustered as people came out and stared openly. “This guy is insane! He’s a bully! The cops are coming.”
“If the days mixed up, how did you know what Julie was wearing when she disappeared?” I challenged. “Your neighbours need to be aware of the danger in the neighbourhood.”
“You put a tracking device on my car. That’s illegal.”
“You found it then,” I drawled. “And thought it would be funny to drive to random places and fuck with me, knowing a teenage girl was missing. The time I wasted on you playing your stupid fuck-ass games could have been used finding Julie. Do you even give a shit a kid’s missing?”
I caught the telltale flick of Margrave’s eyes. My gut was right. This fucker knew more than he was letting on.
“Shut up!” Margrave yelled as the neighbours began muttering.
“This guy telling the truth, Margrave?” a burly man called from across the street.
“No!”
“Yes! Look up Julie Rogers. She went missing six months ago. This asshole claims he saw Julie leaving the library, but it was closed that day. Do your own research; don’t take my word for it.”
Men and women began whipping out their phones and searching. I remained in place as Margrave shouted for me to fuck off. The muttering rose amongst the neighbours.
“What do you know about this girl?” the guy yelled.
“Nothing! And I’m not explaining myself to anyone!” Margrave stormed back inside and slammed the door.
“Is Walter really a predator?” a woman asked.
“Can’t say, ma’am, but Margrave’s story has more holes than a sieve.”
A black and white pulled around the corner and parked up close. I nodded at the cops as they paused, recognising me.
“Harlequin, what’s going on? We’ve had a complaint of a public disturbance, harassment, and slander,” Jaggers said, approaching.
“Probably all true. Speak to Lio, he knows what this is about,” I replied.
“Julie Rogers. I took that asshole’s statement,” Jaggers stated with a scowl. “I fucked up, missed the fact that the library was shut that day.”
“You weren’t the only one, Jaggers; the detectives did too.”
“Well, Margrave’s presence is required at the station for an interview. Harlequin, I might have to take you in.”
I smirked at Jaggers and grinned. “Wouldn’t be surprised. Think I broke every rule in the PI book.”
His partner looked at Jaggers. “I’ll follow your lead.”
“Harlequin. This is Bruce Willis; he’s transferred here from Los Angeles,” Jaggers introduced.
“No fuckin’ way,” I gasped.
“You’ve no idea how much shit I’ve taken for that film,” Willis said with a grin.
“Dude, you got my sympathies.”
“Why are you talking to that criminal? I phoned in the complaint!” Margrave screeched.
Jaggers grinned. “This is going to give me the greatest pleasure. Mr Magrave,” he called and headed towards Margrave quickly.
Moments later, Margrave was cursing and kicking up a fuss, and Jaggers slapped handcuffs on him. I kept grinning as Jaggers marched him down the path and to the black-and-white.
“Jaggers asked Margraves to come to the station and talk about his statement. Margraves, as you saw, wasn’t responsive to that request. Completely unnecessary to push an officer of the law,” Willis remarked as he passed by. I laughed, and Margrave scowled.
“If that little bitch isn’t dead, I hope she will be when you find her,” he snarled. I launched off the car, and Jagger blocked me as Willis managed to get Margrave inside before I got my hands on him.
“Back off, Harlequin, now! Margrave wants this, wants you arrested. That means he gets out on bail, and if he has Julie…” Jaggers didn’t need to finish.
I bared my teeth at the shrinking Margrave, who still wore a smirk. I leaned past Jaggers. “You and I are about to become joined at the hip, buddy,” I threatened, and Margrave began shrieking.
“Walk away. I’ll let you know when the asshole’s released,” Jaggers promised. I nodded. Margrave was about to encounter hell on earth, and I was going to send him there.
◆◆◆
“What the fuck did you do?” Slaughter demanded as I arrived back at the office.
“Why?” I demanded on the defensive immediately.
“Harlequin, don’t mess with me.”
“Okay, I might have overstepped a bit.”
“A fuckin’ bit?” Slaughter roared.
“Maybe a lot. I don’t care. That fucker knows where Julie is, he’s playing games. If Julie’s alive, I’ll find her. If Margrave killed Julie, then I’m going to send him personally to hell,” I shouted.
Marie made a squeaking noise, and we both glanced down.
“It’s okay,” Slaughter soothed, and Marie bobbed her head up and down. “Office now, asshole.”
I followed Slaughter into his office and had barely shut the door when he pinned me with a gimlet eye. “What the fuck is going on, Harlequin?”
“Margrave knows where Julie is, and my gut is telling me time’s running out,” I replied.
“So, you confront him publicly? Stand outside his house and yell accusations?”
“Yup. I needed Margrave rattled; fucker’s too calm and is playing mindfuck games. Now neighbours are watching, and the cops have taken him in to talk about his bullshit statement. Margrave’s on edge, which is where I wanted him.”
“And what if this guy is just a fuckin’ weirdo and you’re persecuting him?” Slaughter shot back.
I opened my mouth to reply and then shut it again. Deep down, I searched my feelings before shaking my head. “Nope. I’m one hundred and ten per cent certain Margrave’s guilty.”