Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
GRANT
I t’s 7 am and the cops are at my front door. Not exactly the wake up call I wanted but I know why they’re here. Holly no doubt let them know we were moving locations. If I hear the words “flight risk” come out of their mouths I won't be surprised.
“Mr. Stone. Good morning. How are you?”
“Doing just fine, Officer…” I look at them and there's no badge because they’re plainclothes but they rush to answer me.
“Lawrence, Detective Lawrence.” He’s a man in his sixties, brown hair and brown eyes with the kind of build that tells me he works out even if he’s older. He’s broad-shouldered and looks like he might be able to keep up with me for a minute or so in a flat sprint, if needed. All-in-all, not bad.
I shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, Detective Lawrence.”
“Wish it was under better circumstances,” he says and then motions for his partner to step forward. “This is Detective Torrence.”
A woman with curly brown hair and blue eyes steps forward to take my hand. She’s younger than Lawrence, maybe mid-thirties. She could definitely keep up in a run if she needed to. I remember that. I can’t be sloppy with these two sniffing around, no matter how much the target is asking for it.
“Good morning, Mr. Stone. We’re sorry to hear about the recent events surrounding your stay at Elysium Sol but we will get to the bottom of this.” We shake hands and her eyes go over my shoulder and into the cabin. The curtains are all pulled and we’ve got as many lights on as we can to try and give it less of a depressive feel as possible.
“It’s cozy, stop worrying,” Kit had said that morning over our coffee but it didn’t change the fact that I hated having to shut my girl up because of some fucker running rampant.
I step back from the door and open it wider. “Please come on in.”
“Thank you.” Detective Torrence leads the way in and points with a pen at the living room. “Cozy,” she says in an echo of Kit’s words, but Detective Torrence’s wasn’t reassuring me. She’s pointing out the closed curtain situation without so many words. It’s a beautiful day out, sun bright and the birds singing. We should have the windows open—any normal person would, but we aren’t normal. Not by a long shot.
“Cozy is the added benefit of keeping stalkers from getting a clear shot at Kit,” I tell her as I shut the door behind the detectives. “We’ve been doing what we can to give them as little access as possible to her.”
“Odd that they’re interested in her and not you, isn’t it?” she asks and I keep my smile benign. She’s pulling on a thread, one that I can already tell has her zeroing in on Kit. My girl is a saint but that doesn’t mean I want her being looked at by the fucking cops.
“There’s nothing much interesting about me. She’s the talented one.”
Detective Torrence taps her pen on the notepad she’s just pulled out and nods. “Yeah, she even went to Harvard. That’s quite impressive.”
“It is. Harvard was lucky to have her. We’re proud of her,” I say and it’s true. Rafe and I know our girl is brilliant.
“Not a lot of family, though,” Detective Lawrence adds.
“We’re all the family she needs,” Rafe declares as he strides into the room and looks at both of the detectives with a frosty smile. “I didn’t quite catch your names.”
“Detective Torrence and Detective Lawrence,” I tell him and nod to the pair. “They’re here to do some questioning.”
“We never said we were here for that,” Detective Torrence corrects and I nod.
“My mistake.” I tell them and make for the kitchen. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee. Would either of you like some?”
“No thank you,” Detective Torrence says, cutting off her partner who had started to speak. I file that away. Torrence wears the badge when it comes to the pair of them.
“If you’re not here for questioning and you’re not here for coffee then what are you here for?” Rafe asks. I smirk as I leave the room but the second I enter the kitchen, I stop short. Kit is there. She already has a cup of coffee in hand and is staring past me to the living room with wide eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing, I-I just thought I would feel different once the cops were here,” she tells me. Kit takes a quick sip from her coffee mug and leans back against the counter. “I should go meet them.”
I fill up my cup of coffee and get one ready for Rafe. “You don’t have to do a thing you don’t want to do. Nobody likes cops.”
‘They said they’re detectives.”
“Same thing. They suck ass, so don’t worry about not feeling happy to see them. You can stay here if you want. They can’t say anything about it.”
“But what if they ask to talk to me?” Kit asks. There’s worry on her perfect face. Her brow is pinched and her hands are shaking. I hate that she looks so concerned. I reach out and smooth my finger across her brow, my touch chasing away the worry. When she looks at me, I see the trust in her eyes.
She’s looking to me for answers. She needs me to tell her what to do next.
“They can’t force you to talk to them without a warrant. They just said some bullshit about not being here for questioning. If you don’t want to talk to them, you don’t have to. Rafe and I can handle them.”
Kit nods, but she doesn’t look away from me. “I’ll talk to them.”
“Y’sure?”
“Yes. I can do it. I’m ready to talk to them.” She moves past me and she looks like she’s going to war. There’s a hard edge to her eyes that I haven’t seen before but I catch her by her shoulder and turn her to look at me.
“If you want the conversation to end, it ends. Remember, that’s all it is.”
“A conversation. I like that.” She gives me a small smile. “I can do that.”
“You can.”
We enter the living room together and both detectives’ attention is instantly on Kit. “Hi there. How are you both?” Kit asks and gives them a warm smile. She sounds like she’s talking to old friends, not a pair of detectives. I rub her back encouragingly and Kit follows me to the couch where Rafe is lounging.
He looks bored but when I see his eyes flash, I know he’s pissed. I get it. I don’t want them here, either.
“Kit, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Mr. Burdock here was just telling us about the particulars of your,” she pauses and I see the look she gives Kit before glancing between me and Rafe, “ah, your arrangement .”
“Like I told you, it’s not an arrangement. It’s a relationship, Detective Torrence.” Rafe catches Kit around her waist and brings her down beside him. “That for me?” he asks me. I’d normally give him shit but not right now, because I understand now why Rafe is so pissed off.
I hand him his coffee and turn to face off against the detectives while Detective Torrence clears her throat. “Right, your, ah, relationship, as it were. It’s very unique, wouldn't you agree?”
Kit blushes and fiddles with her coffee cup. “Aren’t all relationships unique?”
That’s my girl. She’s doing good. I stand behind her and rub her shoulder encouragingly.
“Yes. Yours more so than most, wouldn't you agree, Kit? You’re dating Hollywood’s hottest stars. A dream come true for so many people. Yet you’re the object of attention for the people following you. They’re sending you photos, trespassing to do it, if I’m not mistaken. The photos you received from–what was it?” She looks down at her notepad but her partner speaks.
“The glass roof of their bedroom.”
“That’s right. I’d say, whoever is following you cares an awful lot about you and where you are, Kit. That’s something I don’t understand, with Mr. Stone and Mr. Burdock being right here with you and yet not targets. What you have going on has raised a lot of eyebrows. Dating two men isn’t normal, Kit. You think that has something to do with why this person has taken an interest in you?”
“It’s Ms. Salazar,” I say.
Both detectives look at me in surprise.
Detective Torrence looks like the floor has dropped out from under her. I’m glad. “What? I-”
“I thought you might want to know, since you’ve been calling her by her first name but not Rafe or I. There a reason you haven’t been doing the same with Kit?”
“We didn’t mean any disrespect,” Detective Lawrence says. He gives us a smile and raises his hands like he’s trying to smooth things over. “We know it can be intimidating for witnesses to be addressed formally. That’s why we’ve been more casual with Kit.” I narrow my eyes at him and the man has the good sense to stumble over his words. “Ah, Ms. Salazar.”
“It’s okay, really.” Kit puts a hand on Rafe’s arm and looks back to smile up at me. “I promise it’s fine. Please keep calling me Kit. Ms. Salazar is my mom. The detectives here are just trying to help us find who did this, right?” The last part she directs to the detectives.
“That’s right. We want to know who is following you”
“And Jane? You’ll find her, too. Have you heard anything about her?” Kit presses.
“We have been looking for Jane as well. These incidents are never easy for anyone but we will do our best.”
“I’m worried about her.”
“Completely understandable. Can you tell us why you took the walk when you did?” Detective Lawrence asks, taking over the line of questioning.
“When I woke up, I couldn’t find Rafe or Grant. I went for a walk then because I knew they normally wouldn’t let me. I didn’t know the woods so I got lost really fast.”
“And that’s when the search parties came upon you? When you got lost in the circle of blood?”
“I didn’t know it was blood,” Kit says quietly, taking a sip of her coffee. “It was too dark for me to tell.”
“It wasn’t blood, not really,” Detective Lawrence goes on and looks at his partner. “When the lab reports came back they found that it wasn’t real blood. It was fake. You already know that, don't you, Kit?”
“Yeah, Holly told us,” Kit says and edges closer to Rafe. I can feel her, stiff as a board under my hand and I give the detective a warning look. “Why would the blood be fake? I mean, where is Jane then?”
“That, we don’t know. But whatever the motive is, it has to do with you.”
Kit’s eyes widen and she shakes her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. I didn’t know Jane before any of this. I don’t know who would want to hurt her and follow me.”
“We think it’s Jane,” Detective Torrence tells Kit gently.
“ What ? Why would she do that?”
The detective lifts a shoulder. “People do all kinds of things that make no sense. She could have gotten jealous about what you have going on here with-” she stops and clears her throat before continuing, “with your relationship. Sometimes, jealousy can create fixation. Jane having a hand in this isn’t out of the realm of possibility.”
“I don’t think that’s true. She wouldn’t do that,” Kit says. “I didn’t know her well but she was always so kind and respectful. She wouldn't do this.”
“That remains to be seen. Until then, we’ll keep looking.”
“And what, exactly, are you doing here then? This isn’t a questioning, right? You’re just here to spend the morning with us when you should be doing some of that looking. Why is that?” Rafe snaps. He’s being an asshole. I’m glad.
“It’s on our agenda to speak with any and all witnesses from that night. Given Kit’s delicate situation, this is part of doing that work, Mr. Burdock.”
Rafe scoffs and takes a sip of his coffee. He doesn’t say anything else but I can tell he wants to, so I speak.
“You’ve spoken to us. Seeing as we’re about to leave for our new accommodations, is there anything else we can answer for you?” I ask.
“Your relationship with each other…” Detective Torrence begins.
I sigh. “Is entirely private. Any other questions?”
“No, that’s all. Thank you for your time this morning. We will need to know your new address in case there’s any developments.”
“We’ll have our people in touch with the details.” Rafe nods and raises his coffee cup in a salute.
“If you think of anything else, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to let us know. You can reach us here,” Detective Lawrence says and hands Kit a card. She takes it but I notice how her hand shakes as she does.
“Thank you. I-well, you’ll be the first to know if anything happens,” she tells them. When the detectives leave, I lock the door behind them and we’re all silent for thirty seconds. I hear Detective Lawrence and Detective Torrence’s feet on the porch steps before they’re gone. It’s only when I’m sure they’ve moved along the trail that I turn to face Kit and Rafe
“That was a lot,” Kit says.
“It was bullshit,” Rafe mutters.
“What was that shit about our relationship?” I ask.
“Dunno. You’ll have to ask them. That Torrence was really focused on it. She said some shit while you were in the kitchen,” Rafe tells us. “Asked how we came to be in our arrangement . She kept calling it that.”
Kit touches his knee. “Some people just don’t get it.”
“She asked if we took turns sleeping in the bed together. Like it was some sex cult shit. I told her no, obviously not, considering the photos had all three of us in it. She shut the fuck up then.”
“I’d join your sex cult any day,” Kit tells him and kisses his cheek.
“You already have, haven’t you?” I ask, joining them on the couch.
Kit laughs and nods. “I guess I have. Then that makes this all Rafe’s evil plan? He lured us into membership.”
“Of course I would lure you both into the sex cult life. I’m not a follower.”
“No one likes a bragger,” I inform him.
Rafe looks me up and down. “Not bragging if it’s facts. You think you have the appeal to pull us on your own?”
“Puh-lease, we all know you both lured me. I’m the innocent victim here. That’s what I should have told the detectives,” Kit teases and it’s nice. She smiles at us and it’s not scared or nervous. It’s just her.
“But if I’m in a sex cult, what does my membership get me?” Kit asks. “There has to be some benefits, right?”
“Absolutely,” Rafe and I tell her. We spend the next hour showing her exactly how her sex cult membership benefits her.