Chapter 34 #2
He runs his hands through his hair and sighs. “I’m sorry. My friend is hurt and bleeding, and it hasn’t been long since we nearly lost her.”
“What happened?” the cop taking notes asks without thought.
Toot doesn’t take offense. “You hear about the incident with the grenade?”
The cop’s eyes widen, and so do the cop’s next to him as they both take in Delphi with a new light. “That’s her?”
“Yeah,” I answer roughly. “The explosion is what caused her epilepsy. I almost didn’t get to her in time then, and for a moment, I thought I was too late now, too.”
“That was my woman, I think I’d chain her to the goddamned bed.” The cop sighs, putting his notebook away.
“Trust me, I’ve considered it.”
“We’ll need to get her statement and talk to Theo. I’ll also need to call CPS.”
“I’ll get him brought to the hospital and call his case worker. She can meet us there.”
When he looks at me oddly, I shrug. “We were his foster parents. Hopefully, they’ll place him back in our care. He doesn’t deserve to have to deal with this shit again.”
“On that, we can agree,” the other cop says.
“I’ll call Greer and Havoc and meet you at the hospital. I take it you’re going with Delphi?” Toot asks.
“Yeah. I’ll follow the ambulance on my bike.” I look at the cop. “When can I get my gun back?”
“As soon as it’s eliminated from our inquiries.”
I nod. Figured as much. “Am I free to go?”
“For now. But don’t leave town. I need you to make an official statement.”
“That’s my woman on that gurney, officer. Trust me when I say I’m not going anywhere.”
The surgery to remove the bullet took less time than I thought it would, and thankfully, it didn’t hit anything vital. It would leave yet another scar, though, which pissed me off more than it seemed to Delphi, who was taking everything in stride.
The cops came and took Theo’s statement with Greer by his side.
When they started to push, she told them in no uncertain terms to back off.
He was traumatized enough. Toot watched her like a hawk, but they didn’t speak to each other the whole time, which was fucking bizarre.
I kept my mouth shut. It was none of my business.
After they were done with Theo, Greer informed us she was placing him back with us as an emergency placement, but she’d be filing the paperwork to make things more permanent.
Theo had eventually fallen asleep on the bed beside Delphi, and we let them both rest until the cops were due to come back to take Delphi’s statement.
We woke them with assurances about Theo’s placement before Greer and Toot bundled him up and took him home, leaving me and Delphi to wait for the police to arrive.
“You want me to get Legs to bring anything for you?”
“I’ll be fine. They’re letting me go in the morning. Just bring me a change of clothes and some clean underwear.”
I frown at her. “I’m staying here with you.”
She reaches up to cup my face, but winces when she lifts her arm. “You need to go home. I’m going to be knocked out on a cocktail of drugs, but Theo has just had his whole world turned upside down again. He needs you. If you’re worried about me, put a prospect on my door.”
I grit my teeth, ready to argue, but I recognize the stubborn mindset in her eyes. She won’t bend when it comes to Theo.
“Goddamn it, Delphi.” I press my forehead to hers and take a moment, feeling her breath against my lips and the warmth of her skin against mine.
“I love you,” she whispers, her breath mingling with mine.
“I love you too. So fucking much.”
A knock at the door has us breaking apart. A detective, judging from the suit with the badge clipped to his belt, along with an officer, enters.
“Miss Anders? I’m Detective Hurt, and this is officer Marks. Are you up to giving us your statement now?”
“Yes, I’m good,” she answers as I help her into a sitting position.
Detective Hurt looks at me. I pull my chair closer and wrap my hand around Delphi’s. “I already gave my statement to the other officers. I won’t say anything, but I’m not leaving her.”
For a second, I think he’ll argue with me, but in the end, he relents.
“Can you tell us what happened from the beginning, Miss Anders?”
She squeezes my hand as she looks over at him. “You know about Theo?”
The detective nods. “He’s Mrs. Milton’s son, correct? And your former foster child?”
“Current foster child. He’s back with us for now.
” She blows out a shaky breath. “Diane Milton did a stint in rehab, which resulted in a judge deeming her a fit mother, and Theo was returned home. Josh Milton, Theo’s stepfather, was ordered to stay away from Theo, and a protection order was put in place. ”
“And this made you mad? Theo being returned to his mom.”
“Mad, sad, worried,” she admits. “Ultimately, though, it wasn’t about me. It was about Theo. And as much as it hurt to watch him leave, I wanted him to have the mother he deserved. If getting away from Josh and getting clean meant she could be that, then I was happy for him.”
“You didn’t try to contest the judge’s ruling?”
“No. I just told Theo I’d be there no matter what and that he was always welcome to visit whenever he wanted.”
He makes a note as I watch Delphi’s face.
“Why were you at the Milton residence today?”
“I was in my office doing paperwork when I got a text from Theo’s phone.”
“What did it say?”
She looks at me. “Can you pass me my bag?”
I grab her bag from the cabinet next to the bed and hand it to her. She pulls out her phone and opens it up, flipping through until she finds what she wants and turns it around for them to see.
I look at her in question, but she shrugs.
“So the message was from Diane, not Theo,” the detective notes.
“Yes.”
“And you went over there?” he asks incredulously. I admit I’m kind of feeling the same fucking way.
“She wanted to build a relationship with me for the sake of her son, and I wanted that too. How amazing would that have been for Theo?”
“Still, you must have had reservations about going over there?” the officer says.
“Why? The judge and CPS said the place was safe, that Theo was safe, so I trusted them to have done their jobs. I had no reason to think anything like this would happen. How could I?”
Except that Delphi doesn’t just trust anyone, and the fact that she didn’t call me first is bizarre.
“I went over and knocked on the door. It seems so stupid now, I know.”
“What happened next?”
“Diane opened the door and ushered me in. I didn’t know anything was off until I saw Josh on the sofa staring at me.
I tried to take a step back, but Diane stepped up behind me.
She told me if I made a sound, she’d shoot me, and dug something into my back.
I assumed it was a gun. Josh started yelling and cursing, asking what the fuck I was doing there. ”
“So she didn’t lure you there for him?”
“That was my first thought because he blamed me for his attack before. He was very vocal about it.”
The detective looks at me, and I wait for him to imply it was me, but Delphi beats him to it.
“No detective, not that I got someone to beat him up, that I did it myself. I don’t know if you’ve ever met Josh before, but there is a huge size and weight difference between us.
And though I might be scrappy when I need to be, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t have the skills or strength to take down a grown man.
I mean, he was in the hospital for a month.
I don’t know what his injuries were, but they had to be bad, right? ”
“Do you know who attacked him?”
She shakes her head. “I saw a guy with a hoodie or a hooded jacket of some kind running away from the trailer when I got there, but my focus was on getting to Theo.”
“Alright, back to today. What happened next?”
“Diane kept swinging the gun between me and Josh, who was still yelling, but she started shouting over him, accusing us of having an affair. She’d found his bags half-packed in the bedroom, apparently.
I just froze. I didn’t know where Theo was or if he was hurt.
I kept glancing around, but I couldn’t see him.
I tried to talk to her. I figured if I could just reason with her, she’d calm down.
But her eyes were wild, and she was scratching at her arm. ”
The officer murmurs something that the detective nods to before looking back at Delphi.
“He was yelling that nobody was after a used-up hag like me. Theo was where the money would be—young, easily breakable.” She swallows as if she might puke. “Diane shot him twice. I thought I was hallucinating at first, but his face was just gone.” She covers her mouth with her hand.
I reach for the cup of water on the table and hand it to her. “Drink this, chestnut.”
Her hands shake, so I help guide it to her lips. The cops wait as she composes herself.
“I’m sorry.”
“Take your time, Miss Anders. We understand how difficult this is.”
She nods before continuing. “I thought what he said about Theo pushed her over the edge, but then she pointed the gun at me. I tried to move. I remember thinking I needed to get the gun off her, but then pain exploded in my arm, and everything just went blank after that. I briefly remember coming around dazed, calling the cops and puking. She was across the room, shoving a needle in her arm. I think I must have passed out again because the next time I came to, my head was in Kruger’s lap and I could hear sirens. ”
I lean down and press my lips to the back of her hand before filling them in on what happened after, even though I’ve already given my statement. They run over everything again twice more, but her answers don’t change.
In the end, the detective cracks his neck and straightens his jacket. “I think we have everything we need. But if you think of anything else, please give the station a call and ask for me.”
“I will. Is…how is Diane?” Delphi asks.
“I can’t give you specifics.”
“I don’t want them. I just need to know what to tell Theo.”
The detective looks at the officer before he shrugs. “As of right now, she’s still alive, but it’s not looking good. The heroine she took was laced with fentanyl.”
“Oh god.”
“She’s not dead yet, ma’am, but I’d prepare him for the worst,” Office Marks adds.
She nods. I get up and offer them my hand. We shake, and I walk them out before closing the door behind me.
I stalk to the bed and lean over her. “You’ve got some explaining to do, woman.”
“I know.”
“Was any of that story true?”
“How about you let me sleep and I’ll explain it all to you tomorrow when I get out? Somewhere where the walls don’t have ears.”
I growl, kissing her hard. “You’re lucky I fucking love you.”