Chapter 9 Briar
brIAR
I feel like I’m betraying Gareth as I drive to the police station.
He called me once earlier, and I ignored it. Then he texted me: My arms need you.
I almost gave in. I almost replied, turned the car around, and drove to his house to see him. But then I thought back to my conversation with Sarah.
I barely know this man!
He openly admitted to me that he’s under investigation by his department for use of excessive force. And if that’s what he was willing to share with me, what else might he be hiding?
I have to know. I have to be sure.
My insides feel like an egg shell, cracks slowly forming. Pressure building. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hold out.
Just make it through this meeting with Felch. Then you can go back to Sarah’s and cry.
I park in the corner of the lot and keep my head down as I make my way inside the station. Gareth shouldn’t be here today, but you never know. The last thing I need is him catching me coming in here to meet with his boss.
My stomach twists. I might be sick. Either Gareth lied to me and is not the man I thought he was, or I’m about to make a huge mistake.
But I have to know.
A bearded cop notices me as I step inside and instantly smiles. He turns and nods across the room to another cop, who knocks on a door behind him. It opens, and Felch steps out, chewing his cigar. He looks at me and grins. Waving a file in his hand, he motions for me to come.
I’m trembling as I make my way through the station. The last time I was here, I was handcuffed and being led by Gareth into a situation I never could have imagined. One that changed my life.
And as I stare into the dim, blue glow of Felch’s office, I have a realization: My life is about to change again.
“Thought you’d come,” Felch grunts.
“Yeah, you’re a real genius,” I reply, striding past him and taking a seat across from his desk. “Now let’s see it.”
I want to get this over with as quickly as possible. Even if Gareth is a bad man, I can’t stand being around Felch. The disgusting cigar, his filthy skin, and the way he carries himself. Like a king who never did anything to deserve it.
“Not in here,” Felch replies. He snaps his fingers and starts walking. “In here.”
This bastard…
I want to keep myself planted in this chair, but he’s not turning around. So I get up and follow. When I realize where he’s taking me, a chill sweeps through me.
The interrogation room…
“I thought you’d be more comfortable in here,” Felch says, closing the door behind me. “You know. Based on what you and Gareth were up to last time.”
He knows? How could he? Was he on the other side of the window watching?
The cracks inside are beginning to show. I can feel it. But I can’t break. I won’t. Not here. Not now.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I counter. “Now are you gonna show me your ‘evidence’ or what?”
Without hesitation, Felch pulls a page from the manila envelope and tosses it over to me. It slides across the table to reveal photos of a woman with bruises all over her face and blood dripping from her lip.
“Gareth’s ex.” My stomach drops. I try to draw breath, but my chest won’t move. It’s like I’m paralyzed, staring at this photo. “And in case you don’t believe me, here’s the arrest report.”
Another page. This time, a police form that’s foreign to me. But I quickly scan it with my eyes and make out enough: Gareth Rawls, arrested on charges of assault and battery. Neighbors reported screaming, called police. Officers arrived on scene. Rawls was taken into custody.
It’s just so awful.
“Pretty brutal, right?” Felch asks. “Bet he never mentioned that to you.”
Before I can continue reading, he takes the pages back, stuffing them into the envelope.
“So…when was this?” I ask.
“Few years back.”
“And yet, you still let Gareth be part of the department?”
Felch raises an eyebrow, almost like he appreciates my digging. “Politics, little woman. Politics. Every department has ‘em. And we all gotta play by ‘em.”
“Mm-hmm.” I nod. “What else?”
“What else?” Felch looks surprised by my question.
“Yeah, I mean…is that all you had to show me? Some poor woman and an arrest report?”
My heart’s spinning in my chest, wrapped in slowly-crackling flames. The interrogation room is cold, but I’m burning up.
Right where I’m sitting now is where Gareth had me sitting, cuffed to the table, as he spread my legs and went down on me, giving me my first true release.
Right here is where my life took a new course.
“Well, he probably didn’t tell you about his excessive force complaint—”
“No, he told me,” I reply. “He said it was a man who had a knife to his mom’s throat.”
“The man had dropped the knife when Gareth beat him. Took three officers to drag him off.”
This is a spiderweb. Felch’s spiderweb. And I’m being tangled up in it. But I can feel the threads starting to slip.
“I see,” I reply, leaning back in my chair. “Sounds like he was just protecting his mom to me.”
Something snaps, and Felch leans forward, smashing his fists onto the table. I almost jump back, but he grabs me by the wrist, holding me in place.
“Listen to me,” he growls. “Gareth is going to go down for something. Understand? It was just a matter of when and how.”
“Yeah, going down on me,” I counter, flashing him the fakest smile ever.
“Do you know what happens to citizens who side with corrupt cops?” His voice is low and biting, like he doesn’t want to be heard.
“Especially young truck stop waitresses? They lose their jobs. Their moms get visited by Social Services. They end up on lists they didn’t even know existed then wonder why they can’t find a job anywhere in the state. ”
I wish Sarah was here. She’d know what to do. She’s used to dealing with men. But you know what? I’ve been friends with her a long time. And I have some bite in me too.
“Are you threatening me, Captain Felch?” I ask, breathing strength into my voice.
“It’s not a threat,” he replies. “It’s a promise.”
“A promise? I don’t understand…”
Letting me go, he nods, pulls a lighter out, and strikes a flame to his cigar. “I promise that I will do everything in my power to take down Rawls, and if you get in my way, I’ll take you down with him.”
My heart is crackling. Beads of sweat pool around my temples as I squeeze my thigh with one hand, trying to keep calm.
“What have I done…Captain Felch?”
He shakes his head dismissively like I’m a child. “Doesn’t matter, missy. You don’t play ball, and I’ll trump up some charges on you and have you in a cell by the end of the month.”
That shell inside me finally gives way as Felch reveals the truth: He’s been lying this whole time.
I don’t know who that poor woman was in the photos, but it definitely wasn’t Gareth’s ex, and that arrest report was certainly fake.
I never should have doubted you, Daddy. Never.
“But then again,” Felch says, his voice slow and sleazy like a snake as he stands and comes around my side of the table, “if you felt like doing me a…favor…I might be willing to let you out of this.”
Without even hiding it, he reaches down between his legs and cups his bulge. He squeezes it and winks down at me like it will turn me on. All it does is make my stomach turn.
If only Gareth was here. I can’t even imagine the amount of ‘excessive force’ he would use.
Grabbing my purse, I quickly stand, and getting right up in Felch’s smoky, disgusting face, spit, “I’d rather suck off a hippo!”
He snatches out at me, but I duck, and his fingers close around empty air. I race for the door, and my hip catches the corner of the doorframe. I’ll have a bruise tomorrow, but so what?
I dash out of the room and back into the station. My heart is pounding as men glance at me while I run for the door. All it takes is one shout from Felch and any one of them could grab me, hold me here indefinitely.
But to my surprise, no one intervenes. I manage to make it out to my car without being caught or having a heart attack. My body is still ready to give out on me, but I can’t help but smile as I pull out of the parking lot.
It’s only a few minutes’ drive to Gareth’s, but it feels like an eternity. I watch every tree go by out the windows, counting every second that passes. I’m so on edge as I get out and race up his steps that I nearly collapse into his arms as he opens the door.
“Briar. Where have you been?” he asks, concern in his voice. “I’ve been trying to reach you all morning.”
“I’m sorry,” I sob, tears flowing from my eyes as the tension in my body releases. “I’m so sorry.”
The warmth from his body and the strength from his arms as they hold me up, cradling me with such love and such care, is enough to break me down.
“For what?” he asks. “Not answering my texts?”
Shaking my head, I reach into my purse pocket and pull out my phone. The recorder app is still running. I press stop and rewind it to the start. “You need to hear this, Gareth.”
He looks at me, confused, but I just stare up at him with trust and admiration. Every fiber of my being is his. I belong to him. I know he’d protect me with his life, so being able to do this one tiny thing to help him fills me with more joy than I can process.
“What is it?” he asks, guiding me to the couch.
“It’s the end to your problems.” I smile. “It’s your freedom.”