“Who died and put you in charge?” asked Garrett, reminding me of their familiar childhood bickering.
“I put me in charge since you’re all hanging out, doing nothing,” replied Siobhan.
“Can I make you a coffee?” I asked and she nodded.
“Can I get a coffee too?” asked Garrett.
“Are you doing anything?” I asked, pausing on my way to fill the pot. “Don’t give me that mean look. Siobhan is organizing everything here. She gets coffee.”
“Dammit. I was across town, Lexi. In bed. I got here as soon as I could. You’re taking this real well, I might add. And just so you don’t think I’m mad at Siobhan, I recommended to her superior that it was about time she took her exams. She’ll make a great detective.”
“That’s nice of you, she’ll appreciate that.” I added a filter and ground beans and made sure there was enough water. “I don’t know how else to take all this. I’ve never dealt with something like it before. I don’t know what else to do.” I turned the coffee maker on and resumed my position at the table.
“Maddox, we’ll split the duties on this one, okay? Since I’m guessing you’re not planning on leaving,” said Garrett. Both men looked toward me, waiting for me to say something.
“I’m happy for Maddox to stay. The more the merrier.” I looked around my full kitchen to the dark presence of my Uncle Dermot at the kitchen door. As if realizing he was being observed, he turned and waved. I waved back. Truth be told, I wanted everyone here. I wanted the house full of people. People who would never raise a hand to me, let alone a knife. I put my hands in my lap to stop them shaking as I realized the longer people were here, the longer I could delay the time when I would have to stop and think about what I’d been through. I hated the idea of being alone tonight. I hated the idea someone got into my home and the possibility that the outcome could have been so much worse.
“Maddox, you take Lexi’s statement and see if anyone else heard anything. Lexi, Daniel and I are going to go through your room and the house, looking for evidence until the forensic team gets here.”
“You might find blood splatter in my bedroom,” I said, pretending not to notice as my brothers and Maddox tried not to wince when I added, “Mine and his.”
“I’ll take Aidan’s statement,” volunteered Jord, and Aidan nodded his agreement. Now I thought about it, I felt the two of them would get on pretty well. Who knew that all it took to get a pair of bros together was an attempted murder and a chainsaw-wielding rescuer?
“We can go to my place. Barney has to go to bed or he’ll sleep all day,” he explained. “If you need anything, just scream your head off, okay, neighbor?” he said, nudging me with a reassuring smile. I stood and hugged him, looking up at him so he could read my lips as I said, “Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
“Anytime.” Aidan gave me one last squeeze, then Barney sniffed my knees and licked my palm and they were gone too, along with Jord. With the rest of the force outside, Garrett and Daniel processing my room, and the kitchen empty, Maddox sat in the chair adjacent to me. Lifting my hand, he took a deep breath.
“Did anything happen that you didn’t want to tell your family about?” he asked, his voice low and serious.
“Like what?”
Maddox flapped a hand and sucked in a breath. “Did he assault you in any way? Did he…”
“Sexually? No. No, he didn’t.”
“Okay. I had to ask. Okay, then.” Maddox exhaled, seeming relieved. “I need to take your statement. We’ve done this before. Try not to think about it too much. Just start from the moment you woke. Ready?”
“Is anyone ever?” I asked.
“Not always, but they usually brave it out anyway.”
I nodded, starting, “I woke up and I sensed someone in the room…” I was just finishing explaining to Maddox what happened, pausing several times to answer his questions — Did the guy call me by name? Did he issue any threats? Did he say anything? — when I looked up, and found Solomon staring down at me. Normally, he had a poker face, utterly unreadable, and though tonight was much the same, I saw the veins on his neck standing out, and his chin appeared stiff, while his mouth was set in a thin line. I had never seen Solomon looking so alarmed before, and we had endured some pretty dire situations. Maddox glanced over, following my gaze, and nodded a greeting. He turned back to the statement he’d written, studying it.
“Are you okay?” Solomon asked, slowly and seemingly unsure.
“Ninety-nine percent fine. Just a small cut to my forearm and a bruise on my cheek,” I told him, knowing he would want those details before anything else.
“I got here as fast as I could.” He looked over his shoulder. When he turned back to us, there was a small smile on his face. “Along with the rest of Montgomery. Bonneville Avenue is gridlocked.”
“First time for everything.”
“I met your cousin, Siobhan. I met some other cousins, but there’s too many of them to remember names. I need one of those family tree things to carry around with me,” he said, his gaze landing on me. He stepped forward and I saw the worry in his eyes. Not to mention the fear.
Solomon seemed very afraid for me.
“My uncles are here too, and I think some aunts, and my brothers.”
“Your sister wanted to come with Delgado when I called him, but I told them to stay at home and we’d let them know anything. Fletcher and Flaherty are here too. They’re parked out front. Lucas is at the agency, crawling over every piece of traffic camera footage in the area.”
“Thanks, I appreciate everything you’re doing. I don’t want the baby to see all this, and it’s nice the guys came. What about my mom and dad?” I asked, realizing out of everyone, they were the only ones not here, but then again, they were probably asleep. Everyone else must have caught the night shift. I also realized something else: these guys really did have my back.
“I already called them and left a message,” said Garrett, ducking his head around the door. “I figured they probably already have plenty of calls to wake up to. They just texted me that they made up your old room if you want to stay over. We’re done in your bedroom. I tried not to mess anything up but... it's a mess. Your window is broken.”
“We’re done here too,” said Maddox. “You did good, Lexi. He might not have called you by name or threatened you, but he did attack you. I need to get a list of everyone you interviewed recently just to see if this has something to do with your case; but there’s still a lot to work with right here. DNA, maybe fingerprints.”
“Really? I didn’t think I gave you much, other than it was a white man and I only know that because I saw some skin. I didn’t recognize his voice. He was taller than me, I think, but I was on my bed, so I couldn’t give his height exactly. I think that narrows it down to how many tens of thousands?” I asked, not meaning to sound sarcastic. I was just exasperated that I couldn’t see more and it was hard not to berate myself for it. Most of my job rested on my ability to notice things.
Maddox began to answer, but Solomon simply said, “Can you all give us a minute?”
I nodded to everyone that it was okay, promised to email Maddox a list of my interviewees, starting with anyone angry with me, and they retreated. Garrett shut the door behind them and I heard him say something to Maddox before their footsteps faded away.
For what felt like forever, Solomon and I stared at each other. Then, when I felt like my knees might wobble, he was across the room in a flash, sweeping me into his arms and hugging me so tightly, my ribs felt like they might pop. Settling me on the floor, I realized he’d literally just swept me off my feet, as he leaned in to kiss me.
The kitchen door banged open and I jumped.
“Whoops!” said Lily. “I see you’re okay so I’ll be right back.” She stepped out again and pulled the door shut. “She’s okay,” she yelled to whomever else was out there. “Absolutely, totally doing fine.”
I couldn’t help laughing as I leaned
my head against Solomon’s chest. The laugh gave way to a few tears and I wiped them away with my hands. “Tonight was scary,” I mumbled, my voice sounding muffled against Solomon’s sweater. My cheek throbbed, as did my arm and my back and… everything ached. I knew I would feel like I’d been in a fight the next day, one I barely managed to win.
“You did good,” Solomon told me, his large hands brushing my hair and resting on my back as he held me. “You didn’t panic. You defended yourself.”
“He could have killed me.”
“No ‘could haves’ about it. This was the outcome, so it’s the only outcome. Don’t think about anything else.”
“When did you become so philosophical?”
“When someone tried to kill my girlfriend in her own home.”
I gulped. “Yeah, it’s a so different from when people tried to kill me elsewhere.”
“I should have been here.”
“It’s okay. I had my gun.” I rested the side of my head that didn’t hurt over his heart and listened to it beat as Solomon wrapped his arms more tightly around me.
“Lexi, I’m lost for words,” he whispered, his words muffled against my hair.
The door creaked open and Lily stuck her head around. “It’s okay, you can come in,” I told her as Solomon and I stepped apart, like we automatically did when we weren’t alone. She entered and I noticed she wore her coat over her pajamas, and her feet were stuffed into a pair of boots.
“I broke every single driving rule getting over here,” she told me. “I’d have to attend traffic school for weeks if I were caught.”
“Thank you.” I reached for her hand and squeezed it.
“On the plus side, your Uncle Luke got me a great discount on my wedding flowers. Did you know his wife’s sister’s niece is a florist?” she asked.
“Probably, but I forgot.”
“It’s just plain lucky I ran into him here. Do you want to come home with me?” Lily asked. Behind her, Jord nodded. “You can stay in one of the guest rooms.”
“I was going to take you to Mom and Dad’s,” said Garrett, joining them.
“You can take my spare room,” said Maddox, stepping next to the trio. “It’s no trouble.”
“You can pretty much have any room you want in Montgomery tonight,” added Daniel with a grin. “Or my couch. Your choice.”
Problem was, I didn’t want to be in any of those places, although I appreciated the options. I wanted to be home. I didn’t want to leave my house in case I was too scared to ever return to it, or the trauma of the memory ruined it for me. Part of me wanted to run, of course it did. A big part of me wanted to take sanctuary with my family and friends, but I valued my independence too. It was a major part of me and I wanted to be brave, even when I didn’t need to be. I couldn’t let an unknown assailant ruin everything I had worked for, and I wouldn’t.
I didn’t dare look up at Solomon, the only person in the room who hadn’t spoken. So I could barely do anything, but nod inanely when he said, “Or we can stay here. In your spare room, and I’ll stay with you as long as you need.” His hand crept into mine, his fingers folding over my own, and I looked up, my heart pounding as the sound of my other would-be-rescuers finally edged away, leaving no one, but Solomon and me.
Chapter Sixteen
I woke to find Solomon, Delgado, Fletcher, and Flaherty standing at the foot of my bed in the unfinished upstairs bedroom, all in short sleeves and flexing their muscles. If I were into that sort of thing, it would have been the best wake up… EVER. Since I wasn’t, my first instinct was to see if my pajamas were on. The second, to ask “What the hell?” and the third, to shoot them.
“Garrett took your gun,” said Solomon, as my hand patted down the nightstand. “Just in case.”
While I pondered my brother’s foresight, Lucas walked in, a smart tablet in his hand. He grinned. “Nice jammies. Ponies?”
I looked down and sighed before pulling the covers over my head. Of all the pajamas for my colleagues to catch me in! Even worse, as my fog of memory swirled into reality… Did most of MPD see me in my check shorts and singlet jammies last night too? They had been bagged as evidence leaving me with the pony option.
“Oh God,” I murmured. “I’ll never survive this.”
A weight landed on my bed and the covers were tugged down a little. I pulled a face at Solomon’s smiling one. “What?” I mumbled sullenly.
“No one is going to remember your pajamas,” he told me. “Get up. Breakfast is made. We have work to do.”
“Okay, but…” I looked past him to my colleagues poking around my room. “What about…?”
“They can go downstairs while you shower and get dressed.”
“Guess the cat is out of the bag?”
“Guess so,” said Solomon, smiling. He didn’t seem at all upset about that.
I nodded and took a deep breath, strangely unconcerned that my private life was now out in the open and subject to criticism from the people I strived daily to impress since taking the job. Of present concern, my heart started to pound the moment I thought I’d be truly alone. Sure, we decided to sleep upstairs in my unfinished bedroom, rather than amongst the broken glass and blood spatters in the guest bedroom, but it was still the same house. My home, my space, had actually been violated and that thought unnerved me more than I could say. “Can you…” I started, trailing off, not sure what I wanted to ask him, and trying to avoid appearing weak. Hadn’t I been through much worse already?
“Stay?” murmured Solomon. “Yes,” he said, and nodded. “You’re not alone.”
After my colleagues trooped out, I headed into the bathroom. True to his word, Solomon stayed with me, leaning against the windowsill while I showered. He disappeared only briefly before returning with my clothing and my small medical kit. After I dried, he examined my wound, and applied a fresh dressing to my arm before pressing my cell phone into my hand, and telling me it had beeped several messages. I checked them. There was one from Lily, reminding me of my promise to help Sharon. Another one pointing out there were a lot of wedding dresses to save. The third message from her was a photo message of the two of us in our gowns, just to drive the point home that Lily didn’t want to lose her dress either. Maddox also sent a message reminding me to send him my interview list. There were a bunch of messages from my parents, sister, and one from my oldest nephew, Patrick, asking if I’d really lost my arm in a knife fight.
“What is everyone doing here?” I asked while I dressed in the jeans and light blue shirt Solomon picked out for me.
“Fitting a security system for you,” Solomon explained. “No one will be able to catch you unawares again. You’ll be totally safe.”
“Thank you,” I answered, surprised. “I’ll…”
“Don’t even suggest paying for it. This is on me. I got you into this, and I’ll protect you.”
“You didn’t get me into anything.”
“I gave you this job. I’ve put you in harm’s way. If you’d stayed a temp…” Solomon turned away, his hand covering his eyes as if he couldn’t face looking at me.
“Whoa! Hold it right there. I took the job because I wanted it. I’m good at it. I… Dammit, Solomon, I’m good at this and I’m not going to give up my job because some asshole broke into my house and tried to kill me!” My voice continued to rise as I reached out, turning him towards me. Couldn’t he see I was fine? “He is not going to ruin my life, and everything I’ve worked for.” My heart continued to pound as I stopped, my breathing heavy. When I looked up, Solomon was nodding, his fingers tracing the rough coloring of my cheek where it bruised.
“You got it,” he said, determination etched on his face. Although what he intended to do, I wasn’t sure, suffice to say, I would hate to be my assailant if Solomon got hold of him first. “Breakfast,” he said, softly, “then back to work.”
“Okay.”
“Okay. Maybe you could do some surveillance with Lily? She must want company and you di
d take the wedding case.” He gave my arm one last check. “Garrett is in the kitchen.”
“Oh, shoot! Uh, no pun intended, but I agreed to go to the range with him today.”
“That’s off. Your gun was used in a shooting last night, remember? I turned it over to Garrett and he logged it in at MPD.”
“Oh.”
“I made bacon and eggs.”
I brightened. “And the world is okay again.”
Garrett was sitting at the kitchen table, a full plate in front of him. He also had the local newspaper, and a coffee in one of my mugs. He looked up when we entered and gave me a glance over. “You look okay,” he said.
“Better than the other guy,” I quipped. “Have you found him yet? And did you tell Patrick I lost my arm?”
“No, and what the hell? No, I don’t know how Patrick got that idea.” Garrett sliced his bacon and chewed it, then took a sip of coffee, licking his lips sumptuously. “All hospitals in the county are on alert for anyone with a gunshot wound and all the local doctors too. If he turns up, and he will, we’ll get him.”
“Solomon told me he turned over my gun,” I said, taking the chair opposite.
“You’ll get it back. I thought we’d skip the range since you already got your shooting practice in.” Garrett balanced a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth. “These are good,” he added, returning to the bacon.
“Don’t look so forlorn, Lexi, your breakfast is coming up,” said Solomon, moving over to my stove.
“Did you make this?” I asked him, trying to see what was on my plate.
“Fletcher,” replied Solomon, spooning food from the pans onto a plate and setting it in front of me. “But I sent Flaherty out to the store to fill your fridge.”
“Aww.” Another pressing question entered my mind, one I should probably have asked before. “Am I going to get arrested for this?”
“For shooting the man who attacked you in your own home?” asked Garrett. “No. Not in a million years. Here. I’ve been answering your calls.” He pushed a notepad towards me. “You’ve got a bunch. Uncle Dermot is sending his boys by to fix your lock and the bedroom window. Dermot says he’ll get them to paint your porch too. Siobhan and her husband are doing your yard work.”
Weapons of Mass Distraction (Lexi Graves Mysteries) Page 20
