by Leonie Gant
As the police surrounded her and kicked away the baseball bat I started to relax but almost jumped out of my skin when a quiet voice came from behind me. “What’s happened to Annie?”
Behind me I found a young woman peering over the fence from Annie’s neighbor’s house.
“Annie took exception to some news we had to tell her” I said, surprised that I was still able to speak calmly as I watched Travis inspect the mangled wreckage that until fifteen minutes ago had been his car.
“Is Eric okay?” the woman asked anxiously as she came through a gate in the fence.
“Why do you assume it is about Eric?” I asked curiously.
“She blames Eric for everything that is wrong with her life.” The woman shrugged. “According to Annie she was going to conquer the world right up until the moment that she got pregnant with Eric, which of course was his fault. Everything bad that has happened since then, was on him. So what did he do this time to set her off?”
There it was again, that insane urge to hug the man. The more I heard about Eric’s life, the more I felt sorry for him.
“He died” I answered without thinking and immediately wanted to kick myself when I saw the devastation that one little sentence had caused. I grabbed her arm as she looked like she was going to faint. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that” I said as I helped lower her to the curb. “Here put your head between your knees. Did you know him?”
“I grew up next door” she mumbled keeping her head down not looking at me.
“My name is Trudie” I said. “I work for Eric’s wife. The funeral is tomorrow if you want to be there.”
I looked over to see that Annie had started to recover from being stunned and was now swearing loudly and with great creativity at the poor young cop who looked like he was regretting his choice regarding the use of non-lethal force.
Travis seemed to be chatting away with the older officer, and from the looks of him he was not perturbed at the events that had occurred. Meanwhile I was sitting in the street rubbing circles in the back of some woman I didn’t know.
“What’s your name?” I asked gently because at this point I had nothing else to say.
“Ruby” she said sniffing quietly.
“I’m really sorry Ruby” I said. The poor woman looked devastated. For the first time I was actually seeing real grief from someone with regards to Eric’s death.
Travis walked over to us.
“Trudie, the cops need to get your statement.”
I looked at Ruby feeling torn. She wiped her eyes and gave me a watery smile.
“I’m fine, it’s just a bit of a shock. I’ve known Eric all my life.”
“Do you know if Eric had any other family other than his mother?” I asked.
“No, it was just Annie and Eric. His dad was never in the picture and according to Annie having Eric was the worst thing that had ever happened to her, so she made sure that she was never able to have any more kids.”
I nodded sympathetically, unsure how to respond to such a callous statement. After giving her the details for the funeral I watched as she walked back to her house.
“Poor kid” Travis murmured.
“Yeah” I said distractedly.
“Officer Eldridge needs to take your statement” Travis said, “so I can get the ball rolling on insurance for the car.”
I looked at him with some astonishment. “You’ve got insurance on that thing?”
“Course I do. My mama always said you should never get on the road without insurance.”
“You’ve got a mother” I said the surprise evident in my voice.
“Of course I do” Travis said. “How do you think I got here?”
“Never really considered it” I replied, “though if I had to think about it, the process probably includes dark magic and the utter hopelessness of the human condition.”
Travis looked at me sourly. “Nice” he said. “If I was any less sure of my place in the world I would be hurt by that.”
“Good to know” I replied.
“Ma’am” the officer interrupted, “can you tell me what happened?”
“We came to see Annie Davis and tell her about her son’s funeral and see if she wanted to attend. She said she didn’t and slammed the door on us. We went to leave and she came racing out of the house with a baseball bat, waving it over her head and then started attacking the car.”
“At any time did you feel she was targeting you?”
“At first I was a bit concerned she might come after us, but Travis pulled me out of the way and after that she just seemed focused on turning the car into a piece of scrap metal.”
“Seems she succeeded” the officer murmured.
“To be perfectly honest it didn’t look much better before she started her redecorating project” I said.
Eldridge chuckled. Once the officer was finished I walked over to where Travis was taking photos of the car with his phone.
“Getting proof for the insurance company?” I asked.
“That and the wall of fame” he said. He could obviously see the questioning look on my face. “These old cars are often punished for my work so we have a wall of the results.”
“You live in a very strange world” I said.
Travis grinned. “But I’m very rarely bored.”
“You’re enjoying this” I said accusingly.
“Why, yes I believe I am” he said, “and I think my day is just going to become more fun.” I followed the direction of his eyes to see Griffin getting out of the car he had just pulled up in.
“Don’t aggravate him” I warned.
“Oh honey, you’re just trying to take away all of my fun.”
“You do realize that you have a demented sense of fun” I said.
“Never said I didn’t” Travis grinned.
I rolled my eyes. Griffin was looking over at us as he was talking to one of the officers and I could tell that he was not happy. Whether this was because I had once again found myself in a volatile situation or the fact that Travis seemed to feel very comfortable in my company, I couldn’t really tell.
“He does not look happy” said Travis, keeping a smile on his face as he looked over at Griffin.
“I don’t know why he is even here” I mumbled. “I mean it’s not like there is a dead body anywhere around here.”
“Oh, I think this has a bit more to do with the fact that you are here, or he may have heard that I’m involved. Either of those situations is pretty much guaranteed to pique his interest” Travis said as Griffin walked towards us.
“Cooper” Griffin said his eyes on me.
“Griffin” Travis replied with the same level of gravity in his voice.
I looked at him sharply and his eyes were still sparkling with mischief.
“Time to go home Trudie” Griffin said finally addressing me.
“Travis is going to need a lift home as well” I said ignoring the look of censure on Griffin’s face.
There was silence for a second before Travis broke it. “Thanks for the offer Trudie but I need to sort out the towing for my car.”
“Are you sure?” I asked and by this stage I didn’t know whether I meant it or whether I was just putting off being in the same car with Griffin. I could see a muscle ticking in his jaw and frankly I wasn’t too keen to be alone with him when he let loose.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about me” said Travis.
I rolled my eyes and couldn’t help the exasperated sigh that escaped. Griffin stiffened and I stifled the impulse to throw something at Travis.
“I’ll organize a new ride and give you a call later.” He grinned and I knew he was getting way too much satisfaction in needling Griffin.
Chapter Sixteen
Sitting in the car with Griffin I started to wish that I had stayed with Travis. The tension in the car was thick and as he didn’t start talking I wasn’t really inclined to break the silence, which made for a wonder
ful ride home. When we got to the carpark of the apartment complex I quickly jumped out of the car.
“Thanks for the ride, I’ll see you later,” I said and quickly started heading for my apartment.
I heard Griffin grunt behind me and follow me up to my door. I didn’t think I was going to get away with it. Once inside I dropped my bag on the table, turned around and braced myself for the interrogation. Silence. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? I crossed my arms.
“Okay, you’re obviously upset about something, but it’s not up to me to try to deep read your psyche, so either tell me why your panties are in a bunch or get the hell out of my home.”
Griffin arched an eyebrow. “Panties in a bunch?” he queried, a slight smile playing around his lips.
“Yes” I said pointing a finger at him. “I don’t even know why you were there, I mean there weren’t any bodies. There wasn’t even much of a crime. According to Travis that kind of thing happens to him all the time.”
“How about the fact that you were in a volatile situation that could have turned nasty at any time, with a person who I personally would not trust your safety to.”
“I was perfectly safe with Travis” I said as I flopped down on the couch. “The guy wasn’t going to let anything happen to me.”
“Why?” asked Griffin.
“Why what?” I replied.
“Why are you so sure that Cooper would keep you safe?”
“I don’t know” I said. “Despite what I would call some questionable life choices, the guy seems to be very protective and he was pretty determined to keep me out of a dangerous situation today.”
“What were you doing at Annie Davis’s house?” Griffin asked, back to business again.
“The funeral is being held tomorrow” I said. “My job includes finding any family that Eric had and seeing if they wanted to go to the funeral.”
“And you naturally assumed that Annie Davis would want to go to her son’s funeral” Griffin said sighing.
“You knew she was Eric’s mother” I said.
“Of course we knew, it came up in the investigation. To be perfectly honest I was going out to speak to her when Ramos called me to let me know that you were a possible assault victim at the Davis house.”
“Not me, just the car” I said.
“Yeah, well, sometimes the information that comes through on first reports can be a little inaccurate” Griffin said wryly, and I got a glimpse of the worry he had gone through in the tightness around his eyes.
“The only time I was worried was when she came charging out with the bat and Travis pulled me out of the way” I said. “After that she was so busy beating up Travis’s car that I think she kind of forgot about us and we were left to watch. It ended up being more of a spectator sport than an actual crime.”
“And Cooper just let it happen?” questioned Griffin.
“Well yes,” I said. “I asked him if he was going to do anything to stop her from destroying his car and he said his only option was to shoot her. Said it would be better if we waited for the cops to come up with non-lethal force, which they did. Stun gun took her down easy.”
“The Travis Cooper I remember wouldn’t have been quite so patient with the situation” Griffin said as he shrugged out of his jacket and sat on the couch.
Bemused at the way he was making himself comfortable in my home I was surprised with what he had said. “Really, because Travis seems pretty laid back to me. I can’t see him getting heated up about anything. Seriously if he was wound tight I would have thought he’d go completely nuts over the way that car was destroyed.”
“Maybe he’s changed over the last couple of years.”
“Ever planning on telling me about what the problem is between the two of you?” I asked sitting down next to him. He started tucking my hair behind my ear and playing with the strands, twirling them around his finger.
“It’s all ancient history. I just don’t like the idea of you being around him. He has a tendency to attract trouble. Take today for example.”
“To be fair” I said, “he only came along to make sure that I was safe. It is probably better that he was there because if that car hadn’t been there to take up her attention, she may have decided to use that bat on me.”
“I still don’t like the fact that he seems to have taken an interest in you” Griffin sighed. “Look, I don’t want to get into it but my relationship with Cooper is kind of complicated. I would hate to think he was using you to get under my skin.”
I sat up straight. “Do you really think that he would do that?”
“Honestly there was a time when I wouldn’t have thought that at all, but things happened that made me start thinking that I didn’t know the guy as well as I thought I did. I don’t want you to have anything to do with him” he said abruptly.
I drew back surprised at the quick change of subject.
“You are kidding aren’t you, please tell me that you are not stupid enough to tell me who I can and can’t work with.”
“I’m just saying that Travis Cooper is not the sort of person that I want anywhere near you. You could have got hurt today.”
“Correction” I said angrily, “I could have got hurt if Travis hadn’t been there. He took care of me, on my own I’d have probably walked into that baseball bat.”
“Oh that just fills me with confidence” Griffin said sarcastically. “You have to think before you get yourself into these situations. I am getting tired of being called to a scene and finding you in the middle of it.”
“I am doing my job, I’m sorry if that concerns you but I really don’t think that you have any say in what I do” I said angrily.
At that moment my cell phone rang. Snatching it up I barked into it. “What.”
There was silence and then I heard Adele’s voice on the line.
“Trudie, is that you?”
I immediately softened my tone. “Adele, I’m so sorry. I was distracted elsewhere.”
I glared as Griffin grabbed his jacket and angrily shoved his arms into it.
“Trudie, did Miranda speak to you yesterday?”
“Miranda spoke to me a couple of times, was there anything in particular that you are referring to?” I queried.
“There were some photos that I wanted you to get for me.”
“The photos in the safe in your closet” I recalled. “Oh yes, Miranda told me about them yesterday, I haven’t had a chance to get back to the house, with the funeral details. In fact, I can’t see myself getting back there today. Do you need them immediately or would it be okay for me to get them out of the safe tomorrow after the funeral?”
“I guess I don’t need to get them right now but I would like them as soon as you can get to the house” Adele said.
“If they’re important I may be able to get them today.”
“No”, said Adele, “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, Miranda is just encouraging me to work, to help with the trauma.”
“Okay” I said a bit mystified by the tone in her voice. “Was there anything else you needed?”
“Everything is taken care of for tomorrow?” she asked quietly.
“It will be, I’m just organizing some final details.”
“Did you find any of Eric’s family?” she asked.
“Yes” I said hesitantly. “I found his mother. Unfortunately I don’t think she will be able to attend the funeral.”
“Oh, well, I’m sure you did your best.”
I had to actually control myself from sighing out loud. It would be useless to inform Adele that her little errand for me ended up with a baseball bat being waved around and a car being destroyed. The woman truly lived in her own world. I was beginning to find myself becoming impatient with her. It was an unfortunate side effect of my business that you learned a little too much about people you were impressed with from afar. I loved Adele’s books but I have to say that I was getting a little tired of the constant neediness. There was silence
.
“Was there anything else that you needed?” I prompted gently.
“No, nothing at all” she said and yet again I wondered what sort of medication she was currently on.
“Adele” I said after waiting a couple more seconds for her to continue talking. “I think you should have a lie down, maybe get some sleep before tomorrow. It’s going to be a draining day.”
“You’re right of course” said Adele. “What would I do without you? Although Miranda’s here, she’ll help me.”
I muttered a prayer of gratitude.
“Could you put Miranda on the phone please Adele?”
Without answering the phone was passed over.
“Trudie, is that you?” I heard Miranda’s voice.
“Yes it is, is Adele okay?” I asked.
“I think she is under a lot of strain at the moment” Miranda said in that cool voice of hers. “I think once we’ve got through tomorrow she can begin healing from this traumatic event.”
Getting off the phone I had to agree with Miranda. Adele had never struck me as a particularly strong person. It seemed that Eric’s death was only serving to highlight her need to rely on those people around her. Turning around I found Griffin with a serious look on his face.
“I think I need to go” he said. “It looks like you are going to be busy for the rest of the day.”
“Probably a good idea” I agreed. Griffin took a step toward me and then stopped as if unsure as to how he should proceed.
“I don’t want you to get hurt” he said softly.
“Don’t try to give me orders” I said. “Trust me when I tell you that will not end well.”
Griffin nodded and started heading for the door. I followed him and he stopped abruptly and turned around.
“Please promise me that you’ll try not to put yourself in any danger.”
I nodded. That was an easy promise to make. I always tried to keep myself out of danger. Unfortunately it seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I ended up in dangerous situations. His head ducked as he kissed me. The kiss was sweet and gentle, so totally at odds with the domineering attitude he had been using on me, and my eyes fluttered closed. His strong arms pulled me against him and I felt my head spin as the passion was rising in me. All I could think was I wanted to get closer. Pulling away from me he smiled as he looked down into my flushed features.
