Page 21 of Inevitable Secrets

“Well that depends, Detective,” Taylor snarked. “Are you going to accuse me of trying to kill my husband again? Maybe of trying to attack myself this time?”

“Mrs. Fletcher, I have to explore every possible angle. Don’t worry, your lawyers shut me down quickly.”

Derrick’s eyes went wide, “You accused my wife of shooting me?”

The detective rolled his eyes. “Haven’t you guys seen Law and Order? It’s always the wife,” he explained. “Anyway, today Mr. Tappen opened fire on the hospital, and I need to know your history with him.”

“Wait,” Taylor said, pinching the bridge of her nose, “should I have my lawyer?”

“Something to hide?” the detective asked, eyebrows raised.

Taylor let go of her nose and glared at the detective. She set her teeth and felt her jaw ache from clenching them. “No, but I also—”

“Watts!” a man in a full and heavily starched uniform called to the detective from the doorway of the drawing room, cutting off all conversation.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Detective Watts said low, and it might have made Taylor just a teeny, tiny, bit happy that there was someone there whose presence agitated the detective as much as his presence irritated her.

When the uniformed man crooked his finger at the detective, Watts looked as if he would detonate on the spot. Stiffly he walked to where he had been called.

“That doesn’t seem as if it will be a friendly conversation,” Derrick quipped as they both watched the detective drag himself to what was most likely his supervisor.

“Good,” Taylor spat.

“So he accused you of attacking me?”

“He sure did.”

Derrick nodded as he thought that over, “Well, itisalways the wife.”

Taylor whipped her head over to her husband and saw him trying to hide a smirk. “How can you laugh right now? Someone has been shot, another man killed because someone tried to kill me.Andyou were shot and they accused me of it!”

“Tay, I wasn’t killed and neither were you,” Derrick reminded her. “And you didn’t try to shoot me. I was there, I remember. And they said that man was injured and the attacker was killed.”

Taylor pointed her finger at her husband, silencing him. “I am telling you, Derrick, Tappen was not coming after me. Something is very off about this whole thing.”

“Taylor, they have eyewitnesses and video footage of the man going postal in the hospital.”

“I don’t care, something is off,” Taylor said, shaking her head.

“Taylor, Derrick,” Charlie’s voice shocked them both out of their conversation, and they turned to find the older man approaching. “I’d like to introduce you to Chief Pompas,” he said gesturing to the man who had beckoned the detective away. Chief Pompas was a tall man, his skin coffee-colored and smooth, not a laugh line marring it anywhere.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher,” the Chief said eloquently, “It is a pleasure to meet you both.”

“You also,” Taylor answered politely, “however I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Well I am happy to report that we have confirmed that the suspect taken down at the hospital was in fact the same assailant from the Gala shooting.”

Charlie’s face lit up at the chief’s declaration. “That is wonderful news,” he said and directed his attention to Taylor and Derrick. “Taylor, isn’t that wonderful?”

Taylor looked at Charlie, and then Todd who had silently joined them. She exchanged looks with Derrick and then she heaved out another breath and turned her attention back to the chief. “Chief Pompas, I’m sorry but I really don’t think that Richard Tappen was capable of this.”

Taylor saw the irritation flare in the chief’s eyes, but he was quick to blink it away before he responded. “Mrs. Fletcher,” he said in a very patronizing tone, “a thorough investigation was conducted and we have, in fact, linked Tappen to the scene of the original shooting.”

“And how is that? Because the last report I heard, which was a police press conference earlier today, you didn’t even have the weapon.” Taylor questioned.

Now the chief made no attempt to hide his irritation.

“We do not release all our information for an ongoing investigation to the public,Mrs. Fletcher,” the chief informed her, saying her name as if it were a curse word.

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