Page 47 of Justified Lies

Disconnecting his cell, he closed the last few feet between them, noticing for the first time that she was limping.

“Where is he?” he snarled.

“I don’t know. Down there somewhere. I was able to slow him down a bit.”

“Get in the house, lock the doors and stay there until I get back. Understood?”

Lianna nodded, but stood rooted to her spot.

“Go!” he yelled when she still hadn’t moved, then turned away before he could see the confusion or hurt in her eyes. The sound of her steps growing fainter, then the door closing with a click told him that she was obeying.

Gabe stalked towards the stairs as he dialed the emergency line, knowing he was handling Lianna too harshly. He should have taken her into his arms and held her until she knew it was safe. Shit, he could have at least asked if she was okay. But once he saw her, once he had a visual confirmation that she wasn’t seriously injured, his panic was gone.

The fear he felt for her instantly turned to rage. All thoughts pivoted to the man who tried and maybe succeeded in hurting her. Possession surged through him. She was his and no one would hurt her.

When the familiar sound of, “nine-one-one, what is your emergency?” came across the line, he quickly spat out his identification and detailed the situation.

“The subject is believed to be a danger to the public. I am armed and am approaching.”

****

A few hours later, Gabe leaned against the back wall of the local police department’s interrogation room. Arms crossed, he watched the detective question Tim in the adjacent room. Gabe felt comfortable here. Not that he had been in this particular station before, but they all had the same feel to them. The same cold stale air, the same bad lighting. They also gave him the same buzz, a jolt of electricity. Tim’s questioning had only begunabout fifteen minutes ago and thus far all he had done was apologize. Currently he was crying.

Turning his back to Tim, the detective rolled his eyes, before offering to grab the suspect some water. The lull in conversation presented Gabe with unwanted time to think. The day’s cruel events replayed like a highlight reel in his mind. A patrol car had picked up Tim before Gabe had gotten to him. In retrospect, that was for the best or it may be Gabe in the interrogation room right now.

Gabe had insisted that the officers speak with Lianna at her home. The last thing she needed was to be stuck in a station for hours. She had been through enough and just wanted to be with her kids. Lianna had permitted him to place his arm around her shoulders while she gave a victim statement but was rigid. The whole time hugging her arms around her midsection, like she was protecting herself from him. And why not? He was confused at his own behavior.

During the interview, she revealed the other incidents that occurred in the past few weeks. One of them, a dark figure on her security cam footage two nights ago. She found a half dozen dead spiders on her front porch the following morning. That was the first time Gabe had heard of it. When he and the officers took her phone and viewed it, it was without a doubt the shape of a person. Gabe then took over the questioning.

“You didn’t think that was important enough to tell someone?”

“I did try to tell you.”

“Not hard enough. It doesn’t seem complicated to say someone left half a dozen spiders, which you happen to be terrified of, at your front door! And what’s the point of the damn security camera if you don’t take the time to actually look at the alerts?”

“I did look! I just couldn’t figure out what it was, Ithought it could have been an animal.”

“What kind of animal walks on two legs?”

This went on until Detective Harden, the lead on her case, interrupted. Clearing his throat, he suggested Gabe get some fresh air. In fact, Gabe was confident that the only reason they obliged his request to be present at Tim’s interrogation, was because they wanted to give Lianna a reprieve from Gabe. Which he hadn’t done lightly.

Much to Lianna’s chagrin, Gabe stayed until her father-in-law arrived at her home with Harris and Annie. Pulling Charles aside, Gabe filled him in on the harassment and threats Lianna had been receiving. She had told him a very watered-down version of the events, which further pissed off Gabe. Now at least she had family looking out for her too. Gabe was pleased when the man immediately thanked him, before promising to encourage Lianna to seek a protective order against her neighbor.

Before leaving, Gabe also tested the theory of Darren being behind some of the incidents. While Tim was clearly the aggressor today, Gabe wasn’t sure that Darren was blameless in some of the previous sinister events. When Charles looked utterly perplexed, Gabe realized that Lianna hadn’t mentioned her difficulties with her brother-in-law to him either. He wasn’t the only one hiding things.

Lianna hadn’t spoken to Gabe since the detective had so politely kicked him out of her interview. She huffed and puffed a few times but that was it. Now, here he stood two hours later, tired and pissed. His anger was equal parts with the crazy neighbor and himself.

Something had to give. Gabe really needed sleep or caffeine. Remembering he also had some hefty personal issues that demanded his attention once he was finished here, hedecided on the caffeine. Stepping out to grab some in the liquid variety, Gabe ran smack into Detective Harden.

The lanky man’s elongated features made him appear taller than he actually stood. Curtis Harden was amazingly unremarkable, not handsome but not unattractive. The epitome of average, with mousy brown hair and brown eyes. He could fit in undetected anywhere. Gabe suspected that the man used it to his advantage, because behind those brown eyes was a sharpness that told him Harden was not to be underestimated.

“Detective, I wanted to apologize for stepping out of line during your investigation earlier and wanted to thank you for letting me eavesdrop now,” Gabe said.

Eyeing him skeptically, Harden replied, “It’s Curtis. Now what is it I can do for you, Sergeant?”

The man saw right through Gabe’s fluff, but there was a lightness to his tone.

“Well, since you asked, I’ve got a suggestion. Mention me when you go back in there.”

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