Page 27 of Mine to Hold
His mom glanced between his phone and him while rolling her finger over the screen. “Jesus. Why didn’t you bring this to me sooner?”
“I honestly thought she would get bored. Find someone else. Go away. I don’t know.”
“This is harassment and it makes me wish I hadn’t been so kind to her all those years ago.” She handed the phone back. “You should respond, telling her not to show up. Screenshot it and send it to me. If she does, file a formal complaint.”
“I’m not sure I want to do that.”
“You’re being too soft,” his mother said. “Besides, a restraining order isn’t a big deal. All it will do is set a tone and give me and your brothers the power to arrest her if she doesn’t stop.”
Emmerson sighed. “If she shows up, I’ll go that route.”
“You won’t have any witnesses or proof you asked her to stop.”
“Christ, Ma. I know the law. I get how this works. I’ll handle Edwina.” He cocked his head. “I won’t let it get out of hand, but I’m not going to toss my badge in her face. You asked what the text was and I opted to be honest. In the scheme of things, Edwina is the least of our problems.”
“That woman is always a thorn in my side.” His mother squeezed his shoulder. “Deal with her or I will.” She ducked back into her office.
Fuck. The last thing he needed was his mother going all mama-bear on him, but that’s exactly what she’d do the next time she crossed paths with Edwina.
Emmerson:I won’t be around later. Please don’t stop by. And please stop texting. I’ve made my position clear. Don’t make me use my office to make it clearer.
That should get rid of Edwina and also keep his mother off his back. He tucked his cell in his pocket and leaned against the wall.
Rumor emerged from the last office down the hallway with Emmett one step behind.
“I need a minute with my brother. Why don’t you go to the lobby. Emmerson will meet you there,” Emmett said.
Emmerson cocked his head. He held his brother’s stare, trying to get a read on the situation, but Emmett gave up nothing.
Neither did Rumor.
“I need the ladies’ room,” Rumor said.
“You’ll see it on the way out.” Emmerson squeezed her arm. He watched her backside as she made a beeline toward the other side of the building. “What’s going on?”
Emmett raked his hand through his hair and glanced toward the ceiling. He always did that during a case when something didn’t fit, but it stood out. “The statement she gave is the identical story she gave you, Chris, and Mom.”
“Don’t tell me you’re now believing Rumor could be involved in this drug ring with Tom Hemming?”
“God, no. And Mom doesn’t either. But you know her. She gets something in her head and she won’t let it go. I have to admit the timing does have me on edge.”
Emmerson glanced over his shoulder. “I’d be lying if it didn’t give me pause. However, I ain’t going to say that to Mom. She’d run with it.”
“She already is.” Emmett nodded. “I’ll be straight with you, because Mom won’t.”
“Fucking wonderful.” Emmerson shook his head. “She had you interview Rumor not because she thought I was incapable of separating work from having Rumor rent my pool house, my attraction for her, and being a good cop, but because she wanted you to either trip her up or get something else out of her.” He inched closer. He might be the younger brother, but he could be just as intimidating. “What did Mother want to know and why didn’t you tell me before you conducted the interview?”
“I don’t need to answer the latter because you know why and you would have done the same thing in my shoes,” Emmett said with a tight jaw and frustration dripping from every syllable. “This wasn’t to see if Rumor was lying. Ma absolutely believed her story. Every piece of it. This was a routine statement, which you could have taken.” Emmett let out a long breath. “But Mother thinks—and I have to concur—that Rumor isholding back something. She was nervous as fuck. Twitchy. She constantly played with her hair. Or her leg rattled a mile a minute. Answering the questions was easy, but being here wasn’t. And she doesn’t do small talk well.”
“Would you in this situation?”
“Probably not,” Emmett agreed. “But this wasn’t basic nerves. This was the behavior of someone who has something to hide. I can’t pinpoint it, because again, it wasn’t the questions that made her uncomfortable. Her story jibes no matter how we asked the questions. It was the process. It was as if she thought at any moment there could be a shift in the discussion and I’d be breaking out the handcuffs and slapping them on her wrists.”
“Honestly, that could be more to do with the concept that Mom had you do the interview, and not someone she was more comfortable with—me.”
“I thought about that and I would normally agree had I not met her before the party or spent any time with her at Mom’s house,” Emmett said. “It’s something for us to consider moving forward on this case. And something I want you to think about since she’s living in your pool house.”
Part of Emmerson wanted to lay into his big brother. Tell him to fuck off. But that wouldn’t do him any good. Besides, Emmerson had one ex-girlfriend who resorted to criminal behavior.
