Page 34 of Enemies to French Kisses
“It’s the police.”
“The police? Laura! Do we have to get you out of the country?”
“Got to go.”
I don’t bother hanging up the phone. I let the phone gently fall into my lap. Natalie’s voice speaks into my knee as the police enter the room.
I stand, finally hit the hang up button, and wipe an errant tear from my cheek before clasping my hands in front of me.
“Good evening, officers. I mean,bonsoir.”
They look at each other and mumble in French, something about English and American, and one points at the other. It’s like their drawing straws.
The lady officer speaks next. “You have… fall the man.”
The man officer mumbles something to the woman officer, who retorts something back at him which I can tell means, ‘I told you so.’
He starts. “My colleague does not speak so good English.”
“I thought that was a good try,” I offer her a quick smile and she shrugs, but the ice is broken. “I still barely get a few words of French out after months living here.”
The man clears his throat and continues. “We received a report that you are responsible for—uh—the accident.”
“You did?” I don’t know what “responsible” means, but I’ve got enough of my wits to know that I shouldn’t admit anything.
Or else Natalie is right and I have to skip the country.
“His scarf got caught on my handlebars.” That is both accurate and true.
“And then you drove over him?”
“No, I most definitely did not drive over him.”
“The report says you were a very angry woman, and you ran over him.”
Must tread carefully. Do I have the right to legal counsel in this country? I haven’t watched Law and Order in ages and it’s totally possible none of that even applies here.
“That’s not what happened,” I reply. Once again, accurate and true. I can’t get in trouble for that.
“But you were angry?”
I don’t answer.
“Were you angry with him? Did you get very mad?”
I open my mouth, but words don’t come.
“Were you angry enough to want to hurt him?”
“I—” The words get stuck in my throat, the horror of the whole situation about to take me over, which I know they are going to take as guilt, but it isn’t true. I never wanted this to happen I never did.
“I never…”
“Laura?”
We all snap our heads to the man at the center of this all.
“You’re awake!” I run to his bedside and take his hand without thinking. “Thank God, thank the heavens, thank everything on this earth, you’re awake.”
