Page 47 of Red Snow
“Where did you two go after you left Koot’s together?”
He doesn’t know the answer to this, but I have to play it smart. If I say something dumb, it’ll be obvious I’m lying. They already assume we went and had sex, so to say we left the bar and then went our separate ways would be stupid. And I can’t say we went to her house, because the cunt was married.
“We came here.” The truth.
The two of them look at each other briefly, then the light one starts glancing around the room. Is he looking for evidence? He is, isn’t he? There’s no evidence here, you motherfucking piece of horse shit!
“What did you do while you were here?” the dark one asks, grabbing my attention.
“What do you think?” I answer, which is a little too blunt. Stupid. Do better.
They both eyeball me because of my dumb answer. Don’t give them any ammo to use.
“It’s irrelevant what I think, Mr. Chapman,” Phillips answers, staying calm. “The only thing that matters is what really happened, and it’s important that you answer the questions that you’re asked. It could complicate things if you don’t.”
Complicate things? Is he threatening me? I’m not afraid. Fuck you.
“We had sex,” I tell him after an exhale to steady my nervous and rising frustration.
“You came back here and you had sex? And then what?”
“She left.” Lie.
“She left right after you had sex?” Phillips asks.
“Yeah, so what?” Lie again, but I need to do better at controlling my temper. I’m normal, remember?
“It seems a little odd that she left right after you got done having sex,” Phillips says. The light one, Granger, is still quiet and staring at me with intense brown eyes. “Why didn’t she stay the night?”
“She said she needed to get home.” Lie.
“And that didn’t bother you?”
“No. Why would it?”
“Did you know she was married?”
What do I say here? Does it matter if I knew she was married? What difference does it make?
“No.”
“Did you guys talk about anything while she was here?”
“Not really. She just wanted to have sex and go. And honestly, I need to go myself. To work, I mean. I really have to go.” I stand up, but the light one finally says something.
“Sit the fuck down,” he snips. He doesn’t scream it, but it feels like he did. My heart starts to speed up as we make eye contact. His eyes burn into me and I fucking hate it. I do not like this asshole.
The dark one sits back and doesn’t speak again, letting his partner have a go at me now. This is obviously how they run their little operation. Phillips is the calm, caring one. Granger is the hothead, asshole. If you do everything right, you only deal with Phillips, but if you make a mistake, you have to deal with Granger. He’s the enforcer, and I have to be extra careful now. I sit back down.
“Are you a shitty lay?” Granger asks, and I’m immediately thrown off my game.
“Excuse me?” I snip with a frown.
“So you’re bad in bed and you also don’t hear well?” Granger says. “I asked if you were a shitty lay.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I ask, feeling defensive. He’s fucking rude.
“I just don’t understand why a woman would drive all the way to fucking Eagle River from Anchorage, just to turn right back around and go home. You must’ve been really shitty in bed. I’ve never had a woman try to leave after being with her.”
