Page 77 of Steadfast
“Jude Nickel? I’m Officer Nelligan.”
“Hello, sir.” I was going to be polite if it killed me. “Sorry to drag you over here on Christmas.”
“Yeah? I’m the low man on the totem pole, so I was already workin’. The social worker said you needed to make a report?” He looked down at me as if he smelled something really bad.
No love for the town junkie. Color me surprised. “Yeah, I got jumped. The first time I’d ever seen these guys was a few weeks ago.”
Officer Nelligan could barely contain his derision. “Don’t know the guys, huh? We hear that a lot.”
“I’ll bet you do.” I sighed. “Look. As I’m sure you know, I went to prison for three years, and then I was out of town for six months. About a month after I came back to town, this guy shows up at my garage looking for some drugs that went missing three years ago. But they weren’t my drugs. And I told them that.”
“You know their names?”
“No, but I can describe the guy in charge. Big scar on his cheek.” I drew an imaginary line on my face to demonstrate.
He didn’t reach for his pad of paper. “Okay.”
The dude was not getting the message. “I know you don’t give a rat’s ass if someone kicked the shit out of me. And I really don’t blame you. But I need you to go to your boss and tell him that two dudes are asking a lot of questions about that night three and a half years ago. And they’re not afraid to mention Sophie Haines as someone who they might want to visit next.”
That got his attention. Officer Nelligan pulled the visitors’ chair around to face me and sat down heavily. “You’re not shitting me, are you? You wouldn’t use the chief’s daughter to get us interested in some thugs who beat you up?”
“Fuck no.”Jesus. “I know I’m just another dumbass convict to you, Officer, but I’m not actually so stupid that I’d lie to a police officer just for shits and giggles.”
He frowned. “You’re just worried about Miss Sophie.”
“Of course I am. These guys want whatever they’re looking for, and they’re willing to break some bones to get it.”
He flipped open his pad of paper. “Are you and Miss Sophie back in touch these days?”
Fuuuuuck. The cop’s blue eyes lifted to mine, and I’m sure he saw me hesitate. “I’m going to tell you something, but try not to get Sophie in trouble.”
He made a little grunt of acknowledgement.
“I attend a Narcotics Anonymous meeting on Wednesdays at the Catholic church. And Sophie runs the Community Dinner that happens afterward. I have seen her a couple of times at the church.”
He raised one eyebrow. “That’s it?”
“Yeah. You can tell that to Chief Haines or not. It’s your call. But if the chief flips, Father Peters might lose his best volunteer, or I might lose my drug treatment meeting.”
Nelligan reached up to pinch the top of his nose between two thick fingers. “Fine. Now tell me exactly what these punks looked like.”
* * *
Denny showed up later, just as I was switching off the TV. Daytime television was just about the most depressing thing in the world. “Hey,” he said as a greeting.
“Hey. Happy Christmas.”
He plunked himself down where Officer Nelligan had sat before. “You’re getting out of here tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”Shit. It wasn’t that I loved this place. But I couldn’t even shower without help.
Denny nodded. “I think you should go to the Shipley family.”
“I didn’t call them,” I admitted. I knew if I asked them to let me stay there a little while, they’d say yes. But I didn’t want to be their problem.
“Sophie called for you. And Griffin Shipley is going to pick you up tomorrow when you’re discharged.”
“Oh.”Shit. I didn’t want that. But what was the alternative? My own father hadn’t turned up to see if I was alive. Sophie would probably take care of me if I asked her to, but I didn’t want her father to find out. “All right. Tell Sophie thank you.”
