Page 63 of Watch Me
“Trying to close in on your woman.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, tell me about that.”
“About what?”
“Your plan.”
He balked. “I didn’t really have a plan.”
I leaned down, placing my hands on the arms of the chair, the evidence bag clutched in one, and caged him in. “But you bought her favorite flower.” I waved the evidence bag in front of his face then put it back down, still caging him in. “Did you think that would win her over?”
He shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know, man. She’s hot.”
“She’s twice your age.” I didn’t mean that as an insult towardmyReagan, but this kid was barely twenty-one. In fact, when I’d looked into him, I found out that he turned twenty-one in June—only five monthsprior.
“She … She is?”
“Yes,” I confirmed and then asked him where he was the night of Amy’s murder, not wanting to beat around the bush anylonger.
He furrowed his brows and thought for a minute. “I don’t know. That was like months ago.”
I stared into his dark eyes as I asked him about the night of Daisy’s murder less than a weekprior.
“I don’t know. Probably at home.”
“That’s not a good answer,” Ireplied.
“Why do you care? It has nothing to do with the flower or Reagan.”
“Doesn’t it?”
He balked. “What? No.”
I pushed off the chair and crossed my arms again. “Okay. Tell me where you purchased the flower and when.”
“The internet, and last week.”
“The internet? What site?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I searched for buttercup flowers and found it. I tried to find them at flower shops and was told they were out of season. Then I tried craft stores for the fake ones, and they didn’t have them either, so I did the next best thing.”
I stared at him, really looking at his face, and looked for any sign that he waslying.
“Are we done here?” he asked. “Are you going to arrest me for giving a flower to your girlfriend?”
I took a deep breath to calm myself down. I wanted to throw him against the wall and scream in his face that Reagan was mine. But, I also valued the badge and Reagan. I didn’t want to cause any more of a rift that this incident would already cause her. “No, but make no mistake that Reagan is mine, and I’m never giving her up. You need to find someone your own age.”
He chuckled and started to stand. “Okay, dude.”
When I opened the door, I saw Reagan and Judy waiting just outside. “Everything okay?” Reaganasked.
Derrick walked passed me.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Ireplied.
“I know my shift has started, but do you mind if I talk to Ethan for a moment?” Reagan askedJudy.
“Not a problem. I’ll go make sure Tommy’s doing okay.”
