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“Did Mr. Patterson ever express to you that he had any problems with anybody?” Gutiérrez asked.
“Not that I can recall. He has mentioned a number of times over the years how competitive the art collection business was, and the extremes that people would go to, to get a valued piece, but no, Detective Gutiérrez, Coleman never said anything about his life being in danger.”
When Detective Bryant sat back and began fidgeting with the papers in front of him, Valencia relaxed a little, because she knew that she had gotten through this; at least for the time being.
“Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, Ms. DeVerão. And I am sorry for the loss of your friend.” Gutiérrez stood up, and Bryant gathered the papers together and then he stood up too. “If you think of anything that you think is helpful, please give me a call. I’ll have an officer take you home,” she said, and followed Bryant out of the room.
A short time later, an officer came in the room and he took Valencia back to her car, which was still parked at La Grenouille. On her way home, she called Geno to explain what happened.
“Did you kill him?” Geno asked.
“No, Geno, I didn’t kill him.”
“I guess that’s why they let you go.”
“You think?”
“Anyway, after they dragged you out of there, I got our meal to go, so if you’re hungry … I would be happy to bring it to you.”
“Very subtle, Geno,” she laughed. “But I am hungry, sooo …,” she said, gave him her address, and he promised to be there in an hour.
When she got home, Valencia took off the Alexandre Vauthier rose print dress, and took a quick shower to wash the grime of the precinct from her body. Once she had dried and oiled her body, Valencia changed into an Issey Miyake jumpsuit and prepared to receive her guest. A part of her wondering if she were going to allow him to seduce her.
When the doorbell rang, Valencia got up to answer it with her mind made up. After the night that she’d had, she needed to be loved, and loved right.
And you have just the skillset needed to get the job done, she thought, but when she opened the door, there was nobody there. Valencia stepped outside and looked around before turning to go back in the house. She stumbled a bit but was able to catch herself. Valencia looked down to see what she had almost tripped over and saw a large envelope on her porch. She looked around again, before stooping down to pick it up and go inside.
Valencia closed the door, opened the envelope, and found that it contained four pictures. One of her leaving Coleman Patterson’s house, one of her running down the stairs, another was of her getting in the car, and the last was a clear image of her license plate as Valencia drove away from the house. The envelope also contained a phone.
Chapter Twelve
Valencia could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she stood in stunned silence, looking at the pictures that she had just received. She stared at the pictures in her hand, wondering what she was going to do. Suddenly Valencia felt her legs get weak and she had to sit down, but she didn’t stop staring at the pictures. She couldn’t.
You killed him, pretty lady, and I’m going to prove it, she could almost hear Detective Bryant saying.
Her hands started shaking with fear and she dropped the pictures on the coffee table. What was she going to do? Soon, Valencia’s entire body was shaking. She grabbed her arms and held on tight, trying in vain to stop herself from shaking. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her heart was racing. Her entire body jerked when the doorbell rang.
Thinking that whoever left the envelope had come back, Valencia bounced up from the couch. Without giving any thought to what she was going to do if it was the same person, she rushed to the door and jerked it open.
“Hey, Vee.”
“Geno,” she said, and fell crying into his arms.
“Hey, hey … what’s wrong?” Geno asked, as he led her in the house and closed the door behind him.
He led her to the couch, and that was when he noticed the pictures on the coffee table.
“What happened, Vee? Tell me what’s wrong?” he asked, holding her as she cried. Valencia looked up at Geno, glanced at the pictures, and began to cry harder. The shaking began again, and he held her tighter.
“It’s all right. I’m here now. Nothing will ever hurt you as long as I’m here.”
That small bit of assurance seemed to make Valencia feel a little better. She did feel safe and protected there in his arms. Slowly her breathing began to return to normal and the shaking had all but stopped, as Geno rocked her.
It felt so good to have her in his arms again. So, he sat there holding her, glancing over at the pictures, knowing that they were the cause of whatever it was that had her so upset. Since she wasn’t, or couldn’t tell him what was wrong, there was a part of him that wanted to let her go, just long enough that he could look at them. All that he wanted to do in that moment was to make her feel better. That was the priority here. And she felt so good in his arms, Geno didn’t want to let her go.
“Shhh,” he said, running his fingers through her hair. “It’s all right. I’m right here, Vee. Everything is going to be alright,” Geno said slowly. Valencia nodded her head as he gently wiped away her tears. “Can you tell me what happened? What are those pictures?”
Valencia slowly freed herself from his strong, comforting embrace, and reached for the pictures and handed them to Geno.
