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I sighed, shaking my head. The last thing I wanted to do was tell this clown about it, considering I never mentioned it to anyone. I didn’t see how it had anything to do with finding out who assaulted Piper. I was already weighed down with enough remorse over the events that transpired that night. Telling everyone the last words we spoke to each other were in anger would only burden me even more.
“I’d just been promoted to the majors. Along with that came a huge increase in pay. The first thing I did was sign a lease on a great apartment near Downtown Atlanta. The next was buy her a ring.”
“How did that go?” There was a smugness in his tone.
“It didn’t.”
“So you never proposed?”
I pushed out a long breath, running my fingers through my hair, getting more and more agitated. “I guess I did. It certainly didn’t go like I’d planned.”
“How so?”
“I told her about my promotion, which she didn’t seem enthusiastic about. Not like you’d expect when telling your girlfriend of over five years that you’d achieved everything you’ve ever dreamed of. Then I told her we’d never have to worry about money again. That we wouldn’t have to do the long-distance thing, either. That we could live in Atlanta during baseball season, then in Hawaii during the off-season.”
“I take it she didn’t like that plan.”
“She was a competitive surfer. Atlanta isn’t exactly near the ocean. So she accused me of not caring about her dreams. But I did care. I just hated living so far apart from her. So I proposed. Not sure what I thought it would fix. I was only twenty-two, so I guess you could say I was young and impulsive.”
“And how did she respond?”
I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Said she needed to get some air. Think about some things. That she was going to run to the store and we’d discuss everything once I’d had a nap.”
“And after she left?”
I swallowed hard. “The next time I saw her, some bastard was holding her down on the bed in the rental unit of my property.”
He nodded, seemingly unmoved by the image I’d painted. After making a few notes in his pad, he met my eyes once more.
“Help me understand something. And I hope I’m not stepping on Detective Marshall’s toes here, but since she couldn’t reach you, you’re left to deal with me. At least for the time being. Why didn’t you mention anything about this argument during the initial investigation?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “Maybe because I knew how it would look. The second I’d mention I got into an argument with my girlfriend, then shot her by accident when I was trying to take out her attacker, people would question the validity of my statement.”
“And how do you think it looks now that it’s five years later and we’re just learning you grossly misrepresented your statement?”
“I didn’t misrepresent. I just didn’t think it necessary to include something that had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to Piper.”
“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Hale. Because that information was necessary.” His expression hardened, the vein in his forehead becoming more pronounced.
“How? That argument was completely unrelated to the fact that some prick broke into our house. Gave me a concussion and shattered my knee. Stabbed my sister in the stomach. Then assaulted Piper.”
“Speaking of which… Can you tell me why you can’t remember what your assailant looked like?” He glanced back down at his notepad. “According to your statement, when you heard someone in the rental unit of your duplex, where you’d been napping, you went into the kitchen.”
I puffed out my chest, holding my head high. I easily had about four inches on this guy, but with the direction his line of questioning was taking, I couldn’t help but feel small compared to him.
“That’s true.”
“Yet you can’t remember anything about his appearance?” He peered at me with increasing suspicion. I was on the verge of asking if I should call my lawyer. But I did nothing wrong.
“I was jet-lagged.” My words were harsh and biting. “And it was dark. I only had a second to realize what was going on before he came after me with one of my own goddamn bats.”
“But you regained consciousness after about ten minutes, correct? Your statement indicates you crawled into the bedroom where he was forcing himself on Piper.”
“That’s correct.”
“And you still can’t pick out some sort of identifying characteristic, other than medium height and build?”
“Being as thorough as you are,” I snipped out sarcastically, “I’m sure you’ve reviewed my medical file. I had a severe concussion. It was a miracle I even survived. Everything was… Everything was blurry. I thought I was about to lose my vision altogether.”
