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“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. The police aren’t looking for you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Troy is still alive. You didn’t kill him, so you can relax.”
“He’s alive?” Lena closed her eyes and sank back against the sofa. “That’s even worse.”
“No, it’s going to be okay.”
“How did you find this out?”
“I have resources. My buddy, Luke, the attorney I know, checked with his work. Troy called in sick the morning you stabbed him, but his boss said he sounded like he was calling from a hospital. Luke called around to a few emergency rooms. He got lucky when he called a girlfriend of his that works at Medford Mercy. She told him that Troy had been in there needing stitches in his stomach. Apparently, he told the doctors he had some sort of accident while repairing a garage door. So, you’re completely in the clear.”
She didn’t exactly look thrilled. In fact, she started to cry. “It would be better if he were dead. Now I have to keep running. I’d rather go to jail. At least I’d stay alive there.”
“Lena, I won’t let him find you. I won’t let him hurt you. You need to trust me. You won’t go to jail for stabbing him either. You were defending yourself. We can have him picked up for beating you. He won’t have a chance once the police see you. They will believe you. I promise.”
“No. You don’t understand. Even if he goes to jail now, he’ll get out eventually, and he’ll come after me. The only thing we’ll accomplish is making him madder.”
“Okay, we’ll do it your way. We won’t have him picked up, but let me file a police report so that we have proof that he beat you. And at least let me help you file for a divorce. You can stay hidden; he won’t find you here.”
“How can I stay hidden if I file for a divorce?”
I scooted next to Lena and put my arm around her shoulder. She flinched a little, but I left it there anyway. I needed her to trust me, and the best way I knew how to do that was to let her realize I wouldn’t hurt her. I didn’t want her to go through the rest of her life being afraid of men, me in particular.
“Well, I may appear to be your average Joe bartender, but underneath all this …” I gestured to myself by splaying my fingers out and letting my hand flow down in front of me from my head to my waist. “I do know something about the law. So, I guess it’s my turn to tell you something about me. I said I’d tell you my secret if you told me yours, so here goes. I was going to be an attorney. My parents wanted—or my mother wanted—me to be an attorney. I graduated college but never continued with law school. Brodie talked me into joining the police department with him instead. Told me I was too tough to be a lawyer and that I should be a cop with him. My brother knows me pretty well; we both knew I’d hate sitting in an office. So we joined the police department, went through the academy together. We were both cops for a while. Then, one day I got this wild hair up my ass and decided police work was too unforgiving, too violent. I’m an extremely placid guy, can’t handle too much violence. Anyway, I talked Brodie into going into business with me to become Private Investigators and move away from the city. Sounded like a great idea to him. We grew up out here in this town, and we had both grown tired of the hustle and bustle of big city life, so we came back home. The thing is, there aren’t too many people in this little town who need a good P.I.”
I shifted around so she could lean against me now that she seemed more relaxed.
“I acquired the bar from my Uncle Joe a year ago. He died and left everything he had to my brother and me. My brother got his house, and I got the bar. I’m not sure why he did it that way, but he made a stipulation in his will that I couldn’t sell the bar for at least ten years. I guess my uncle knew me better than I knew myself. I hated what I was doing, the investigative work.
“The small amount of work we did find turned out to be in nearby cities and was mostly spying on cheating spouses, and those weren’t frequent enough to pay any bills. This is a small, sleepy town, and everyone knows everyone, so there was never any P.I. work around here. I tried working the bar by myself, but I was more interested in playing with the band, so Brodie volunteered to do most of the bartending. It seems he needed something to do with his time, too, since our Private Investigating firm went belly-up. Plus, he figured it was a great way to meet the ladies. Unfortunately for him, this is a small town, and there aren’t very many ladies around. But he’s okay with it. He claims that the ones who come passing through are perfect. No strings attached. He’s been sort of on these one-night stand kicks now since … well, anyway, he’s not in a good frame of mind for getting involved right now. That’s the way he likes it.
“So, we still have our P.I. license, but as I said, it’s not a thriving business. My friend, Luke, in Portland, specializes in family law. He can file the papers for you, and Troy will never know where you are.” When she remained silent, I grew concerned. “You do want a divorce, don’t you?”
“Troy will never agree to a divorce.”
