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That must have pissed someone off…
“What made you do that?”
“I don’t know… intuition maybe?”
Crowley lifted a brow. “You don’t trust your employees?”
“I wouldn’t put it that way. It was just that, with so much going on, I wanted a little extra assurance. Just being careful.”
Nah. She doesn’t trust Kim. Good.
“Right.” Crowley studied Monica for several long seconds before he spoke again. “You know anything about Tommy Woods?”
Tommy Woods, local mob affiliated loan shark?
Monica frowned, thinking for a moment before she answered. “No… it doesn’t ring a bell. Should I know something about him?”
“Not unless you make a habit of breaking the law,” Crowley answered, with a chuckle. “In the crime world, the man is a king… and your husband was one of his loyal subjects. Died owing the man close to two hundred grand. Based on what we know about Woods, we think he’s a viable suspect. He may be trying to intimidate you in an attempt to collect what he’s owed.”
Monica shrugged. “He can have his damned money, I don’t care. Kellen had that covered in death benefits – take it from there and leave me the hell alone.”
“Ma’am, Woods is a criminal. We’re not in the business of giving them what they want after they’ve committed crimes.”
“I don’t really care what business you’re in – I care about my life. If paying him money I don’t even want is what it takes to leave me the hell alone, it’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“We don’t even know for sure that it’s him.”
“Then why the hell are we talking about it?” Monica snapped.
“We’re updating you on the case, ma’am. Do you know anyone else who might be interested in harassing you? Anyone who’d want to hurt you?”
“Likethis?” Monica said, then pushed out a sigh. “No. Not like this. Is that all? I’m tired, and would like to rest, please.”
“Well, actually—”
“Yes,” I said, stepping forward. “I think that’s enough. You heard her.”
“We have more questions.”
“And they can wait until she’s feeling better.”
Crowley and Bauer exchanged a look, then nodded, briefly making me wonder if I was going to have to physicallyputthem out, but then Crowley inclined his head in my direction.
“Fair enough. Mrs. Stuart, we’ll speak with you again soon.”
“Yeah, make sure you arrange that with her lawyer,” I said, subtly guiding them toward the door. I didn’t see Kora, or anyone, in the waiting room, so I went back to the bed to find Monica curled up on her side, eyes closed, face half-buried in her pillow.
I dropped into the chair beside the bed to get eye level with her before I reached out to gently touch her arm. “Hey… you good?” I asked, when she opened her eyes to look at me, revealing the impending glossiness of tears.
“No. Not at all. Thank you for getting them out of here.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that. You’ve been through a lot. You need time to process, and grieve, and… heal.”
She scoffed, and then rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. “I didn’t think you cared about all of that. Right? Mr.Leave Me Alone.”
I grinned. “Okay. I deserve that. I was harsh with you because I was pissed, and scared, and… pissed. I took a fucked-up situation out on you, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for hurting your feelings.”
It took a few seconds for her to give me any indication she’d even heard what I said, but then she turned in my direction just enough to look me in the face. “It’s worth a lot. Apology accepted.”
