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"Mhm," Leah nodded, as both she and Edward stood across the street, mindful not to be seen by him.
He was not the first person they had approached, and experience already showed Leah that she was fortunate to have Edward by her side. While the several people they had spoken to seemed furious with her mother, they still didn't appear capable of murder. They either lacked the desire to do it or the means. Both she and Edward ended up agreeing that neither of them was who they were looking for.
As Leah watched the man, she remembered how he almost attacked her mother, when he found out that she was the one who gave his wife money, so she could escape him and take their child with her, because of his abuse. Leah shuddered at the thought that she would need to speak to this despicable man, but she knew that he had both the motive and the necessary desire to harm her mother. She was certain of it.
"Come," she pulled him instinctively by the hand, and the moment she realized what she had done, she immediately let go of him. "We need to speak to him before he disappears in the crowd."
She didn't wait to see if Edward was following her. However, something told her that he was. That realization made her all the more confident that they were on the right track. This man was either responsible for what happened to her mother, or he had to know something about it. Whichever option of the two was the correct one, she was determined to find out.
As soon he noticed her crossing the street and walking toward him, the man spat out the piece of straw he was holding between his rotten, yellow teeth, and grinned at her. She approached him and was immediately stunned by the overpowering scent of alcohol.
"Well, if it ain't the angel of mercy's child!" the man tried to make it as offensive as possible, and the sarcasm in his voice was palpable. Leah tried not to pay any attention to that.
"I take it then that you remember my mother," Leah spoke boldly, much more so than she thought she would. She remembered why she was here, and that provided her with all the strength she needed to demand answers from the only man she thought was in possession of them.
"How could I forget the woman who ruined my life?" he growled at her, and as he did so, another onslaught of his sour breath hit her nostrils. Instinctively, she felt Edward's presence right behind her. She asked him to allow her to lead this conversation and interfere only if it became necessary. He agreed.
"She did not ruin your life," Leah corrected the man. "Youruined it."
"Bah!" He waved his hand at her dismissively. "Mary left because your mother filled 'er head with nonsense!"
"Mary left because you were beating her!" Leah snarled, unable to believe that someone could be so reluctant to see the truth and accept his responsibility in it.
"Well, I sure hope she's happy, wherever she is, b'cuz I ain't takin' her back," he shook his head. "As for yer mother, I just wish I'd given 'er a piece of my mind while I still 'ad the chance!"
"You scoundrel!" Leah felt rage boil inside of her, but she had to keep herself calm, if she were to find out anything from this intoxicated man whose brain probably wasn't working properly any longer due to all the liquor he had taken. "You had something to do with her death, didn't you!?" she demanded, realizing that this conversation was not really going the way she planned it would. However, she was losing control. She could not keep quiet any longer.
His eyes turned into two little slits on his face as he looked at her. A dark cloud had appeared over his head. The lines on his face became more prominent, sinister somehow. He had all the seeming of a killer. Leah was almost certain now that he was the man she had been looking for. There was evil oozing out of his every pore as he stared at her.
"It ain't my fault yer mother got 'erself into trouble with the wrong people," he said, his every word squeezed through clenched teeth. He was obviously trying to control himself as well, and he was doing a far better job of it than she was. "But goin' round, accusin' people of doin' somethin' to 'er... I don't advise you be doin' that, Missy."
"I will find out what happened to her!" Leah exclaimed, but it was a promise more for her than for this man.
"Then, per'aps the same thing could 'appen to you, too–" he told her smirking at her, in a way she despised.
"If you dare to make threats like that, in broad daylight, then you must be capable of doing much worse after sundown," she glared back at him, bold and defiant. She was unafraid, unapologetic. She would get to the bottom of this and there was no way this scum would scare her away.
"Keep threatenin' and I'll–" the man started, raising his hand to her, but was instantly stopped from acting upon his intention as Edward grabbed him by the wrist. He looked up at Edward, who hovered over Leah, like a protective force, keeping her safe.
"I know you are used to getting physical with women," Edward snarled at him angrily, "but that was because they had no one to defend them.Youwere supposed to defend them, and instead, you brought them more harm than anyone else. This woman, however, has me. And I suggest you keep that hand close to your body, lest you find it broken or even worse."
Leah listened to those words leave Edward's lips, almost unable to believe that he was the one actually saying them. She had never seen him so furious, so utterly reckless and promising to harm someone in such a manner. It filled her with a tender sensation, knowing that he was doing that because of her. He was keeping her safe, as he had promised.
The man yanked his hand away from Edward's grip, rubbing his wrist with his fingers. "I ain't done nothin'," he added, before he turned away and started to leave.
Leah wanted to go after him, but she felt Edward's hand gently grab her by the elbow, keeping her in place. She turned to him, confused.
"But he's getting away!" she told him incredulously.
"He isn't the one, Leah," Edward shook his head.
"How can you be sure?" Leah demanded to know, looking in the direction where the man had already disappeared into the crowd. Now, he was just another nameless face.
"Trust me," Edward assured her. "I've known such men all my life. He is angry with the world, and sure, he is angry with your mother as well, for putting him in his place, but he is no killer. He doesn't have it in him."
"You don't know that," Leah was still unconvinced.
"He is a coward, Leah," Edward pointed out. "A coward that hits women. If he were a real man, he would never do that. He uses his strength on those weaker than him, because he can't take anyone his own size. That is what a coward is. And cowards aren't killers. It takes a strong man, a bold man. A man who isn't afraid of the consequences. This man," he glanced in the direction where he had disappeared, "is drinking because he knows he is powerless. He knows he is too weak and too much of a coward to do anything about the things he hates about himself. So, he is perpetually stuck in a vicious cycle of punishing himself by punishing others."
