AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I just want to help protect you. If we can take Gelbero down, you’ll both be safe.”
“And if you don’t, I’ll be dead and my son will be in the hands of a maniac,” I retorted.
“Then just tell me,” he said, shifting the papers in the folder. “Do you know this man?”
A picture of Jack slid in front of me. He was smoking a cigarette, standing on his front stoop. I picked it up and studied it, wondering what this man could want with Jack. It wouldn’t do me any good to lie to this man. He already knew that I knew Jack.
“Yes, he’s my neighbor.”
“How well do you know him?”
“As well as anyone knows their neighbors.”
He shuffled the papers again, then pulled out another picture. “This was taken the other night. That’s you, isn’t it?”
It was a picture of Jack guiding us over to his house during the fire. “Yes.”
“That doesn’t look very innocent.”
“It is,” I said, shoving the picture away. “There was a fire, and it was right next to my house. Jack got us out and brought us to safety.”
“Why do you think he did that?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.
“Seriously? Why did he help someone out? You know, if this was anyone else, you wouldn’t question why a neighbor helped out someone during a fire.”
He tapped the picture, pointing to the concerned look on Jack’s face. “This doesn’t seem like a man that’s being neighborly. Are you aware that Gelbero hired a lawyer to get Jack McClain out of prison?”
“Why would I know that?”
“And are you aware that Gelbero owns the house Mr. McClain lives in?”
I sighed, tired of the mind games this man was playing with me. “What are you getting at?”
“I think you know what I’m getting at. This man is working forGelbero, and if you get too close to him, you could end up caught in the crossfire.”
I thought back to the locker room, about the man who shoved me up against the lockers. I was already in the middle.
“Ms. West, what is it?”
I licked my lips, wondering how much I could tell this man. “I…When your officer came to get me, I had to go to the locker room to grab my things. Someone grabbed me from behind and slammed me up against the lockers.”
Interested, he leaned forward. “What happened?”
“He told me to tell him that he had until midnight.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know, but he seemed to think I knew. He wouldn’t tell me anything else.”
“And then what happened?”
“He punched me in the ribs and left.”
He shoved out of his seat and walked around the table. “Ma’am, would you mind showing me?”
I lifted the hem of my scrubs, showing the large red mark that was quickly turning into a bruise. He let out a low whistle, shaking his head. “He wasn’t messing around.”
“I know,” I gritted out. “I felt it in his fist.”
