AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His keen eyes on Chess, Ikuta asked, “What’s your relationship with Derrick?”
“We’re friends-” Chess paused then corrected herself, “Well, wewerefriends. Now we’re just coworkers.”
“Were friends?” Ikuta’s eyebrows flew upwards. “Not anymore?”
“Not anymore,” Chess confirmed.
“What happened?”
“We had a falling out.”
“Why did you fall out?” Ortega asked while jotting something on her notepad.
Chess and Tazeem traded glances before she answered, “I found out that he was sabotaging my team.”
Chess went on to explain the fine details of everything that had happened with Derrick. With every word she spoke, Ikuta’s gaze became sharper, which made Tazeem uncomfortable. It seemed like Chess was making herself more of a suspect with each revelation.
His gaze still on Chess, Ikuta said, “You must’ve been very angry.”
Chess nodded. “I was.”
Ikuta’s tone became icier. “Angry enough to do something to him?”
“Not something likethat.” Seemingly recalling the severed hand, Chess cringed and trembled in clear disgust. “I only wanted to make him quit the team. I would never- you know.” Emphatically, she insisted, “-I would never.”
“Have you and Derrick been in contact since you fought?” Ortega asked.
“No, I did send him a few messages and try to call him,” Chess explained, “but he didn’t pick up and didn’t answer.”
“Why were you trying to call him?” Ikuta asked.
Chess explained her deal with Richard and that she was trying to get Derrick to get back to work.
“That’s very generous of you,” Ikuta said. His mocking tone made it very clear that it wasn’t a compliment.
That rubbed Tazeem the wrong way, and before he could help himself he chimed in with, “Well, they were friends. That’s what you do for a friend.”
Ikuta’s lips crooked in a half-smile. “If my friend stabbed me in the back, I wouldn’t be trying to help him keep his job.”
Tazeem offered him a stony glare. “Well, people are different.”
The two men stared each other down in what could only be described as a silent war for dominance.
Chess cut into the silent tension. “I know what he did to me was horrible, but he’s been a friend for a long time, and I care about him and his family. If he lost his job, he’d lose his health insurance cover. That means that his wife, who is battling cancer and is also my friend, wouldn’t get the medical attention she needs. That’s why I tried to help him.”
Her monologue was enough to draw Ikuta’s attention back to her.
“You say he was a friend.” Ikuta asked, “But is that all he was?”
“If you’re implying that there was something romantic going on between us, then sorry to burst your bubble.” Annoyance flashed in Chess’s expression as she firmly stated, “We were just friends.”
“Nothing romantic?” Ortega asked.
“Not even a little bit,” Chess insisted.
The detectives asked a few more random questions before stating that they’d likely need to question Chess again at a later date. She wasn’t to leave town.
“They can’t be serious,” Tazeem ranted as he closed the door after the officers left. “Do they really think that you cut off Derrick’s hand then mailed it to Synovent with your name plastered right on it? You’re not that dumb. Nobody’s that dumb.”
