AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Drunk and disorderly last night,” Zoe supplied. “Got a bit ugly.” She touched Vikki’s shoulder, saying, “I’ll get you that coffee before you drive home.”
“Thanks,” Vikki replied, clutching her injured arm. “I just had to have some glass removed at the hospital. I’m fine,” she told Nico.
“You sure?”
“Well, it hurts like a bitch, but I’ll live.”
Nico flicked his eyes to Frank. “Who did this?”
When Frank inclined his head toward the holding cell, Nico almost did a double take to ensure no one else was in there. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack,” Frank said. “According to Vikki here, old George spent a good couple of hours at the bar nursing a bottle of whiskey until Wade saw fit to cut him off. That’s when he turned violent.”
“He was acting crazy,” Vikki said, shooting an agitated glance in George’s direction. “Just started smashing things, shouting at the top of his lungs.”
“And that’s . . . unusual for him?” Nico asked.
Vikki shrugged. “I just moved here, so I wouldn’t know.”
“He’s never acted like this to my knowledge,” Frank answered. “The man barely shows his face around town anymore, let alone cause any trouble.”
Nico felt a twinge of misgiving. Perhaps his last visit had been one too many for George. “Did he say anything while he was going off?”
Vikki frowned. “Not really. He did shout ‘stupid bitch’ at me right before he threw the bottle that did this—” She lifted her bandaged wrist. “I stopped listening after that.”
“Fair enough,” Nico said “What about Wade? Where’s he now?”
“He gave his statement earlier,” Frank replied. “Went back to the bar to clean up.”
“And you’re sure you’re okay to drive?” Nico eyed Vikki with concern. Her eyes were bloodshot, both from lack of sleep and—judging by her smudged makeup—some crying. She also seemed far too jittery, the aftereffects of adrenaline no doubt still working their way through her system. He didn’t like to assume anything about a woman’s constitution, but the idea of letting her get behind the wheel did not sit well with his conscience.
Before she could answer, the back door swung open and Seth sauntered in, work bag slung over one shoulder. When he spotted Vikki, he stopped short. Then his face morphed from shock to anger as he realized she’d been hurt.
“Good, you’re here,” Nico said, halting whatever barrage of questions Seth had loaded up ready to fire. Probably the same ones he’d just finished asking. “Vikki could use a ride home.”
“I’m fine, really—”
“No problem.” Seth had quickly regained control of his face and was back to his almost expressionless self.
Vikki looked spooked. “But, my car . . .”
“We can drive it over to your place later,” Frank said.
“Oh, okay.”
Zoe returned, holding a fresh coffee in a lidded Styrofoam cup, which she handed to Vikki with a smile. “Here you go.”
“You okay with this?” Nico asked.
“Um, sure. Yes.” When she’d made up her mind, Vikki followed Seth out to one of the cruisers, and they were gone.
Nico wasn’t sure what was going on between those two, but he hoped the brief time alone together might help Seth’s cause, or at least nudge things along some. After backing him up with the whole Kyle Garrett thing, he owed the kid a lot—including an apology that was becoming overdue.
“Christ,” Nico said, collapsing into his chair a minute later. “Was it a full moon last night?”
“Must have been.” As expected, Frank had followed him into his office for the daily morning chit-chat. Right now, he slumped in the chair on the other side of Nico’s desk. “Between Wade’s place, yours, and a tourist who tried to drive back to his hotel drunk and wrapped himself around a lamppost instead, it was bedlam. I had to call Zoe in for backup.”
“What time was that?”
