AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She looked like she was doing her job. Taking one day at a time.
And avoiding eye contact with me like she was paid to.
“Lee Bridgewater.” He took a seat in the same chair Hernandez had vacated earlier, leaving her to stand by the door. “I’m Special Agent Carlson.” The asshole paused like he expected me to tell him how happy I was to meet him.
Fuck that.
“Is Dennis okay?”
Carlson opened his mouth to speak, but Hernandez beat him to the punch. “He’s fine.” She pushed off the wall, just as she had earlier. As Carlson turned to gape at her, she kept her expression emotionless. “He’s resting in a room down the hall.”
“They hurt him?” I asked, as much to keep up the ruse that she hadn’t been here as to get her to finally answer my question.
Except she reacted the same, pressing her lips into a thin line and avoiding eye contact as she stepped closer.
Carlson didn’t seem to like not being the center of attention. He tossed the paper he’d been holding on the table in front of me before slapping his hand down on top of it. “She said he’s fine. Now, before I read you your rights, I need you to know that the room is being recorded.”
While the light on the camera shined red, the stupid fucker turned the paper under his palm, reading my Miranda rights to me as he pointed at each word, like I was some toddler who was just learning how to read. Took everything in me to bite my tongue and keep from saying what was really on my mind.
I’d decided earlier to try to play nice. More flies with honey, or some shit like that. But the condescending prick was making it hard to abide by that decision. Made it hard not to stand up and put my fist through his face.
He sat back after he finished reading, and with a smug grin he asked, “Do you understand your rights?”
“Understand them just fine.”
That grin grew. “We’re here today because you were arrested for the murder of Donald Baker. Your innocence and guilt in this, quite frankly, isn’t an issue.” He shifted in his chair and tilted his head to one side, his gaze sliding over me like he was looking for a clue.
I didn’t give him any.
“The evidence I have against you is conclusive and overwhelming. So I’m not going to ask you if you did it.” He righted his head as he sat back and crossed his legs. “I’m not going to ask you if you did it. I’m here to ascertain what kind of guy you are. Find out if this is the first time you’ve murdered someone or if you and Dennis have done this before.”
“Never murdered anyone.” Even as I said it, my chest grew tight.
For a split second, memories flashed in my head—gun fire and dead bodies and explosions that shook the air. All around me, insurgents were shooting at me and my men, the hot desert sun beating down on my burned skin.
It wasn’t murder, taking them out. It wasn’t murder when your own government told you it was okay. When killing them was the only option to protect the men under your command.
It wasn’t murder when it was war.
As if he sensed my guilt, Carlson smirked. “I’ve got one question to ask. Why’d you do it?”
“Didn’t do nothin’.”
“Answer the question, Bridgewater. Why’d you do it?”
“I answered you. Don’t know what more you expect me to say because I didn’t do it.”
“Whether you did it or not is not up for discussion.” He lifted his hand from the table, pointing at the camera near the ceiling. “You’re familiar with Donald Baker’s apartment complex, right?”
He uncrossed his legs and leaned toward the table. The hand he kept there hadn’t stopped moving. He’d been rubbing his thumb over the tip of his middle finger. Now, he pressed his fingers to the tabletop.
“You’re familiar with the video cameras there, at the Sun Prairie Condominiums. The last time you were there, you waited to torture Donald Baker until you were in the locker rooms where there are no cameras. But what you seem to have forgotten is that there are cameras all over the rest of the complex. We’ve got you and Rylan Dennis on camera the night before last.”
“Great.” Was sure I was on camera that night. Just as I was sure Dennis wasn’t with me. “That’s perfect.”
“We’ve got Donald Baker on camera outside his building talking with his murderers.”
“Fantastic news. Then you can see it wasn’t me and Dennis.”
