by Leonie Gant
Chapter Eighteen
I only had time to have a quick shower and get dressed before there was a pounding at the door. I wondered if they taught that heavy handed knock at the police academy. As I walked to the door, I threw a reassuring glance at Sean.
“Don’t worry, it will be okay. I’ve got your back remember.”
Sean smiled gratefully. Admittedly, it was a really tense kind of smile but I was going to put it into the win column.
“You really need to lighten up on the knocking,” I said as I opened the door.
Griffin walked in, slowing down as he spotted Sean.
“Where’s Ramos?” I asked, looking behind him.
“Considering what you said on the phone I thought it was a good idea to keep her out of it until I see what we are dealing with.”
He was talking to me but his eyes were completely fastened on Sean. Sean for his part looked ready to bolt, and personally I didn’t blame him. I’d been on the receiving end of Griffin’s glares. I could appreciate Sean’s need to be anywhere else. I walked over to Sean and put an arm around his shoulder, partly in support and partly to make sure he didn’t run.
“This is Sean, I met him yesterday.”
“And you let him stay here last night,” Griffin said incredulously.
I stopped. “How did you know that?”
“Detective, remember.”
I looked around. I had to admit, the made up couch was kind of a giveaway.
“Sean is the one who has something to say.”
The three of us sat down and Sean told Griffin everything about taking the photos, going to Ryan Hendricks and about how we ended up in the place where we were right now. I kept my eyes on Griffin and could see his jaw get tighter and tighter. When he saw the last of the photos and I pointed out the man I’d seen at Adam’s kidnapping yesterday, he ran his hand over his face.
“You’ve both well and truly stepped in it haven’t you?” he asked, with what I’m assuming was a rhetorical question. I’m not a cop and even I could see we were in trouble.
He pointed to the photo of the guy who was handing Adam what looked like some pills.
“This here is Vincent Mendoza. He is the nephew of Johnny Rollins, one of the big guys in the illegal drug trade in LA. Vincent is a bit of an idiot but he is the only child of Johnny’s much loved older sister. Johnny has had to pull this moron out of the fire more than once and people have a tendency to get very hurt when Johnny is protecting family. The guy you identified as one of the kidnappers yesterday is part of Johnny’s crew.” Looking at me he said regretfully, “I’m sorry, Trudie. I can’t deal with this alone. It is way too big. If Ryan Hendricks confronted Adam about these photos and Adam told Mendoza, he could have been killed in any number of ways. The tox screen was clear for drugs but there could be something there that is new that we don’t have a test for.”
I nodded. “Sean, this is your life we’re talking about. You get a say in this as well.”
Sean looked surprised but there was no way I was going to let Griffin take this choice away from him. I was surprised to realize that it looked like I still had some residual anger in me regarding the way Griffin had treated me. Looking at Griffin, I could see that he saw that as well.
“Ryan Hendricks is dead because of the photos I took,” Sean said quietly.
“No,” I said vehemently, putting my arms around him and pulling him into a hug that I probably needed just as much as he did. “Ryan Hendricks may still have died from natural causes. Even if he didn’t and these guys killed him, you are not responsible, they are.” I said it fiercely, not wanting him to hold onto that guilt.
“The right thing would be to help the cops wouldn’t it?” he said quietly.
“Probably,” I said reluctantly.
“Do you think they’ll keep me safe?” he asked.
“I think,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “that Detective Griffin is a good cop. I think that he will do everything that he can to protect you.”
The last was said looking over Sean’s head at Griffin, pleading with him not to make a liar of me.
Griffin nodded and that seemed to be enough for Sean.
Griffin got on the phone to Ramos. Once he’d finished the conversation he turned to Sean and me.
“Alright, the way we’re going to play this is that you are going to give me those photos. As of this moment you are an anonymous source. I am going to try to keep your name out of this.”
“Thanks, Griffin,” I said quietly.
“Don’t thank me yet. At this stage we don’t know how much information the bad guys have on you. Adam’s kidnapping is not my case. I’m supposed to have nothing to do with it. Ramos is going to swing by for the photos and then she and I are going to do some hunting and we’ll see if we can get a better handle on what’s going on.”
While waiting for Ramos, Sean decided he wanted to do some more work in the garden with Miss Betsy. As he was leaving I pulled him aside and indicated to Griffin that I needed some privacy.
“How are you going with all this?” I asked.
“Not a problem,” he said, with what I was thinking was more of his teenage hyped bravado.
“Really?” I asked with a skeptical look on my face.
“Yeah, maybe not so much,” he conceded, once again looking like a scared boy.
“Griffin will help you.” I tried to sound reassuring. “He’s a good guy.”
I looked over at Griffin as he picked up the photo I had of my brother and sister.
“So if you’re Gertrude, are these Norman and Hildegarde?”
“Your name is Gertrude,” snorted Sean as he tried to contain his laughter.
Walking over to Griffin I wrenched the photo out of his hand.
Looking at his smirking face I called out to Sean as he was walking out the door, “I’ve changed my mind, he isn’t a good guy.”
Griffin laughed and lowered his voice. “Oh, honey, I’m very good.”
Flustered, I put the photo back down.
“Their names are Jamie and Katie. Mom learned her lesson after me and refused to name them until after she was out of hospital and had forgotten the pain and the drugs.”
Griffin picked up another photo of my whole family which had been taken when on holiday.
“You look like you have a happy family.”
I smiled as I looked at the photo.
“I do. None of us is perfect but we fit well together. My parents adore each other and they love us. My sister Katie wants to be an actress so she thinks I have the coolest job in the world. She always wants to hear about everything that happens to me. Jamie is still in school but he’ll be finishing up soon. Sean reminds me of him a bit.”
“Is that why you took in a street kid and let him sleep on your couch. Something I might add, which was really stupid.”
“Look,” I said defensively. “I know it wasn’t the smartest idea, but he was alone. I couldn’t handle the thought of what could possibly happen to him. Maybe it was about time somebody started caring about him.
Griffin’s expression softened. “I just worry about you.”
“You’re worried about me,” I snorted. “You’re the guy who was going to get me deported.”
“I’m sorry for what I did,” Griffin said regretfully. “Forcing you like that was pretty low, I get that now. I didn’t mean to hurt you but where I come from, you do what needs to be done. My job is to find the worst people out there. Sometimes I need a reminder that trampling over the innocent to do that isn’t the best way. If it makes any difference, if you want to walk away now and have nothing else to do with this, you can. I won’t hold the assault charges over you anymore.”
“So I could just get you to leave and I would never have to see you again.”
“Sure, if that’s what you want.”
I looked at him, wondering how serious he was. “I’m not walking away,” I said soft
ly.
“Good to know,” Griffin said.
“So,” I asked, “what about your family?”
“Just have my Dad. Mom bailed on us when I was a baby and we haven’t seen her since.” He shrugged.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be nosy,” I said.
“No more nosy than I was asking about your family.”
Ramos came through the open door and stopped suddenly, staring pointedly at Griffin. “Ready to go?” she said.
“Yeah I am.” He put his hand gently on my arm. “Remember to stay safe. If Sean comes up with anything else, I want you to call me straight away.”
“Sure, of course,” I said.
He stopped at the door as if to say something else but then abruptly turned and left.