Assault and Batter

by Jessica Beck

“It just comes with the territory, I guess,” she said.

  “Maybe so.”

  I drove the short distance home, hoping that Momma was gone. If I had to tell her what had happened with Emily, I didn’t know how I was going to hold it together.

  To my relief, she wasn’t there.

  It was time for that cleansing shower I’d promised myself. If there were any tears mixed in with the cascading water, there was no one there to see them but me, and I’m not going to say one way or the other. I felt a little better afterwards, and I slipped on my robe and lay down on my bed. I hadn’t really planned on taking a nap, no matter what I’d told Grace, but evidently my body had other plans for me.

  I woke up from my dreams as a giant hammer tried to slam me into the ground, and no matter how much I ran and tried to avoid it, it was about to crush me when I suddenly awoke.

  It took me a few moments to realize that someone was outside, clearly trying to knock my front door down.

  Chapter 13

  I threw on some clothes and stumbled down the stairs.

  As I opened the door, I asked loudly, “What’s so urgent that you have to break my door down?”

  Max frowned at me, and Peter had his back turned, looking out over the park that abutted our land. “Suzanne, we need to talk.”

  “Fine, then talk.”

  “Not out here,” he said. “Inside.”

  Max might have changed in a great many ways, but that tone of voice hadn’t. He might have been under the impression that it was a no-nonsense delivery, but it just made me dig my heels in. I brushed past him and sat on the porch swing. “You know what? You’re not welcome in my home when you’re acting like this.”

  “Me? What about you?” he asked accusingly.

  “What about me?” I asked, and then I got it. “Oh. Emily came crying to you, didn’t she?”

  “Naturally, she told me what happened,” Max said. “She wasn’t crying about anything. Suzanne, did you really accuse her of killing Jude?”

  “I asked her a question, and she lost it,” I said.

  “What was the question?” Peter asked. “Did you ask her if she killed Jude Williams?”

  “No, that wasn’t it,” I said, and then I turned to Max. I was furious with Emily for turning to Max to rebuke me, but if there was any chance of friendship left between us, I wasn’t going to be the one who told him that his fiancée had made a date before their wedding with her ex-boyfriend.

  “What was it, then?” Peter asked. I didn’t like the man on the best of days, and this clearly wasn’t one of those.

  “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

  He grinned at me. “No, ma’am. My job is to shadow the groom, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

  “If there’s even going to be a wedding now,” Max said.

  “She’s not calling it off because of me, is she?” I asked.

  “No, of course not. She doesn’t want to get married when there’s a cloud of murder over everything,” Max said. He studied me for a few moments before he said softly, “I know the real question you asked her.” He turned to Peter and said, “Wait for me by the car, would you?”

  Peter looked astonished by the request. “I’m not going anywhere, buddy. You might need a witness.”

  “A witness to what, exactly?” I asked.

  Peter just shrugged. “You never know.”

  “Fine, do what you want,” Max said to him before he turned back to me. “I know that Emily met Jude the night he was murdered.”

  “What!” Peter said.

  “Later,” Max said to his best man before he turned back to me. “Suzanne, he was going to try to disrupt the wedding, so Emily thought it might not be a bad idea to confront him before he could. She met him, told him that even if I wasn’t in the picture, she still wouldn’t be interested in him, and that he should move on.”

  “And what did he say to that?” I asked.

  “He didn’t like it, but he finally accepted it,” Max said.

  “Did anyone witness this conversation but the two of them?” I asked.

  “No, they were alone. Why?” Max asked.

  “Then we can’t exactly ask Jude if that’s what really happened, now can we?”

  “Suzanne, do you honestly think she killed him?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want to, but it’s something the police need to investigate. From the way Emily reacted to my questions, she seemed awfully guilty to me of something. If she didn’t kill Jude, why did she react so violently when I asked her about the note? First she tried to deny it, and then she said it was from a long time ago. When I pointed out the date on back, she banned me from your wedding and fired me as the wedding donut caterer. She could have saved herself a lot of grief if she’d just told me the truth when I asked.”

  “She panicked, okay?” Max asked. “When you threatened to turn her in to the police, what was she supposed to do?”

  “We’ve been friends for a very long time,” I said.

  “More than that once upon a time,” he answered.

  “I’m talking about Emily and me, not you and me, Max.”

  “Then shouldn’t you have cut her a little slack?” he asked me.

  “She should have trusted me,” I said.

  Max surprised me by nodding. “Yeah, maybe so, but she had a momentary lapse. She felt as though you were attacking her, and she reacted badly. She was really hurt when it felt as though you were accusing her of murder, Suzanne.”

  “What does she want from me, an apology? She’s not going to get one, because like it or not, she belongs on my list.”

  “What list is that?” Peter asked me.

  “My list of suspects,” I said, staring straight at him.

  “I suppose I’m on it, too, then,” Peter said lightly.

  “You had a fistfight with the man the night he died,” I said. “How could you not be on everybody’s list of suspects? I’m surprised Chief Martin let you leave the precinct.”

  “Sure, Jude and I fought, but I didn’t kill him,” Peter said.

  “What was the fight about, anyway?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but I was doing the same thing that Emily was trying to do. I told him that if he showed up at the wedding, I’d make him live to regret it, and that’s when he threw the first punch at me. It wasn’t the last one, either, but I got in a few good shots of my own. I might have hit him a few times, but I didn’t kill him. Believe it or don’t believe it. I’m past caring what you think.”

  “Do you really think that Peter should be a suspect on your list?” Max asked.

  “As a matter of fact, I think that both of you are,” I replied.

  “Come on, Suzanne. Neither one of us killed him, and neither did Emily,” Max said.

  “So you say,” I said. “While you’re here, answer me this. Do either one of you have an alibi for the time of the murder?”

  Max shrugged. “The police chief asked us the same thing. The only alibis we have are each other. We were in a hotel room in Charlotte having a little two-man bachelor party.”

  “Can the entertainment at least vouch for you? Come on, Max, don’t try to deny that there were women there, too.”

  Max shook his head. “Nope, it was just the two of us. We shared a bottle of single malt whisky, a few really good cigars, and some old stories as we sat on a balcony overlooking the city lights.”

  “Just the two of you?” I asked, not believing him for one second.

  “I’m marrying Emily,” he said. “I don’t want anybody else.” He frowned, and then Max added, “That’s not what this is really about, is it? Suzanne, you’re not jealous, are you?”

  I laughed in his face. “Believe me, I was done with you a long time ago.”

  “Then what is it?” Max asked. “Why come after Emily?”

  “I’m not focusing solely on her, but I’m not giving her a free pass, either,” I said. “I can’t, not after I read that note.”r />
  “Then I’m afraid that Emily’s not going to change her mind. I believe her one thousand percent. I’m really sorry, but if she doesn’t want you at our wedding, I’m going to have to ask you to respect her wishes and not come.”

  “It’s too bad that it’s come to that, but I honestly don’t have any choice.” How had things gotten so out of hand so quickly?

  “Come on, Peter. Let’s go.”

  Peter saluted me as he walked off the porch, but Max didn’t bother looking at me again.

  After they drove away, I had to wonder who had initiated that little visit. Was Emily really expecting an apology from me after the way that she’d lied to me? She might just be overstressed because of the impending wedding, but that was no excuse to lie to me.

  At least not unless she had something to hide.

  As much as I hated it, there was nothing that I could do about it. I wasn’t about to lie to Emily and tell her that everything was all right between us.

  I’d just have to accept the fact that our friendship might just be more collateral damage from one of my unofficial murder investigations.

  I walked back inside, still feeling pretty lousy and wondering where Momma was. I could use a little motherly comfort about now, but she was nowhere to be found. I discovered why when I walked into the kitchen. There was a note there from her, written in her precise hand.

  Suzanne,

  I’m meeting some old friends in Union Square tonight, so you’re on your own for dinner. There are leftovers in the fridge!

  Love You, Kiddo,

  Momma

  Great. She was deserting me in my time of need, just like everyone else. I was clearly in the mood to feel sorry for myself. I thought about calling Grace and asking her to join my little pity party when I suddenly knew who I wanted to call instead.

  Jake had put me off long enough.

  I dialed his number, fully expecting it to go straight to voicemail, but to my surprise, he answered immediately.

  “Jake, what’s going on with you? We need to talk, and I mean right now.” I glanced at the clock in the kitchen before I added, “I can be there by nine, and I don’t want to hear any more excuses about why it’s not a good idea for me to drive three hours to talk to you face-to-face.”

  “Suzanne, there’s no need for that,” he said in a heavy voice.

  “Oh, no. We’re not having a conversation as important as this over the phone,” I said.

  “That’s not the reason. I’ve been sitting in the park near your place for the past half hour working up the nerve to come to the house.”

  I looked outside. “I don’t see you anywhere.” Had he witnessed the confrontation between Peter, Max, and me?

  “That’s because I parked down the road. I can be there in thirty seconds if you still want to see me.”

  “Then I suggest you do get over here right now,” I said, and then I hung up on him.

  Running my fingers through my hair, I didn’t have time to do much more to make myself presentable. Then again, why should I even bother even trying to do that? The chances were very good that I was about to be dumped, so I doubted that it mattered much what I looked like.

  Jake drove up, but I stayed right where I was on the porch, sitting in the swing and trying not to look to anxious or eager.

  “Hey,” he said heavily as he got out and approached me.

  “Hey,” I replied.

  He hesitated so long that I wondered if he’d temporarily lost the power of speech when he finally asked, “Could we walk around the park as we talk? It might make this a little easier to say.”

  Oh, great. This was it. I thought about being difficult about it, but finally I decided that I might as well give in. “Fine,” I said as I got off the swing and walked down the steps toward him.

  As we started walking together, I said, “You don’t need to worry. I won’t make a scene.”

  “Why not? This is pretty upsetting.”

  “I’ve had some time to deal with it,” I said, though that wasn’t entirely true. I couldn’t imagine ever having enough time to get used to the fact that I was about to get dumped by the only man I’d really cared about since my marriage had fallen apart.

  He looked at me with a confused expression on his face. “Suzanne, what are you talking about?”

  “You’re dumping me, aren’t you?” I blurted out.

  “No! Of course not! What gave you that idea?”

  What was going on here? Had I misread all of the signals? “Come on, Jake. You’ve been really distracted, cold, and distant, not to mention impossible to get ahold of. Plus, you act like someone just shot your best friend every time that we talk lately.”

  “My feelings for you haven’t changed,” he said sadly.

  “Then what is it? Why are you so glum?”

  “I’m going to Alaska in four hours,” he said, the words clearly weighing heavily on him.

  “Is that all? Jake, that’s not so bad. I understand that Alaska is wonderful this time of year. You’ll have a great time on vacation.”

  “Suzanne, I’m not going on vacation. My services are being loaned out to the Alaska State Police Department for the next twelve months. It’s some kind of investigator’s exchange program, and I wasn’t given a choice in the matter.”

  “Is it because of the bombing?” I asked. Jake had turned down an assignment to guard the North Carolina governor, and his boss had taken the job instead. When there had been an attempt on the governor’s life, Jake’s boss had been wounded, though the governor himself had escaped unscathed.

  “No, of course not. They tried to present this as a promotion, or at the very least a way to advance my career. I almost quit on the spot.”

  “Doesn’t it sound like an adventure to you?” I asked.

  “Maybe with you, but I don’t want to leave you for a whole year,” he said. Was that a tear crawling down his cheek?

  “You have to do it, Jake. I’m sorry, but I won’t have you turn something like this down because of me, let alone quit your job. A year’s not that bad.”

  “It feels like a lifetime right now,” he said. “Is there any chance that you’d go with me?”

  I thought about leaving my donut shop behind for a year, leaving Grace, leaving my mother. I loved Jake, there was no doubt about that, but I couldn’t just walk away from my life for him. I wasn’t expecting a proposal, but it shocked me to the core when I realized that was the only way that I’d leave everything behind. Who knew? I turned out to be an old-fashioned gal after all.

  I must have hesitated too long, because he answered the question for me. “I know. I felt ridiculous even asking you to leave everything for me.”

  “It’s not that I don’t love you, because I do,” I said.

  “I know that,” he said, wiping away the tear I’d seen. “Forget I even asked. After all, you’re right. What’s a year, anyway? We’ll be back together before you know it.” He hesitated, and then Jake asked, “I can come back twice within the year’s time, but if you could come up once, we’d only have to be apart three months at a time at the longest. Will you come visit me?”

  “I promise,” I said. “Jake, I’m so sorry,” I added.

  “Don’t be,” he answered. “We’ll be fine. Well, I’d better get going.”

  “You just got here. Stay. Please.”

  “I would if I could, but there’s just no time. I’m going to be pushed for time as it is. I love you, Suzanne.”

  “I love you, too,” I said. “Can’t you at least kiss me good-bye?”

  He nodded, and then Jake took me in his arms. I did my best to breathe him in, to capture the essence of him to hold me over for the next few months, but it was impossible.

  Finally, he broke free, and as he got into his car, ready to leave me for a year, I yelled out, “Call me when you get through security.”

  “Don’t worry. That’s not going to be a problem for me,” he said, managing a feeble grin. “The job has some per
ks, after all.”

  “At least promise to call me when you get there, then,” I said.

  “I will. Good-bye, Suzanne.”

  “Bye,” I said, and I stood there waving as he drove away.

  He was really gone.

  Why hadn’t I said yes when he’d asked me to join him? Was I really that set in my ways that I couldn’t do something that might ensure my future happiness? Was I afraid of what a commitment like that would mean to me? Or had I just been caught off guard by the suddenness of it all? I hadn’t lost my boyfriend, at least not metaphorically.

  I was still standing there looking out into the growing night when I heard footsteps approaching. Had Jake delayed his trip long enough to give me a proper farewell?

  No.

  It was Grace. She’d walked up from her house, and the second I saw her, I fell apart.

  “Grace, I might have just made the biggest mistake in my life, and there’s no way to fix it now.”

  She hugged me tightly, stroking my back lightly as she said, “It’s okay, Suzanne. We’ll figure out a way to make it all better.”

  I just wished that I believed her.

  Jake was gone, and I was alone, by choice.

  And I didn’t see any way to make things right again.

  Chapter 14

  Two hours later, after a steady supply of sweet tea, homemade cookies, and apple pie, I was finally starting to feel a little better about my situation with Jake. Momma had come home an hour before, and she’d quickly joined in the support group. Both women kept reassuring me that they understood why I’d turned Jake’s offer to join him down, but it still didn’t help make me feel much better.

  In the middle of a sentence, I yawned loudly, exhausted more from the emotion of the evening than any real weariness.

  “Suzanne, look at the time. You’d better get off to bed right now if you’re going to get any sleep tonight,” Momma said.

  “I could try, but I doubt that I’d sleep a wink,” I said as I yawned again.

  “You should at least make an attempt to get some rest,” Grace added as she stood and stretched. “I’ve got a big day tomorrow myself.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked, wondering if my friend might not be able to help me in my investigation the next day. I relied on Grace’s company as well as her astute observations, and I hated the thought of digging deeper into Jude Williams’s murder without her.