“I need to call Mathew,” Emmitt announced as he pulled his phone from the clip on his belt.
“Mathew who?” Jessica asked, hitting the earth as though she couldn’t pull her ripcord in time. “Mathew Kalling?”
“Uh, no?” Emmitt croaked unconvincingly. “I . . . uh, meant . . .”
“How do you know Mathew?” Jessica asked, pulling the curling iron back from Evie’s grip and wielding her weapon again.
“Listen, I’ll have time to explain everything later. Or actually Mathew will. Just let me get him on the phone. He knows some of the best lawyers in the country. Let him help. You’re going to need it.”
“How. Do. You. Know. Him?” She clenched the hot iron tighter as she closed the gap between them, suddenly running out of cord and stopping abruptly.
“He’s my brother. He called me down here to—”
“Spy on me?”
“No,” Emmitt corrected quickly. “It wasn’t like that. He was worried. You have no idea how hard it was for him to ask me to do this. Mathew went into a whole lot of sibling debt to get me to do this.”
“And all for nothing,” Jessica snapped as she slammed the iron down on her station. “Call him if you want, but I don’t want his help.”
“You won’t need it,” Evie said quickly. “I was here; I heard you tell Pierre multiple times to back off. To leave. He didn’t. It’ll be self-defense.”
“No way,” Jessica asserted, cutting her hands through the air. “Pierre will replace you on this movie and do everything in his power to make sure you never work again as an actress. Emmitt, if you really want to help, get her out of here and say she was with you when this happened.”
“I’m not going to lie,” Evie argued. “I’m—” The sound of sirens cut off her words.
“Emmitt, you know I’m right,” Jessica implored. “Get her out of here.”
“Come on,” Emmitt said quietly, taking Evie by the elbow. “I’m still calling Mathew.”
“Do whatever you want. I’m not afraid of this. I’m not afraid anymore.”
That was easy to say. Even after Evie and Emmitt stepped out she still believed it. That was right up until the uniformed office stepped into the trailer looking deadly serious. There was a brief moment she regretted sending Emmitt and Evie away. But it passed as she remembered the destruction it would cause.
“I did it,” she blurted before the officer could say anything. “I burned him with the curling iron.”
“Okay,” the officer said, drawing the word out slowly. “My name is Officer Kyle Blunt. I’m just going to ask you a few questions. Is that all right?”
“What could there be to ask? You got a call about a man who was burned with a curling iron. I just told you I did it.”
“The why is important,” he said, leaning casually against the doorframe. “I’d like to know why you did it.”
“I asked him to leave. We have a history. A relationship years ago and I was uncomfortable. I told him I quit, that I would have my supplies out of here within the hour. But he wouldn’t go.”
“Did he attack you?”
“No,” Jessica said, refusing to lie even if it made the situation easier. “He didn’t touch me, but he blocked me in and would not move backward.”
“Is there anyone who can corroborate your story?”
“Are you arresting me?” she asked, drawing in a deep breath.
“Yes,” Pierre yelled as he stormed in with a limp and an icepack. “Yes, you are being arrested.”
“Please wait outside, sir,” Kyle Blunt said, putting his body between the two of them.
“Why isn’t she in handcuffs?”
“Because she’s not under arrest,” Kyle asserted. “Now I’ll ask you again to wait outside.”
Two more officers entered the trailer and for a moment Jessica felt hopeful. Pierre would be removed, she’d have a chance to tell her side of the story, and maybe she’d go home.
“Relax, Pierre,” the stout balding police officer in a dress shirt said. His badge dangled on a chain from his neck and a toothpick poked out from between his lips. “You read her her rights yet?” he asked, raking his eyes over Jessica’s body.
“I just got here a minute ago. I’m trying to figure out what happened.”
“We know what happened. She went bat-shit crazy and burned him in the balls with a curling iron. She’s coming in on assault charges. Cuff her.”
“It sounds like she was defending herself,” Kyle argued in a low voice.
“Oh please,” Pierre shouted. “I wouldn’t waste my time on a woman like that. A nobody. She’s angry because she’s incompetent, and I fired her.”
“She says she quit.” Kyle was looking at Jessica, trying to read her face.
“I’ll have a dozen people lined up here in an hour to back my story,” Pierre said, adjusting the ice pack and yelping at the pain.
“I’m going to take you down to the station,” Kyle said and it came out as an apology. “Do you have a lawyer?”
“I, uh . . .” her eyes glazed over with tears. She knew, even when the curling iron was clutched in her hand, that this was a possible outcome. She’d accepted it. But right now the fear was setting in.
“You have the right to remain silent,” the bulky officer began saying as he yanked the toothpick from his mouth.
And for the first time in her life Jessica felt like remaining silent was actually her best option.
Chapter 23
“Jessica,” Libby cried as she stepped inside the tiny interrogation room. “What the hell happened?”
“I need a lawyer,” Jessica blurted, holding up her handcuffed hands for her friend to see. “Can you call that guy who helped you with that car accident you had a couple years ago?”
“No,” Libby choked out. “No, Mathew already knows what happened. He’s the one who called me. I came because I was closer, but he’s on his way, and he’s getting you the best lawyer money can buy.”
“I don’t want his help,” she said, slamming the chains down against the table. “Did you know his brother was spying on me?”
“No.”
“You swear?”
“I swear I didn’t know. But you need to let him help you. Even if you’re upset, don’t ruin the rest of your life by being stubborn.”
“I’ll figure this out on my own if you don’t want to help.”
“You’re serious about this aren’t you? You’re that upset that you’d turn down legal help from him? I’ll have James get you someone then.”
“No.” Jessica suddenly felt like a charity case, and it wasn’t sitting well with her.
“I wouldn’t recommend refusing help on principle at this point,” Kyle said from the corner of the room. He’d been sitting silently filling out the report but seemed incapable of staying quiet now. “If you’ve got some big guns to pull out, do it now, because this Pierre guy is already pushing for assault with a deadly weapon rather than just straight battery charges. He’s going big. You need to as well.”
“Can’t you do anything?” Jessica asked Kyle with some desperation in her voice. “Don’t you believe what I told you?”
“I do, but it’s not always that simple.”
“There’s a Mathew Kalling up front asking to be let in. There is only one visitor allowed at a time.”
“I’ll go,” Libby said, standing quickly.
“Don’t you dare send him back here. I’m serious. If you are my friend, don’t do that to me.”
“Why? Because he sent his brother to look out for you?”
“No, because I think I could make things work with him. Maybe. Maybe someday. But not like this. Not because he saves me. He doesn’t think I’m able to take care of myself. Mathew keeps acting like I’m helpless. If he does this now I’ll be proving him right. I don’t want to start my future with him on those terms. If we even have a future. If I can forgive him, and he can forgive me.”
“At this rate it’ll be conjugal visits.” Libby’s s
tern glare made Jessica feel like maybe she was right. But the idea of Mathew seeing her like this made her queasy.
“I’m at least going to talk to him,” Libby asserted as she walked out of the room.
“He really is lining up people ready to say you were getting fired today.” Kyle didn’t look up from his sheet as he spoke.
“He’s a very influential man. You wouldn’t believe some of the things I’ve seen him convince people to do.”
“So why not fight back?” Kyle challenged.
“Wouldn’t you consider burning a guy in the junk with a hot iron fighting back?”
Kyle couldn’t avoid the laugh that rolled out of him. With a quick cough he composed himself. “I don’t advocate violence as a solution. I don’t want to see you get raked over the coals for this. I mean you should fight back against the charges.”
“I was there,” a small voice said in the doorway of the puke colored room. “Can I make my statement?”
Kyle stood quickly and Jessica watched how he processed Evie’s beauty. She was the kind of young woman you almost couldn’t believe was real. “Uh, yes of course, who are you?”
“I’m Evie Pike. I was in the trailer when it happened. I know that Jessica repeatedly asked Pierre to leave her alone and not touch her. And he had no plans to fire her. He was in love with her and wouldn’t leave her alone. ”
“Evie, please don’t do this. He will destroy your future.” Jessica’s heart sank as the thread that would unravel poor Evie was pulled.
“I’m not going to sit back and watch him destroy yours when you did nothing wrong.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked defiantly at Jessica. “I’m making a statement and telling the truth.”
“It’ll still be his word against both of you, but it makes the case stronger.” Kyle flipped over a page of his notebook and began writing.
“There’s this too,” Evie said as she powered on her phone and placed it on the table. “When the conversation started getting heated I recorded it. You can hear Jessica telling him to back off. And also this,” she pressed play and Pierre’s voice began to play through the speaker.
“You better come to the police station and you better make a statement in my favor or I will end your career. You tell them that Jessica was going to be fired. That you hated her and she was crazy. Tell them she attacked me and you saw it. You just better.” The recording went silent and Kyle began to laugh again.
“Smart girl,” Kyle said, dropping his notebook on the table and leaving the room.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Jessica said, the knot in her stomach tightening at the thought of Evie’s mistake.
“She’s doing the right thing,” Kyle chastised as he came back into the room with two other officers.
“He’ll destroy her career,” Jessica said, feeling like everyone in this room was underestimating Pierre’s bruised ego and how far he’d go to repair it.
“Let’s just get this statement and cut her loose.” The officer who’d just stepped in the room clearly wasn’t celebrating the evidence Evie had brought in. Perhaps Pierre already promised him something and now it would fall through.
“We’ll have you out of here in a bit,” Kyle said, ignoring everyone else in the room. “Sorry you had to deal with this.”
“You might not be apologizing if you’d gotten burned in the dick today,” the cranky officer grumbled. “Let’s not forget who was hurt here.”
Jessica turned in her chair and glared at the pug-faced, fat-lipped man. “Hey Officer Shit Face, I think you might have missed your last sensitivity training. Better get yourself a good calendar, and judging by your breath and busted teeth you’ve missed your last hundred dentist appointments too.”
Kyle broke into a doubled over laugh and Evie’s mouth dropped open with a gasp. “Jessica,” she said in a half shocked half scolding tone.
“Have fun with the paper work, Kyle,” the insulted officer said through a snarl as he scurried out of the room.
“Well liked around here I can see?” Jessica asked, turning back toward Kyle as he gained his composure.
“You don’t want to be liked by a bunch of assholes, all that makes you is one of the assholes.”
“I’ll wait with you,” Evie said quietly, tucking her blond hair back behind her ears.
“Thanks,” Jessica said as she forced a smile.
“I’ve got nothing else to do now. I’m sure I’ll have a one-way ticket back to Nebraska by morning.”
“He’s a powerful guy, Evie,” Jessica said solemnly. “Maybe he can influence your career, but he can’t tell you where you can stay. You don’t have to go home. You’ll be all right.”
Evie sat down next to Jessica and touched her hand gently. “We both will.”
Chapter 24
“He just wants to talk with you for a minute,” Libby pleaded, and Jessica felt terrible her best friend had to get in the middle of it.
“I can’t right now,” she said in a flustered huff.
“Why? I know you’re mad at his tactics but maybe try to focus on his motivation.” Libby had her hands clasped together in true begging style.
“He literally told you to say that, didn’t he?”
“Maybe.”
“It’s not him right now, it’s me. I can’t talk to him. I just need some time. “
“Can you at least tell me why?” Libby’s wide, slow-blinking eyes would not stop boring into her.
“Libby, four hours ago I was pressing a burning hot piece of metal to a man’s dick. I was in handcuffs. This could have ended very differently if Evie hadn’t come through with those recordings. Tonight isn’t the night to make a big choice, to have some huge argument. I’m angry at what he did, and you know how I am when I’m angry. I can’t.” Jessica had always spoken quickly but this was a frantic train wreck of words that wouldn’t stop coming. Not until Libby held her hands to Jessica’s cheeks and looked her square in the eyes.
“You’re right,” she whispered. “You’re absolutely right. I’ll go tell James and Mathew to go home. We’ll go get a drink, and we’ll talk this out. I know we can figure it out together.”
“Okay,” Jessica sighed, feeling a weight lift off her. “You can come too, Evie. Just no dancing on the tables this time.”
“Promise,” she said, using her hand to make a cross over her heart. “I’ve had just about enough excitement in the big city for one lifetime.”
Whatever Libby did, however she convinced Mathew to give Jessica space, it had worked. He backed off. The gratitude she had for that couldn’t be paid back in drinks, but she was sure trying.
“Just one more,” Jessica insisted as she slid a pink drink over to the girls. “I’m not ready to go home yet.”
“But we haven’t fixed things. I can’t be drunk and heal you all up at the same time.” Libby had a pout on her face that told her oldest friend she was already plenty drunk.
“It won’t be solved in one night,” Jessica said, trying to let Libby off the hook. But it was true. Sitting around and drinking wouldn’t give her clarity either.
“It could be,” a loud voice called from behind them. “It could be solved tonight if you’d just deal with it.”
“James,” Libby sang out and jumped to her feet. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to Jessica, then I’m taking you home so you can puke in your own toilet.”
“I’m not going to—” She lost her balance suddenly and slapped a hand to her forehead. “All right, maybe I shouldn’t be so sure.”
“I don’t want to talk,” Jessica bit out angrily, firing her emotions at the closest man. James took the brunt because of sheer proximity. “Take her home. You’re right; she’s ready to go.”
“Come outside, we need to talk.” He wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“I’m really not—” Before Jessica could make her argument James was crossing the barroom and opening the door. How great it must be to just know y
ou’ll get your way.
“I’ll be right back. Grab your coat.” Jessica slid off her bar stool and slinked toward the door.
“What?” she snapped, folding her arms over her chest and staring at James like he was the principal, and she’d just set a cherry bomb off in the bathroom.
“Libby can’t help you,” he said, pacing around and looking completely frustrated with her. “She won’t be able to tell you what you do.”
“She’s my best friend.”
“You two are complete opposites. Libby is a special sort of person. She’s gentle and kind.”
“Are you implying I’m not kind?”
“Are you implying you are?” He raised a brow at her, and she rolled her eyes.
“Fine, but what’s your point? I’m a jerk; your wife’s an angel; it doesn’t mean she can’t give me good advice.”
“You and I,” he looked like he had to force the words. “We are not opposites. Libby can’t tell you what to do because she doesn’t know that feeling. The one where your skin feels too tight, your body too small. You feel like you’re about to implode. Or more like explode, it’s not contained to us. People like us, we have a breaking point, and it’s hard to come back from it.”
“So you have advice for me?” she scoffed but there was a bit of her heart that felt like his words, the way he’d just described her, was the closest anyone had ever come to getting it right.
“Yes. You need a person like Mathew the way I need a person like Libby. We’re always about to explode, and they know what it means to ride that out.”
“I don’t want to be with someone just because I need them.” She truly didn’t. That wasn’t enough of a basis for a relationship in her mind.
“But don’t you see? Libby, she needs someone like me. Otherwise all those people out in the world exploding, they’d take her down. We have a part in this too. But you need to find a way past whatever anger you have.”
“It’s not just the anger,” she admitted. “I’m terrified.”
“Yeah, that too,” he said, running a hand over his head still looking like this was a painful conversation.
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