Chapter 11

Chief Robinson was waiting for Juhler when he emerged from the interrogation room.

"What'd she say?" he asked.

"She stayed with her original story. She said she kicked three armed robbers' asses. And I believe her," said Juhler.

"You talk to the guy she was with yet?"

"No, he's next."

"Does this make sense to you?" asked Robinson.

"Nope. If you're a strong arm robber, or even ply that trade armed, you don't generally run in a pack, and you don't ask a woman who's obviously not carrying a purse for her purse, and a man who has no place to put a wallet for his wallet."

"So what does it mean?"

"I don't know, except I'm pretty sure they weren't after these people's valuables."

"What were they after, then?"

"That is the sixty-four thousand dollar question, Chief."

"I looked up Mrs. Bonneville," said Chief Robinson. "She was involved in an accident about the time she said she was. She stepped off a curb and got knocked ten or fifteen feet by a car. Landed on another one. Ended up in the hospital. They won't divulge her medical records without a warrant, but I talked to the attending physician who admitted that she did exhibit signs of amnesia when I told him she'd put a man in his hospital."

"Who hit her?" asked Juhler.

"A sixty-seven year old widow named Bernice Flannagan. She claimed the woman jumped in front of her car."

"Lawsuit?"

"Nope."

"Well, there goes one motive for taking out Mrs. Bonneville."

"You think somebody was trying to take her out?"

"If they weren't after her valuables, and approached her with knives drawn, making threats, what else were they doing?"

"Damn," said Robinson. "That kind of thing just doesn't happen here."

"It did tonight," said Juhler.

Juhler adopted the same tactics with Chad Morgan that he had with Claire Bonneville. Morgan was more nervous than she'd been, but not as nervous as somebody trying to lie.

"Tell me what happened," said Juhler.

"We already told Officer Frye," he said.

"I know you did, but I'd like to hear it from your lips."

So Chad told him. And Juhler asked questions. In the process, Chad remembered the driver, the man he'd been holding down on the ground when the police arrived, saying, "Doesn't matter," after Chad had told him there was no purse or wallet.

"What do you think he meant by that?" asked Juhler.

"I don't know. It sounded like they were going to attack us whether we had any money or not."

"Can you think of any reason somebody would do that?"

"No!" said Chad. "I'm a football coach. I teach history. Who'd want to hurt me?"

"How about Mrs. Bonneville? Can you think of anybody who might want to hurt her?"

Chad shook his head, but then stopped and frowned.

"She filed for divorce recently. Her husband is an animal. I mean I've never met him, but she's told me some things."

"Thanks very much," said Terrance. He handed Chad his card. "If you think of anything else, I want you to call me. And if you see anything suspicious, I want you to call 911."

"Suspicious?"

"I don't think this was an attempt to rob you, Mr. Morgan."

"Well, then, what was it?"

"I'm not sure yet. But violence was offered and it may be offered again. Just keep your eyes open, okay?"

"Sure."

Juhler went out to the waiting room, and was relieved to see Claire was still there.

"Can I have just another minute with you?"

"I'm really tired," she said.

"It will only take a second."

"Fine."

He didn't take her back into the interrogation room. Instead, he just pulled her into the hallway where it was a bit more private.

"You didn't tell me you filed for divorce recently," he said.

"No," she agreed.

"Why not?"

"Because you didn't ask me."

"How is your husband taking this turn of events?"

"He's not happy."

"Not happy enough to try to hurt you?"

"John? He's a complete wimp," she said.

"You said he tried to make you have sex with him, right after you got out of the hospital," he reminded her.

"He was drunk. I only kicked him because it was instinct. And when I did, he went out like a light and stayed that way until he woke up sober. I told him never to touch me again and he hasn't tried."

"How has he acted since he learned about you filing for divorce?"

"He tore up the bedroom and cut up my ... things. But then he went right back to sitting in front of the TV and drinking beer like he always does."

"Has he threatened you in any way?" asked Juhler.

"No. He said I'd be sorry, but he didn't threaten me."

"When was that?"

She blinked. "Two nights ago," she said.

"Think back. I want you to try to remember exactly what he said."

"That's easy. Nobody has ever talked to me like that," she said. "I told him the divorce didn't have to be painful and he said he wanted it to be painful. Then he said I'd find out how painful things can be, and that I'd be sorry I ever betrayed him. He called me a stupid cunt."

"And you don't consider that to be a threat?" Juhler's eyebrow rose.

He could see she was actually thinking about it.

"Well ... I didn't then ... but now? Do you think it was a threat?"

"What I think is that somebody tried to hurt you very badly tonight, and right now, your husband is the only person we know about who had a motive to do that."

She looked pensive and his gut told him to ask her about it.

Have you thought of something else?" he asked.

"I don't know if it's important, but I sort of got a guy fired a little while back.

"Somebody who might want to hurt you because of it?"

"I don't know."

"You work at Martin, right?"

She nodded.

"Who happen to pay the highest salaries of anybody in this town," he noted.

"I guess," she said, shrugging.

"Okay. Give me the guy's name. I'll look into him too."

The two runners had just left when the dispatcher notified Juhler he had a phone call. When he picked it up, it was Brady.

"I came down to the hospital to check up on Jerry. I put him in charge of guarding Petrike."

"You put the rookie in charge of guarding an armed robber?"

"He pulled his gun on Bonneville and Morgan. I had to punish him somehow."

"Well, punish him, but don't punish me by letting my perp get away. I'm beginning to think this wasn't about robbing them. I think somebody was sent to teach her a lesson."

"Who?"

"There are two potential suspects, but my money is on the husband."

"Because she's fucking around on him with Morgan?"

"I didn't get that feeling," said Juhler. "But she did file for divorce and the grieving husband threatened her two days ago."

"Oh. Hang on. Be right back. Don't go away."

Juhler heard the phone being tossed down and then heard Brady's "Don't fuck with me!" voice saying, "You sit your ass back down there on that chair. You move again and I might have to shoot you as a fleeing felon. Got that? You just sit there until I finish my phone call. We're not even close to being finished with our little talk."

It got quiet and then the phone made noises as Brady picked it up.

"The reason I called you was that while I was checking up on Jerry, a guy came into the ER with a broken elbow. He was acting all hinky and Julie, the charge nurse, had somebody come get me. He was all beat up and, like I said, his elbow was broken. He didn't want to tell me who he was or how this happened to him. So I got to thinking about how that woman said she kicked the shit out of all three guys who came at her, and it occurred to me that maybe this guy is one of them."

"Brady? You know I love you, right?"

"Gunny, I don't care that you seen me in the altogether dozens of times. You just ain't my type."

"Bring him in," said Juhler. "Detain him on suspicion of armed robbery. What about Petrike, the one we know was involved? What's his status?"

"They're putting a cast on him right now. I'm told he's going to have to have surgery, but they can do that later. He won't be going anywhere. The doctor said the cast will go clear up to his dick. He'll leave here in a wheel chair."

"Please ask the doctor to give him minimal pain killers," said Terrance. "If he talks to me, I don't want some lawyer saying it wasn't consensual because he was doped up."

"So you want Jerry to bring him to you instead of the jail?"

"Yes. Me first. The jail is open all night."

They ran home. They pretty much had to. Claire didn't want to call Cindy and ask to be picked up at the police station. And Chad didn't want to call any of his friends for the same reason. They could both explain what had happened, but it was almost ten-thirty and they were both tired.

Chad insisted on running with her to Cindy's.

"You don't have to do that," she said.

"I know. I want to."

"I'll be fine," she said.

"Believe me, I know that," he said.

"You probably think I'm all violent and stuff," she said.

"I think you're wonderful. I still want a date."

She smiled.

"The detective thinks John might be responsible for those men."

"I got the same impression, but he didn't actually say that."

"It's not possible," said Claire.

"Why not?"

"Because he's a wimp," she said. "He's spineless."

"A perfect reason to hire someone else to do his dirty work."

"He wouldn't have the faintest idea where to hire people like that," she snorted.

"How do you know that?" he asked. "You don't really remember much about him ... right?"

She ran in silence for twenty yards.

"I guess you're right."

"You should go home. I mean to your house. Just walk in and say, 'Hi, John. Why'd you send those thugs after me?' and see what he does."

"I can't do that," she said.

"Why not?"

"Because if he did hire those men, he'd shit his pants, and then I'd have to kick his ass all over the house and then they'd arrest me. Plus he could use that against me in the divorce."

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

"If I really was the target, you're being very sweet about this," she said.

"Naw," he replied.

"Your life was in danger, maybe because of me," she said. "A lot of guys would walk away and say they didn't need the grief."

"I'm not a lot of guys. I have to hang in there. I haven't had that date yet, and I'm hoping for amazing things to happen on that date."

She laughed. "What kind of amazing things?"

He looked over at her.

"I'll just keep that to myself. Things are going pretty well, other than crazed killers attacking us. I saw what you did to them. I don't want you getting miffed with me for hoping we do immoral things some day."

"Immoral! Oh my!" She grinned. "You want to do immoral things to poor, helpless me?"

He snorted.

"Claire, you're the least helpless woman I ever met."

When they got two blocks from Cindy's house, they slowed to a walk so Claire could cool down. They'd only run three miles, but they' d run it at a pretty good clip. As they approached the walk to the Richardson home, she stopped, reached to take his hand and faced him.

"Thank you," she said, softly.

"For what?" He couldn't believe how good her hand felt in his.

"Just for being you," she said. "You didn't complain even once about how I got a gun pointed at you, and got you interrogated, and detained for hours."

"It's not certain you were the target," he said. "Maybe I'm the one who's responsible for all those things happening to you."

"Either way, you were very patient and didn't complain."

"You're my running partner," he said. "Running partners have to go through fire for each other. It's a rule."