Chapter 7

I had to take about five steps to reach a large square stucco covered column. The column most likely supported the upstairs balconies. The was large enough to provide me some place to hide. That wasn't my intention. My intention was to just slide down it and sit on the nasty concrete walkway. I could hear the sirens even as I slid down with my back to the post.

Once I was in a seated position, I sat the Taurus knock off of a Smith and Wesson chief special, down beside me very carefully. I knew for a fact that it wasn't loaded with anything but empty casing. Still, I didn't want to damage it

.It took the screaming police cars a couple of minutes to get to the parking lot. When they arrived, it took them several more minutes to get around to me. The patrol officers who approached me were pretty typical of every police force in the country I expect. The one who had two stripes on his sleeve was in his thirties and the one with a single stripe was in his twenties.

They approached me with guns drawn. I would have expected no less. "Ma'am please leave the pistol on the ground and stand up," the older one said.

"Very well," I said moving my legs so that I used the column as a back brace and walked backwards up it. In effect I levered myself into a standing position.

"Please step away from the weapon," the older one added.

I took a side step to my left, since the .357 was at my feet on the right side. When I was two steps away, the younger officer retrieved my pistol. While holding it gently by the trigger guard, he slipped it into a plastic bag/

"Nicely done," I said in a soft voice.

They looked at each other then at me curiously. "So what happened?" the older officer asked.

"If you don't mind, I'll wait for the detectives. I really only want to say this once." I said.

"Then we need to go downtown," he suggested.

"Only if you are placing me under arrest. I will be more than happy to wait here for the detectives. I will gladly tell them everything I know, which isn't much." I said it and then saw the confusion on the face of the younger officer. I guessed that there were not too many people who refused to cooperate in a civil tone. "Just so you know, I am a member of the Bar in North Carolina. My specialty is criminal defense law."

"So Bobby, I guess you need to just babysit the nice lady till the detectives arrive." He smiled at the younger officer then turned his attention back to me. "Would you mind emptying your pockets. Just to make sure you don't have anything to harm either of us?" he asked me

"Absolutely not," I replied. From my right front pocket I removed the bit of bicycle inner tube with my North Carolina Driver's License, a couple of business cards and my visa debit card along with a few loose bills. I also removed the smart phone from my left front pocket. I had nothing else.

"You certainly travel light," he said making small talk.

"Officer, I know you are doing your job and I so appreciate the job policemen do for us, but I think I will hold off on the good cop, bad cop thing till I can do it just once." I replied.

"Yeah, I can understand that. Why bother with the peons?" he suggested.

"I didn't make the rules, I just play by them," I suggested. "Why don't you search me, then let me sit down somewhere."

I might have enjoyed the hands of a younger man on my body, but they called in a female officer somewhere in her late twenties to do the job. I couldn't help it I thought of Misty as she ran her hands over me. I saw her nod to the older officer.

"If we go to my room, the detectives will have a quiet place to talk and I will have access to my other papers," I suggested.

"I think we will let you sit in our car while we wait," he suggested.

"That's fine, I just need to sit," I said. It took the detectives another twenty minutes to arrive on the scene. It was after midnight before they got around to me.

"I understand you would rather not go to the station," the female detective said.

"Not unless you wish to arrest me for something," I replied. "I have no problem being cooperative. Right up to and including taking a polygraph, but only if you do it at my convenience."

"Alright tell me what happened here?" she asked firmly.

"You want the background first or just the facts Ma'am?" I asked.\

"Sure start at the beginning," she said.

"My marriage ended probably a couple of days ago. Before it did, I left on this cross country mid life crises adventure. The traveling around coming into contact with a bunch of strangers accounts for why I have a firearm. I have a carry permit, because back home I'm a sleazy criminal defense attorney. I'm also a very good one.

So tonight I was coming home from a dinner of corn beef hash and eggs. I ate at that breakfast house about a mile down the road. When I pulled into the parking lot, I notice six men, who I had never seen before, involved in what appeared to be a verbal confrontation of some kind, I do know what those look like. Since I was on an open moped, I tried to get as far away from them as possible...

I was locking up the moped, when the shooting started. I heard one hell of a lot of gunfire, then this one man ran up to me. He still had his gun in his hand and it was pointed at me. He demanded that I take him to my room. Most likely he planned to hide out there until you left. I feared at that point that he would kill me, so as not to leave anyone who could identify him, so I refused.

When he took his eye off me to check out the witnesses, I pulled my pistol and fired. He was looking at me and was trying to shoot me. I am not sure if he actually got a shot off or not. The sound of my own pistol filled my ears."

"So that's your statement," the detective asked.

"It is and I am glad you recorded it, because I'm not telling it again." I said. "Unless we go to trial for some reason."

"So you never saw these men before tonight?" she asked trying to get me to talk.

"When you replay the tape you find that I answered that already," I replied. I had been sitting in the squad car working on the statement in my head. I wanted it to be as close to perfect as possible.

She simply nodded. "So how has your trip been up till now?"

"Is that like, 'Other then that how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?" I asked.

"I guess it is something like that," she admitted.

"I has mostly been fun. I have been exhausted some of the time. Would do me a favor detective?" I asked.

"If I can," she said. "Would you make the calls back to North Carolina, and do your criminal checks as soon as possible, I want to get back on the road.

It is also going to be inconvenient staying here. I know you need to get those check all done and talk to the DA. I would just appreciate you putting a rush on it. I know you are going to be tempted to drag your feet, because you don't feel I am cooperating. I'm sure that it will be tempting to punish me for it, but it would really be a bad idea." I informed her.