He stepped even closer, and now I was backed against the wall. Melting snow heaped on top of it dripped down the collar of my coat while my blood ran hotter.
“By the way,” he went on, edging ever nearer, “what’s new with this case of ours?”
“Please step back,” I said to him.
” I , m just not sure at all that you’re telling me everything. I think you have a real good idea about what happened to Ted Eddings, and you’re withholding information.”
“We’re not going to discuss that case or any other right now,” I said.
“See? That puts me in a bad spot because I have people I answer to.” I couldn’t believe it when he placed his hand on my shoulder as he added, “I know you wouldn’t want to cause me trouble.”
“Don’t touch me,” I warned. “Don’t push this any further.
“I think you and me need to get together so we can overcome our communication problem.” He left his hand where it was. “Maybe we can catch dinner in some quiet little laid-back place. You like seafood? I know a real private place on the Sound.”
I was silent as I wondered whether to jam my finger in his windpipe.
“Don’t be shy. Trust me. It’s all right. This isn’t the Capital of the Confederacy with all these snobby old hasbeens you got in Richmond. We believe in live and let live around here. You know what I mean?”
I tried to move past him and he grabbed my arm. – I’m talking to you.” He was beginning to sound angry.
You don’t go walking off when I’m talking to you.”
“Let go of me,” I demanded.
I tried to wrench my arm away. But he was surprisingly strong.
“No matter how many fancy degrees you got, you’re no match for me,” he said under breath that smelled like spearmint.
I stared straight into his Ray-Bans.
“Get your hands off me now,” I said in a loud, hard voice. “Now!” I exclaimed as if I would kill him instantly.
Roche suddenly let go, and I trudged with purpose through the snow as my heart flew off on its own. When I reached the front of the house, I stopped, out of breath and dazed.
“There are footprints in the backyard that should be photographed,” I addressed everyone. “Detective Roche’s footprints. He was just back there. And I want all of my belongings out of the house.”
“What the hell do you mean he was just back there?”
Marino said.
“We had a conversation.”
“How the hell did he get back there without us seeing him?”
I scanned the street and did not see a car that might have been Roche’s. “I don’t know how he got back there,” I said. “I guess he cut through someone else’s backyard. Or maybe he came up from the beach.”
Lucy did not know what to think as she looked at me.
“You won’t be coming back here?” she asked me. “Not at all?”
“No,” I said. “I will not be coming back here ever again, if I have my way about it.”
She helped me pack the remainder of my belongings, and I did not relay what had happened in the backyard until we were in Marino’s car driving fast on 64 West toward Richmond.
“Shit”, he exclaimed. “The friggin’ bastard hit on you.
Goddamn it. Why didn’t you yell?”
“I think his mission was to harass me on behalf of someone else,” I said.
“I don’t care what his mission was. He still hit on you.
YOU got to take out a warrant.”
” Hitting on someone is not against the law,” I said.
“He grabbed you.”
“So I’m going to have him arrested for grabbing my arm?”
“He shouldn’t have grabbed nothing.” He was furious as he drove. “You told him to let go and he didn’t. That’s abduction. At the very least, it’s simple assault. Damn, this thing’s out of alignment.”
“You’ve got to report him to Internal Affairs,” Lucy said from the front seat, where she was fooling with the scanner because it was hard for her hands to be still. “Hey, Pete, the squelch isn’t right,” she added to him. “And you can’t hear a thing on channel three. That’s Third Precinct, right?”