Frisk Me(83)

Luc started to take a sip of coffee before realizing that he didn’t even want it.

“Bev, there’s something I need to tell you about that day. Something I should have talked to you about a long time ago.”

She nodded once, telling him to continue.

Luc took a deep breath. “So you know that Mike and I were first on the scene the day Shayna Johnson didn’t come home from school. We were in the area when the call came through, so we took the statement from the parents, talked to the neighbors…the whole bit. Later, of course, the case became much bigger, but by then, Mike and I were both invested…obsessed, even, with the case.”

Bev cupped her coffee mug with both hands. “I remember. It was all he could talk about at dinner. He wanted so badly to find that little girl.”

Me too.

Luc was quiet, remembering, before he forced himself to continue. “That day when we got the call that a witness a few streets over kept hearing a little kid cry for help from a second-story window…”

He forced himself to meet Beverly’s eyes. “I knew, Bev. I knew the kid was Shayna, knew that Jonas Black was our guy. We’d interviewed that bastard twice. I knew something wasn’t right. Wrote it in all my reports, but didn’t have a lick of evidence beyond my hunch…”

He swallowed. Continued.

“I wanted to park up the street, go in the back, but the orders were to stay put. We had to play it by the book. The woman that had called in the tip was something of a crank. Lots of false reports, shit like that, so we were supposed to sit and wait for the damned search warrant, wait for the green light to go in.”

Luc took a sip of coffee. It was cold now, and Bev just looked at him with her steady, quiet gaze as he continued.

“Finally it came over the radio that the judge wouldn’t authorize the warrant. Best we could do was knock and see if anything was amiss. It was bullshit. Total bullshit. Mike said he’d back me up if I wanted to trust my gut. Said he trusted my gut. But I didn’t want to get him in trouble.”

Luc put his elbows on the table, head in his hands. “Black saw our car, Bev. He saw us, panicked, and strangled that little girl. Then he opened the front door, firing his gun before Mike or I could even think to draw ours.”

He fell silent again, before ending his story in a husky voice. “You know the rest. He fired three shots. One went wild, two hit Mike. Then the bastard dropped the gun and ran.”

Beverly spoke for the first time. “And you ran after him. Caught him.”

“Yeah,” Luc said, his voice rough. “While Mike lay there dying.”

“Don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “Mike died instantly. You know that.”

Luc did know that. At least, he knew that’s what they’d told him. The first bullet that hit Mike had literally exploded his heart.

“Luc,” she said, her hand once again reaching across the table. “I’m glad you’re telling me this for your sake. But you didn’t need to. There’s nothing you did that requires my forgiveness.”

“I could have done something differently, Bev. I could have made a different choice, and Mike and that little girl would still be alive.”

She studied him for a long while, and finally she nodded. “Okay then. If that’s the case, I forgive you.”

I forgive you.

He let it sink in. Tried to speak, but his throat felt abnormally large and dry.

Wordlessly he pushed awkwardly to his feet and, moving to her side of the table, pulled her into a rough hug, which she returned.

“Thank you,” he said against her hair. “Thank you.”

She rubbed his back. “Does this mean you won’t avoid us anymore?”

He laughed guiltily. “Yeah. This means you’re going to be stuck seeing a lot more of me.”

She pulled back, her eyes watery as her hands found his face. “I’m glad. Mike would have wanted you to know Joey. Plus, it’ll be good to have a cop around if this new guy turns out to be an ass.”

“You call me anytime,” he said in all seriousness, even though she’d been joking.

She smiled. “I’ve missed you, Luca.”

“I’ve missed you too. I don’t know what I’m more ashamed of, that I waited this long to come by, or that I barge in on your Saturday without a word of warning.”

She waved this away as they headed to the door. “Don’t even. I’ll call Joey down so you can say bye.”

Luc shook his head. “Nah. The dude hardly knows me; I’ll have a better time winning him over if I let him sneak in a few more minutes of video game time.”

“Oh, sure, make me the bad guy when I call him down to help me fold laundry.”

“Give him five more minutes, Mom. Let him enjoy the good stuff for a little bit longer.”

Her eyes went sad, just for a second, and he knew she understood his silent meaning: life is short.

She opened the door and he kissed her cheek before stepping onto the porch. “Thanks again, Bev. For everything.”

“Oh gosh, my pleasure. Not every day one gets to see America’s Hero in the flesh.”

Luc groaned. “You’ve seen the YouTube videos?”

She laughed. “Of course! Joey and I watched them half a dozen times when they came on the local news. And I bet your family’s over the moon that you’re about to become a national sensation.”