The Wife Who Knew Too Much(40)

We continued on the path, crossing a wide lawn and turning onto a gravel driveway. Up ahead, lights flashed. A police cruiser was parked just inside the open front gates. The guard marched me up to it, and shook hands with the uniformed police officer, who was a tall, broad-shouldered woman with dark hair pulled back under her police cap. They nodded at each other like old acquaintances.

“What the hell happened to you?” the officer asked, tapping her lip in the same spot where his was split.

“Ah, friggin’ mope jumped me.”

The officer looked back and forth in disbelief from me to the hulking security guard.

“Not her. The guy she was with. He got the jump on me and ran off. I went looking for him, but no luck. I found her, though.”

“You didn’t find us together because I wasn’t with him,” I said. “Officer, please, I can explain. My ex-husband attacked this gentleman on the path—that much is true. But I wasn’t with him. I was running from him. I didn’t mean to crash the party. I just turned into the first place I saw to get away from him.”

“Can I see some ID, please?”

I handed her my driver’s license.

“My ex has a criminal record. I divorced him while he was in jail. He’s really pissed about that. He followed me here tonight. I think he wants to hurt me.”

“Were you a guest at this party?” the police officer asked.

“She was not,” the guard said.

“Let her answer, please.”

“No, like I said, I just ran into the party to get away from Derek. I came to the Hamptons for the weekend. I was—visiting a friend. I noticed a car following me at times, but I didn’t know it was him until I saw him behind me on the beach. I ran up to the house to get away.”

“Did you witness any of what she’s saying?” the officer asked the guard.

The guard frowned. “I saw her walking down the beach with the guy behind her. Not running, though.”

“He was behind her? Not with her?”

“Yes,” the guard said grudgingly. “Then she turned up the path onto the Windswept grounds, and he followed. I went after them for trespassing. He turned around and sucker-punched me, and we fought. He got away.”

“Well, if you saw him behind her, then maybe she’s telling the truth.” The officer turned to me. “Do you have a restraining order against this guy, or anything else that corroborates your story?”

“I don’t, because the cops back home told me there wasn’t enough evidence for one. Derek’s been harassing me ever since he got out. Coming by my work, saying he wants me back. But he wasn’t violent. Not until tonight, anyway, when he attacked this gentleman,” I said.

“Wait one minute,” the guard said. “I found you fifteen minutes later, hanging around at the party. If you were so scared, why not run while your husband was busy fighting me?”

“I did run. I ran into the party and tried to blend into the crowd. I thought I’d be safer with people around, instead of down on the beach all alone.”

“Look, miss, give me his name and I’ll check him for priors. Let’s see if we can back up what you’re saying,” the officer said.

I gave her Derek’s name. She got in the cruiser, where I saw her typing information into a screen on the dashboard. A few minutes later, she came back.

“Yup, checks out,” she said. “Derek Cassidy, did five years for opioid distribution, released six months ago, currently on probation out of Manchester, New Hampshire. Steve, is this the guy who jumped you?”

She held out her phone, displaying Derek’s mug shot.

“That’s him.”

“I say we let her go, and you and me search the grounds for this jerk,” the officer said.

The guard’s phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at it.

“I’ve got another situation I need to take care of,” he said. “Anyways, I looked for him already. He’s in the wind.”

“He’s on probation and he assaulted you. I’ll look for the guy myself if you’re too busy.”

“Uniformed police in the house is not gonna make my employer happy, Beth.”

“It’s not about making Mrs. Levitt happy. It’s about keeping the streets safe.”

“How about this? You search the surrounding area. Forward me that mug shot. I’ll give it to my team, and we’ll look for him on the grounds.”

“Okay.”

They exchanged information. The security guard pointed at me.

“You, off the premises.”

“Fine, I will. Give me my phone.”

He handed it back to me and walked off. The officer was holding my driver’s license. She took a photo of it.

“I’ll put your name in the report,” she said, “so you have a record that he was following you and assaulted the guard who tried to stop him. You can use that to request a restraining order. Hoping you won’t need one, though. If I get him tonight, he’ll be charged with assault for jumping Steve, and go right back to jail.”

“You can do that? How long would he go away for?”

“A new assault charge, while on probation? A year, at least.”

“That would be a huge relief. Thank you, Officer. I’m really grateful.”