A Wild Ride (Jessica Brodie Diaries #3)(30)

Thinking of photographs, I asked, “How’s Fred?”

“Fred is Willie’s dog?” the lawyer asked Tom. He got a nod.

Denise said, “Fred is being looked at by one of the best vet’s in the city. The vet’s van is here. Fred is going to be okay. He’ll have to have a few stitches and he’ll be out for a while, but he will be okay.”

“He saved my life.”

“Yes, dear. He is a very good dog.”

“Did he get shot?”

“No, dear. The bullet missed.”

“How is that possible? I was looking at the end of the gun when it went off.”

The lawyer leaned in to catch every word. Denise’s hand flew to her chest.

“Fred got there in time, Jessica,” Tom said softly.

“Who were they?”

“We can talk about all this later—“ Denise started.

The lawyer cut her off by saying, “It’ll help if she hears. It helps the brain focus.”

Tom stepped up. “They are professionals that have worked wealthy areas in cities all across the nation. They are wanted in eight states for robbery, arson and various degrees of murder.”

“Did anyone from Gladis’s house get hurt?”

“Well, it appears they didn’t count on an ex-Queen’s army man from England with a rifle, or a trained attack dog in the pool house.” That from the lawyer, who was surveying me closely.

“The guy said he didn’t wear a mask because he didn’t expect me—that I was never there. Here.”

“The police will want to hear that,” the lawyer said to Denise and Tom. “And they’ll want to talk to her. They’ll want to do it tonight while everything is still fresh.”

“But look at the state she is in.” Denise aimed her cobra scowl at the lawyer. I was thankful it wasn't aimed at me for once.

“There were fatalities—from Willie’s dog, which was in her care. They will want to speak with her. I suggest they do it here, now…” He paused.

“While I look the most vulnerable,” I finished for him. “This isn’t my first rodeo. Please, let’s make this quick. I didn’t give the dog any commands. He did that all on his own. You need to talk to Adam or William to know what all the different barks and growls and everything--”

“We know, dear. You just worry about you, and we’ll worry about the rest,” Denise said kindly.

I nodded. Easier said than done, as I had now proven three times.

By the time I was done, every person involved, including William through the phone on behalf of Fred, had been talked to. Scotty, the lawyer, had orchestrated most interviews and statements. At first I thought it was because of my involvement, which was partly right, but then it became clear that he needed to make sure Fred was viewed as a hero instead of a rapid dog capable of killing small children. If it was the latter, William and Gladis might get sued, and Fred would be put down. To that end, I really hammed up my vulnerability. And let’s face it, it wasn’t a big stretch.

Since my only problems were mental, I was allowed to leave; under supervision. I was told I shouldn’t drive by a stern-faced policeman. Denise then whisked me away and deposited me by Adam, who was sitting on a patch of grass in the middle of mill-and-flocking chaos, so she could check on everyone else.

“The butler,” Adam was saying into the phone. “He was in the army or some damn thing. Long time ago. But he still knows how to shoot. Shot two of ‘em in the extremities, keepin’ ‘em put. Fred took down two, for keeps, both in Jessica’s house, and got two others. The other two only have minor damages, though. They think one got away, but they ain’t sure… Ah man, Willie—you don’t want to know man… No, I mean that. You don’t want to know. She’s fine. Physically. She—“ Adam hunched over.

“It was my fault, man,” Adam continued after a long pause. “I told Betz I wanted my own bed. We usually stay at my house Saturdays, so I told her we needed to stick with that. If I had listened to her we would have been in time to help.” He paused to listen, still not noticing me sitting beside him in a daze. “Yeah well, by the time we figured out something was wrong and had called the cops the alarm had gone off. If we’d been quicker to answer the phone, maybe—…Yeah, I just—… Betz had the phone to her ear but Jess had dropped it. We knew someone—“ Adam took a big breath. “We knew someone had gotten in. Someone was talking to her. We couldn’t hear much—Betz had it on speakerphone—but we couldn’t—then there was a gun shot.” Adam stooped over farther. “She was curled up in a puddle of blood—I thought—the dog was laying right next to her—he growled at me when I came in. He was--“

It was at that moment that I realized Adam was crying. He was bent over, unable to hold himself erect, and he was sobbing. He’d thought he wasn’t in time, and this time I was a goner. I’d thought the same thing.

Sometimes you just needed a job to do.

I scotched over and put my arm around Adam’s shoulder. He jumped at the contact, realized it was me, then leaned toward me, phone still to his ear, wrapping one big arm around me. He dug his head into my chest and cried like a little boy.

We stayed like that for a while. I wasn’t sure what William was doing on the other end, and while most of me desperately wanted to talk to him, a part of me didn’t. A part of me didn’t want to hear the worry, or feel bad for the misery he must be going through. This was the pinnacle of his fear, after all. That he would constantly be doing business, unable to be with me when I needed it most. He wouldn’t believe that I didn’t expect that from him. He wouldn’t believe that most women didn’t expect that of him. As Lump continually tried to explain, in the world we lived in, that sentimentality just didn’t make sense anymore.