CHAPTER TEN
“I’m really not happy about this,” Finn said through clenched teeth the following week.
I gave his hand a soothing squeeze, though inside I was a mass of nerves. We stood inside the doors to the police station, waiting to meet Detectives Stone and Winters, with Curtis lingering behind us, looking as comfortable as ever.
But I could see how watchful his eyes were.
Unlike Finn, he hadn’t protested my coming here. But that didn’t mean he approved. I knew, however, all of us would be easier if we knew where Mark was. Which meant I needed to talk to John.
On the bright side, Dr. Palmer had backed me up. He’d seen it as a chance for closure and believed that I could handle it.
Standing here with Finn’s hand tight around mine, I hoped he was right.
“Let him do most of the talking,” Curtis told me.
I nodded at him.
“Stay on topic.”
“I will,” I promised.
“He’s going to want to talk to you,” Finn muttered. “He might not even tell you what you want to hear. He—”
He broke off when the detectives met us in the hallway. Detective Winters gave me as much of a smile as he could manage while Detective Stone shook my hand warmly.
“I really appreciate you coming,” Detective Stone said. “Hopefully we’ll make more headway with this if he’ll open up to you.”
“Follow me,” Detective Winters said.
Finn kept as close as physically possible as we walked through the busy hallway and past an area scattered with desks and buzzing with chatter and ringing phones.
They didn’t say anything about Curtis or Finn being with me as we wound through a few hallways and finally ended up in a small room with two chairs. Just like in the movies, it had a large pane of glass that let us view the room next door.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw John sitting at the table, his wrist handcuffed to a secure metal ring on the surface.
Finn set his hand on my back. “Charlotte.”
“He—I—” I took a calming breath. “I mean, I didn’t know he was already here.”
“You could have warned us first,” Finn said.
Detective Stone smiled. “I’m sorry. We thought you might want to see him first. See that it’s safe, and then we’ll go in.”
“Of course.” I walked all the way into the room with Curtis following behind me.
He shut the door and I fought the urge to panic.
“He can’t hear us, can he?” I asked. I knew he couldn’t see us, but he might be able to hear the low murmur of our voices. Or the nerves in mine because I wasn’t sure what to say to him.
“No,” Detective Winters said.
I walked closer to the window even as my breathing picked up. John looked tired. Older. He had a jumpsuit on, a terrible color for him because it just made him look even paler than he had before.
“I’ll be in there with you,” Detective Stone said.
“So will I,” Finn said.
I turned around even as Detective Winters shook his head. “The rest of us will stay in here.”
Finn opened his mouth to argue, but I set a hand on his arm. “It makes more sense this way.”
He frowned at me. “I don’t think so.”
“Listen,” I said, glancing nervously to the window. “He flipped out when he saw my engagement ring. That’s why he took it. He doesn’t like you, Finn, because he thinks you’re a threat. If you’re not there, maybe he’ll be more willing to talk to me.”
Detective Stone said, “She’s right. I’ll guide the conversation if necessary, keep him on topic. He said he’d tell us about Mark and admit to everything else if she was here.”
“He won’t admit to everything else,” Curtis said.
Detective Winters frowned. “We’ll take what we can get today.”
“Today?” Finn said. “This is it. This doesn’t happen again, so—”
Detective Stone held up a hand. “We’re focusing on today, okay? One thing at a time.” He turned to me. “Charlotte, I want you to follow my lead. Try to be understanding or agreeable, at least—”
“You want her to sympathize with him?” Finn growled.
I rubbed my hand over my face. “I just want to get this done. Please.”
He closed his mouth and crossed his arms.
“Keep him on track,” Detective Stone said, repeating what Curtis had told me earlier. “If he strays, go back to whatever you were talking about before. Let him do most of the talking, and if we’re not getting anywhere, we’re out of there.”
I gave a shaky nod, and got another firmer one from Curtis. They had faith in me. I could do this. I’d placated Mark for years, this was the same thing. Keep emotion out of it and stay focused.
Before we could leave the room, Finn gripped my arm and pulled me close, his mouth by my ear. “Don’t let him rile you. If you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to stay in there.”
I nodded. “I know. I love you.”
He kissed me, fingers tightening on my arms for a moment before he released me. As an afterthought, I turned back to him and wiggled the engagement ring off my finger.
His jaw clenched when I passed it over. “Hold this for me, will you?”
“Charlotte, I don’t—”
“Just so it doesn’t make him more upset.”
He lowered his voice, though I was sure everyone heard. “I don’t fucking care if he’s upset, I care if you’re upset. It—”
He bit off the rest of what he was going to say, clasping the ring in his hand. “Let’s get this done.”
Straightening my shoulders, I followed Detective Stone from the room. We paused outside of the other door and the detective turned to me.
“Will you be okay with your fiancé watching? I know this is hard for both of you.”
“We’ll handle it,” I told him. We had to.
He nodded and opened the door. He walked in first, drawing John’s gaze, but when I entered the room, John shifted in his seat.
He looked like he tried to get up, remembered the cuffs, and settled for leaning forward in his seat. He almost smiled.
“Charlotte,” he said.
“John.”
“You’ve got your visitor,” Detective Stone said. “She’d like some answers.”
“Sit,” John said. “You should sit.”
I didn’t want to. I wanted to be as mobile as possible in case I needed to get out of here. But I checked the impulse to run and settled myself at the table. If this was going to make him talk, I could sit for a minute.
Detective Stone stood next to me at the table. “Please tell us how long you’ve been in contact with Mark Dublin.”
John spared him a glance, looking irritated. “I just wanted a few minutes.” He returned his attention to me. “I didn’t mean for things to happen the way they did.”
Feeling everyone’s eyes on me, even from the other room, I forced myself to open my mouth. “They probably wouldn’t have happened that way if not for Mark, right?”
He grimaced and nodded. “Right. I had to work fast.”
“What do you mean work fast?” Detective Stone said.
John’s mouth twisted, his eyes flicking to him again. He wasn’t responding well to the detective’s inquiries, so I tried to keep his attention on me.
“You were worried about what he might do,” I said, leading John.
His shoulders rose and fell with his deep breath, and he leaned in a little. I tensed, but tried not to show it. “He’s known where you were since the beginning. Before you went to Oasis. He had me track you down and keep an eye on you so we’d see where you were going. It was easy to get a job at Oasis after that.”
“How did you meet Mark?” Detective Stone asked.
John ignored him. His eyes flashed to my ring finger and back to my face. His eyes softened, and I was glad I’d taken off the ring. Another reason for him to open up to me.
“Do you know Mark well?” I asked John, trying to pick up on Detective Stone’s questioning.
John shrugged. “Mutual acquaintance. But he’s got serious issues. I didn’t want to be involved with that anymore.”
I swallowed, trying to think of the perfect thing to say to him. “I’m glad you were trying to stop him.”
John’s eyes lit up. “He would have hurt you.”
“What was he going to do?”
I could picture Finn in the other room, his fists clenching as he waited for the answer. He didn’t want to know, and neither did I. But we needed evidence and I was working my way around to John giving it to us.
John shuddered. “I have emails.”
“Where?” Detective Stone asked.
John ignored him again. “I’m really glad you came. I wanted to know you were safe.”
“You think Mark’s coming here,” I surmised.
He nodded. He moved again, one hand reaching out. I jerked back in my seat. Detective Stone set a hand on my shoulder.
“No touching,” the detective said.
John glared at him. “You said I could talk to her. You—”
“John, listen,” I said, “this is important. How do you know Mark’s coming here?”
John’s jaw clenched. His shoulders hunched in frustration. “That was the plan all along, and I had to stop him. He had me make a new ID.”
“What name?” I asked, my heart racing. We needed a name, we needed more, or it was just our word against Mark’s.
“I’m the one who was trying to help you,” John said, his voice tortured. “Not—not security, or Finn. They were making things worse. I knew Mark, I knew what he was capable of, and if you just would have stayed with me, it would have been better. I would have kept you safe.”
“Tell us a name,” Detective Stone said.
“I would have been the one you needed,” John continued.
I felt my breath constrict, unable to say anything else.
“A name,” Detective Stone demanded.
John held my gaze. “I was the one who loved you. You don’t know how many times I went to your apartment, waited for you, thinking—”
My chair scraped the floor when I stood. I clutched my hands to my chest, turning to Detective Stone. “I need to go.”
“Charlotte, wait. Wait!” John yanked against the handcuffs.
I bumped into the detective on the way to the door, my hand fumbling with the knob.
“Charlotte!” John called again. “Don’t go! Don’t go!”
The door burst open and I stumbled straight into Finn’s arms. He was already there, already soothing me even as Detective Stone came out, shutting the door behind him. I could still hear John yelling in the other room, shouting my name, demanding I come back.
“We’re going,” Finn said, voice brooking no argument. “We’re leaving now.”
Curtis turned immediately. “I’ll get the car.”
“I’m sorry about that, Charlotte,” Detective Stone said.
I shook my head as Finn put his arm around my shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”
Finn made a low noise of disagreement in his throat, but didn’t say anything. He ushered me down the hall, and the detectives followed us.
Detective Winters stopped us at the door. “Charlotte, if we could—”
“No,” Finn snapped. “Not now. We’re leaving.”
“Mr. Moore,” Detective Stone began.
“Finn,” I said at the same time.
“No.” He touched my cheek. “This isn’t good for you. Let’s go.” To the detective, he said, “Give her some space. You see how crazy he was acting in there. He wasn’t planning on giving you anything. We’re leaving.”
They let us go, Finn ushering me quickly to the front of the building.
“I’m okay,” I assured him, keeping up only because I was as eager to leave as he was. “Finn, really.”
He didn’t slow until we reached the front doors, stopping to cup my face between his palms. “It’s a good thing he was in handcuffs.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Not right now.”
He nodded, then gestured outside to the car pulling up. “There’s Powell.”
“Wait.”
Finn bit out a curse. “I want you out of here, Charlotte. Dammit, did you see how he was looking at you in there? We gave him exactly what he wanted. I—”
“Finn,” I said, taking his hand. “I was just going to ask for my ring back.”
“Oh.” His face relaxed, eyes holding apology. He opened his palm, revealing it to me. “Let’s get this back on you.”
I let him take my hand and slide the ring back on. “I’m never taking that off again.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” He kissed me. “Let’s go.”
Finn and I didn’t discuss the trip to see John for the rest of the day, though I could guarantee he’d thought about it as much as I had. Mark had changed his name. And even John was convinced he was coming here.
But when?
While Finn spoke with Curtis in the office, I busied myself in the kitchen, making dinner. And when I started thinking about John and Mark again, I turned on some music to wash my mind of both of them. I didn’t want plans or unknowns right now. I didn’t want to know how Finn was preparing to up security or how Curtis was going to figure out Mark’s secret identity.
I wanted to live in my little fantasy world right now, where I could make dinner for my fiancé and dream about wedding dresses. I’d have to talk to Leslie. We could shop together.
Going with that thought, I opened a bottle of wine and texted her.
I’m dreaming of fluffy white dresses and poofy veils.
I poured the wine and tested a fettuccini noodle from the pot on the stove. My phone dinged with a message and I read Leslie’s reply.
Stop dreaming, start planning! Just bought a gazillion magazines and found some great websites. Let’s get together!
Grinning, I sent her a response, allowing myself to get excited. My mom and sister were coming this weekend. I’d ease them into everything that was going on, convince them that yes, right now was indeed the best time to be planning a wedding, and then hopefully be able to enjoy the fun of it.
When I turned around, a smile still on my face, Curtis was heading to the door.
“Good night, Charlotte,” he said.
“I made fettuccini Alfredo. You’re welcome to stay.”
His lips twitched, and behind him Finn frowned, clearly not liking the idea.
“No, thank you. But I appreciate the offer. Shane will come check in later.”
He left without another word, and Finn strolled to the counter. I poured him a glass of wine and slid it over.
“You don’t want Curtis to stay for dinner?” I asked.
“I don’t want anyone staying for dinner. I want you alone.”
“It was polite to ask.”
Finn sipped his wine. “He doesn’t need it or expect it.”
“I see.” I turned to test another noodle and found it was ready.
When I reached for a colander and started draining the noodles, Finn said, “You see what?”
Glancing up, I smiled. “You’re not in a very good mood.”
He didn’t respond, so I continued to make dinner, singing along to the music and enjoying my wine. When I spun around to grab the tongs, Finn was staring at me.
“You’re in a great mood, it seems.”
“Absolutely. Look.” I gestured to the expanse of the kitchen. “I’m making dinner for my fiancé. In our apartment. I’m going to look at wedding dresses with Leslie—”
“You are?”
“Yes.” I took down two plates from the cupboard. “So, yeah, I’m in a good mood. Tonight, I’m just going to dream a little.”
He took the plates from me and brought them to the table. When he turned back, I was right behind him with his wine glass. He took it from me and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Tell me, what are you dreaming about?”
I sat, grinning. “Dresses and honeymoons and time with you. I’ve got my own fantasy going on here, in case you didn’t notice. I need a little of that right now, instead of dealing with reality.”
Finn reached out, gripping my chin gently. “This, Charlotte. All of it is your reality. Our place, our engagement, a honeymoon wherever you want to go. And I’ll buy you whatever dress you want—”
“Oh, no you won’t. I’m buying my own dress.”
He sighed, moving to sit. “We’re going to argue about this, aren’t we?”
I smiled again and joined him at the table. “Probably. But since you’re already in a bad mood, we can wait until you feel better.”
“I’m not…” Finn lifted his fork but didn’t eat. “I’m not in a bad mood. But I’m not happy about what happened today.”
I waited for him to continue, knowing he had more to say.
“That wasn’t right of them to put you through that. And I’m upset with myself for not trying to dissuade you more.”
“I think you tried to dissuade me plenty.”
“And then you made more stipulations.”
I froze with my fork above my plate. “Those stipulations were for me, Finn. So that I could move on. I wanted to see John so I could find closure.”
“And did that happen?”
Trying to keep my calm, I said, “Does it matter? I had to try. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I had to try.”
“We knew he wasn’t going to tell you anything.”
“Did we? We were sure of that, huh? Because I wasn’t.”
I stood from the table, but didn’t start pacing like usual. I just stared down at Finn, part of me sorry he’d had to deal with today, and part of me pissed off because it was my choice and he was making it sound like I’d forced him to agree.
“Charlotte, please sit.”
“I can’t sit when I’m angry.” I took a calming breath. “No, I’m not angry. I told myself I was going to enjoy tonight, and I still am. If you want to be in a bad mood, go ahead.”
I grabbed my bowl of noodles and brought it to the couch with my wine to curl my legs up underneath me. The night was coming in and lights sparkled outside the window. I thought about my sister and my mom, how they were going to love the apartment, but hate that I didn’t tell them about Finn.
When Finn sat quietly on the other side of the couch, I turned to him and said, “I was thinking it might be better for me to go visit my family instead.”
“Better?”
“Well, easier for them, I mean. This is going to be an adjustment for them. The apartment, you, the engagement—especially with everything else going on. I could head out this Friday and I’d be back by Sunday, but this way—”
“I’m not letting you go there alone.”
I waved off those words like they were obvious. “Of course not. I’ll see if Curtis can spare Shane or Dustin. And if not—”
“It’s stupid to leave when it’s safer here.”
My eyes widened. “Did you seriously just say that out loud?”
“I didn’t say you were stupid, Charlotte. Okay? I’m—I meant it’s smarter not to put you or your family in danger like that. Dammit,” he said, standing again. “Fine, you’re right, I’m in a bad mood. John’s a piece of shit and the only reason he agreed to anything was so that he could see you. And if those detectives used a little more power of deduction, they could have figured that out for themselves. I’m not mad you tried to get closure but I’m fucking pissed off that it cost you. So…” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ll let you eat your dinner while I go cool off.”
Shocked by his words, and even more surprised he wasn’t going to eat the dinner I’d made, I could only watch him walk to the hallway and vanish inside the study.
I’d never seen Finn do that before. Walk away without solving the problem. He said that trying to get closure had cost me, but I think it had cost him more.