Dodge completely. She wore jeans and a blazer, and managed to look more professional and put-together than I did wearing a full suit. It made me suddenly jealous. She had her life together. I would have bet she never ran into bullshit like Ms. Bridger and her horde of killers.
Evershaw stepped sideways so he could peer around Dodge’s wide stance to see me. “Persephone, this is Detective Greer O’Brien. She’s... part of the community. When someone in the community runs afoul of the law, O’Brien is the person we talk to.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it, boyo,” the detective said, and I caught traces of an Irish accent. She gave Evershaw a sharp sideways look. “You run off and make your own justice, then leave it for me to clean up. Not this time, you hear?”
Evershaw rolled his eyes and waved her toward the armchair next to where Todd still sat. “I think you’re mis-remembering a lot, but I doubt we’ll agree on anything. Sit and Percy will fill you in on what she saw. Then you can deal with Bridger.”
“We don’t know that a crime was committed,” she said, and fixed her intense gaze on me. “But I’m sure Ms. Lawson can give me a place to start investigating.”
I gripped my knees to keep my hands from trembling. “I don’t think I really saw anything, it was just...”
“We’ll start at the beginning,” she said, and flipped open a notebook. She attempted a smile, though the way her teeth were a bit pointy made me think of Smith. Maybe she was the same sort of thing he was? The detective frowned at Dodge. “You can go, wolf.”
The thought of Dodge not being there made my stomach sink. He couldn’t leave. He’d seen more than me, and he no doubt actually remembered the details that a cop would need to unravel what happened. All I remembered was panic and the sour taste in my mouth, and the dull squish of a human foot hitting the floor.
I wanted to ask him to stay. I needed him to stay, needed to feel his warmth next to me. But my lips wouldn’t move. I couldn’t unlock my jaw to articulate how much I needed Dodge to sit next to me and lend me some of his strength. It felt like I’d completely lost the ability to exist on my own. The alligator was too close to the boat and I didn’t want to face it alone.
Todd shoved to his feet and jerked his chin at Dodge. “Let’s go. We’ve got to check on Silas and help Deirdre mess with whatever is wrong with him. She’s still mixing potions but we need to make sure Silas is secured before the witch tries anything.”
Dodge tensed, then strode off stiff-legged without a backward glance. I watched his retreat and struggled to breathe normally. It was okay. It would be fine. It was just me and the detective in someone else’s living room.
O’Brien’s head tilted as she watched me. “I know this must be overwhelming. Evershaw said you had something of a shock when you were here the first time, and it was followed by the events that Smith called me about. Just take a deep breath. We can take as long as you like, take whatever breaks you need.”
I wanted at least a week’s break. I wanted it to be over with without any input from me. Couldn’t she just go snooping around Ms. Bridger’s businesses? It seemed like everyone knew she was a loan shark and master mobster, but no one had done anything about it. None of those powerful, intimidating people had bothered to hold her accountable, and they expected me – a weak, terrified human – to step up and do the hard work?
I rubbed my temples and struggled to find something to say. I started shaking my head and then couldn’t seem to stop. A band tightened around my chest until I couldn’t breathe. “I didn’t see much. I don’t think I’ll be very helpful.”
“That’s okay. We’ll just go over what you saw and heard, then I have some questions about the sanctuary that Bridger set up and what you’ve observed there.” She sounded so confident. I envied her her certainty. She had a badge and a gun to protect herself. I didn’t have anything.
She still watched me, waiting for something, so I took a deep breath and nodded. I could tell her some things and try to answer her questions, then I