Dolph stared down at me. "I'll drive you back to your place."
"Richard's waiting for me," I said.
"What's going on, Anita?"
"I told Branswell everything I know."
Catherine stood up. "Anita has answered all the questions she's going to answer tonight."
"He's a friend," I said.
"He's also a cop," Catherine said. She smiled. "Isn't that right, Sergeant Storr?"
Dolph stared at her for a minute. "That is certainly true, Ms. Maison-Gillette." He pushed away from the wall. He looked at me. "I'll talk to you later, Anita."
"I know," I said.
"Come on," Catherine said. "Let's get out of here before they change their minds."
"Don't you believe me?" I asked.
"I'm your lawyer. Of course I believe you."
I looked at her. She looked at me. I got up. We left. I wondered if Richard would believe me. Probably not.
5
Richard and I walked toward his car, through the police station parking lot. He hadn't said a word to me. He'd shaken hands with Catherine and headed for the car. He got into his side. I slid into the passenger side. Richard started the engine and backed out of the parking slot.
"You're mad about something," I said.
He eased out onto the street. He always drove carefully when he was angry. "What could I possibly be mad about?" The sarcasm was thick enough to eat with a spoon.
"You think I knew there was a hit man in my apartment?"
He flashed me a look that was pure rage. "You knew, and you let me go inside and set that damned TV up. You got me out of harm's way."
"I wasn't sure, Richard."
"I bet you had your gun drawn before he fired."
I shrugged.
"Dammit, Anita, you could have been killed."
"But I wasn't."
"That's your answer to everything. If you survive, it's all right."
"It beats the alternative," I said.
"Don't make jokes," Richard said.
"Look, Richard, I didn't go out hunting this guy. He came to me."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"And you would have done what? Go through the door first? You'd have taken a chest full of buckshot and survived. How would you have explained that? You'd have been outed as a lycanthrope. You'd have lost your job, at the very least."