The Same Place (The Lamb and the Lion #2) - Gregory Ashe Page 0,85
audio, but the message was clearly a threat or a warning.
“Oh fuck,” Jem whispered.
Then Hannah pulled out an envelope and threw it at Joy. It hit the table, skidded, and fell to the floor. The envelope opened, spilling cash across the floor.
Hannah turned and left.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Jem whispered.
“Well,” Tean said, trying to make his voice normal. “I guess now we know why they think Hannah did it.”
25
Jem was resting his chin on the doc’s shoulder, his arms loose around his chest. He could feel Tean struggling to breathe normally. He could feel Tean’s desire to break out of Jem’s arms and get away. The doc’s gaze was still fixed on the screen, frozen in the moment Hannah exited the Kneaders.
Tean tapped Jem’s arm.
Jem ignored him.
Tean pulled on Jem’s wrist.
Jem settled his chin and tightened his arms a little.
“Jem.”
“I know, but you’re not going anywhere right now. Sorry.”
“Jem, come on.”
“I’m really comfortable.”
“Ok. Enough. It’s not funny right now.” The doc tried to wiggle free. “Get off me. I’m angry and I’m hurting and I’m scared for my friend, and it freaks me out when people touch me, so just get off me.”
“Ten seconds.”
“No, right now.”
“Sometimes you need to know people care about you. Especially when you’re hurting. And it’s not about words. Nine seconds.”
Tean’s shoulders dropped, and he slumped in the chair. It was like the nonviolent resistance approach to enemy hugs. Jem thought it was adorable.
“Eight, seven, six—get ready to do some really good shouting—five, four, three—try to yell in my left ear, because I already have some hearing damage in that one—two, one, zero. And you’re free.”
Jem released the doc and stepped back.
Tean shot to his feet. “What the hell was she doing?”
“Something stupid.”
“You’re right it was stupid.” Tean’s volume was rising. “She could have handled that situation a million different ways. A million better ways.”
“Yep.”
“She made herself look like a criminal. This is why she’s under arrest—because she tried to handle things on her own. I knew something was wrong. I tried to help. I asked what I could do.”
“This is not your fault. She made her own choices, and she had her own reasons. It’s not about you.”
“Well, it’s affecting me. It feels like it’s about me.”
Jem raised an eyebrow. “Hannah getting arrested for murder is really about you?”
“Of course not! I’m just angry, so I’m shouting and saying things I don’t mean!”
Covering his mouth, Jem nodded.
“And you! When I tell you I don’t want to be touched, you need to listen to me.”
“Noted.”
“Don’t bully me into feeling better.”
“So you do feel better?”
Tean’s crazy dark eyebrows drew together, and he put his hands on his hips.
“God, yes,” Jem whispered. “Tell me about how every time I hug someone against their will, a teddy bear dies.”
“Teddy bears aren’t even alive.”
“Tell me about how involuntary hugging is a sign of aggression in water penguins.”
“There’s no such thing as a water penguin. They’re all water penguins.”
“Tell me about how a sneak-attack hug is America’s silent killer, the highest cause—we’re speaking statistically here—of death in the United States.”
A tiny smile pulled at Tean’s mouth. He still had his hands on his hips.
“Don’t do that,” Tean finally said.
Jem just shrugged. “What now? If you’re done yelling, I mean.”
“I guess so.” Tean rubbed his face. “Can I sleep? I feel awful, and I just want to sleep until this is all over.”
“You could,” Jem said, “but since it’s only three in the afternoon, maybe you could wait a few more hours.”
Tean just shook his head.
“Shake it off,” Jem said, “because we’ve got to work. How do you prove Hannah didn’t kill Joy?”
“If she had an alibi—”
“We know she doesn’t; they wouldn’t have arrested her if she had an alibi. How do you prove Hannah didn’t kill Joy?”
“You prove someone else did.”
Jem gave him double finger pistols.
“I hate you sometimes,” Tean said.
“It’s ok,” Jem said, “our epic, everlasting, bromance-for-the-ages can survive your bouts of pissiness.”
Grabbing a blank piece of paper, Tean sat at the dinette table and said, “Who are our suspects?”
“Zalie and Sievers.”
“Motives?”
“A multimillion dollar pig farm for Zalie, plus revenge or jealousy. For Sievers, pure hatred.”
“If I were investigating—”
“And you are,” Jem said.
“—I would have done a lot more digging, figuratively and literally, around both of them. Why was Ammon so quick to settle on Hannah?”
“You’re not seeing it the same way he does. From Ammon’s point of view, Hannah has just as strong a motive as the other two. And he’s got her on video in a violent confrontation with