Page 105 of Water's Edge

“I’m still pissed at them,” I say.

Not a complete lie, because Iampissed at them, but it isn’t the only reason. I don’t trust them, and Kitsap is in charge of the investigation on theIntegrityand at Ronnie’s place: the shooting of Captain Marvel—I need to quit calling him that—my shooting of Polito, and of course his attempt at killing me. Twice.

“Continue,” he says.

Ronnie winces. Her lip—her whole face, for that matter—must hurt when she talks. But it’s a good teaching tool. Never open a door blindly. Of course, it was Jimmy Polito who was at the door, in uniform; she would have had no reason not to trust him. And our guns were clear across the room on a counter. And we’d both been drinking for a couple of hours.

“I must have nodded off during the video,” Ronnie says. “I heard a knock at the door and woke up. Megan wasn’t on the couch. I thought maybe she’d left and what I’d heard was the door shutting. I got up and cracked the door to see if she’d left and a uniformed policeman was standing there. He looked kind of familiar. He forced the door open, said something like ‘Surprise, bitch,’ and kicked me in the stomach. He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me up and punched me in the face.”

She has the black eye to prove it. Her cheek is swollen and shiny black. The stitched-up and bandaged cut on her forehead just above her eye is where his academy ring struck. That will leave a scar. Every cop needs one to tell stories and show to their grandchildren.

I should be so lucky.

“I heard shots and then he hit me on the head with something. I don’t remember how I got on the boat, but I woke up in the cabin. He was bragging about how he’d fooled us all. He admitted killing Leann and Dina and Margie. I asked him why he did it and he said they had it coming. The all-seeing eye marked them. He was almost in a rage about them giving up their babies. He said he especially enjoyed killing Margie because she was selling her babies. Then he got quiet and kept looking at me. He said… he…”

Sheriff Gray says, “Go ahead, Ronnie. It’s okay. You’re with family.”

I surprise myself and put a hand on hers. She’s been through hell and survived. That gets her lots of gold stars in my book.

“He told me to take my clothes off. He said he had something for me that I wasn’t going to forget. Then he laughed and said I wouldn’t remember it, either. I knew he was going to rape me and kill me just like those other girls.”

She swallows and I can see her lips trembling. She’s about to come apart. She takes a breath.

“I remembered where I’d seen his face,” she says. “He was the security officer on the hospital video we were watching. That friend of Clay’s. He had a gun in his hand the whole time. He must have heard something because he looked out the window. I knew I had to fight to escape and I was getting ready to when he slammed me against the wall and hit me over the head again. I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up on the boat with Megan sitting on the floor, holding me. She called for an ambulance and backup.”

She gives me a look that I can’t quite read.

“I’m sorry I let you down, Megan. I should have… I should…”

Tears start streaming down her cheeks.

The sheriff clears his throat. “That’ll be enough for now. I’ll need to get a taped statement from both of you, but it can wait.”

Our guns were taken at the scene and there will be a hearing to determine if my shooting was necessary. My only regret is that I didn’t completely castrate the son of a bitch. Sheriff Gray says he’ll get in touch with Clay Osborne and Cousin Larry and tell them to leave us alone until we are ready to talk. He gives us both a week off, but I know I’ll be back at work tomorrow. Ronnie, maybe not. She is still pretty shaken up about Captain Martin. She looked up to him. I thought he saw her as a conquest, but that’s unkind. Maybe he wasn’t a self-centered pig.

At least now she knows he wasn’t a murderer and rapist.

Sheriff argues, unsuccessfully, that we be taken home. I insist that I take myself and Ronnie home. I don’t like being coddled. I win. I drive.

I walk Ronnie out to my car. Someone picked the Taurus up at Ronnie’s house and left it here at the station for me. I feel every jarring step from my ribs to the top of my head. I’m badly bruised and it still hurts to breathe, but I’m alive. One of Jimmy’s bullets struck my body armor directly over my sternum. The doctor said if I hadn’t been wearing the armor plate in my vest, I wouldn’t have made it. I told him he should see the other guy and got a laugh.

Ronnie’s car keys are still in my pocket. I hand them to her.

“I stole your car. Sorry.”

Ronnie smiles and winces at the same time and her hand goes to her split lip. It has been glued and taped together. Another scar.

“I’m going to have a black eye,” she says.

Guess what? You already do.“It gets better. Put some raw meat on it.”

“Why do people always say that? I think it’s a waste of a good steak.”

She still has a sense of humor. That’s good.

“Yeah. You ready to go home? I’ll get someone to get your car for you.”

Look at me: I’m being nice. It can happen.

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