Page 105 of Safe With Me

“Good morning, Russo,” Keith said, a tiny curve to his lips as he came up to me. “You look like shit.”

A laugh escaped me as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I feel like shit, so that tracks.”

His hint of a smile faded as his brows pulled together.

“I need you not to react. You’re just a random cop in the investigation, not his obsession’s current boyfriend. At least not until we get a read on him. No matter what he says about Lila, you stay quiet and let Jude and me lead.”

I nodded. “Understood, Chief.”

“This is one of the hardest things about this job,” Keith said as we headed toward the interrogation room. “Others can react, but we can’t. And when it’s about someone you love, the effort not to eats away at you. When you start to waver a little, just know this—” he turned to me as he reached for the doorknob, “—if he’s the one who came after my little niece, I will be battling the urge to kill him too. I’ll leave with an ulcer just like you, but both of us will do our jobs and not show it.”

“Got it,” I said as I followed him down the hall to the interrogation rooms.

In a weak moment, I’d looked up the viral video that had gotten Lila fired. It didn’t have a clear image of Ted, only the side of his face as he yelled at reception and the back of his head as he was carried out by security.

I hadn’t gotten a good enough look at him to spot him in a crowd or a lineup, but as I stared down at the defiance in his face, glaring at the wall with his arms crossed and his legs stretched and spread wide, he matched every description I’d had in my head for a petulant asshole who didn’t like to be told no.

“Ted, this is Officer Russo and Chief McGrath. As I mentioned before, we have a few questions to ask.”

Keith and I took seats next to Jude as I searched his face. He was average in every way. Medium, slightly stocky build, brown hair and eyes, pale complexion.

He groaned, tapping his fingers as if we were wasting his time.

“Do I need a lawyer?”

“I don’t know, do you?” Jude asked, his tone even, almost bored. “I can call the public defender’s office and get one here in a couple of hours.”

“No, I don’t need a lawyer, and I don’t feel like wasting even more of my time. Just spit out why I’m here this long for a broken taillight and an expired inspection.”

“Noted. You’re from Philly, right?” Keith asked. “That’s a long way from here. What brings you into town?”

“I’m visiting someone. Does that have to be cleared by the local police department?” He huffed, rolling his eyes like the man-child he obviously was.

“Who are you visiting? It’s a small town, so everyone knows everyone,” Keith said as he flashed Ted an easy grin.

“I don’t see how that matters,” he spat back.

“Well,” Keith began, “it kind of does if you’re here to see an ex-girlfriend who moved to town to get away from you.” Keith leaned closer to the table. “You’re here to see Lila, right? And I’ll bet she’s not expecting you.”

His defiance melted from his face.

“I’m only here to talk to her. Apologize for how I acted since she won’t answer calls or emails.”

“And you think just showing up is better?” Jude asked.

“Okay,” he said, his breathing becoming quicker and heavier as he raked a hand through his short brown hair. “I’m guessing she…told you all that happened. I was in a bad place. She has every right to be angry. My job put me on leave until I went to counseling, and after a few months, I finally realized how wrong I was.”

He glanced over at me, a deep furrow in his brow as he met my gaze, as if he were pleading with me and all of us. But I found no malice, rage, or difference in how he regarded me, compared to how he looked at Jude and Keith.

Did I believe he was here to apologize to Lila as part of his therapy, or did he have plans to worm his way back into her life? I wasn’t sure.

But the more I heard him explain himself, the more I hated the sour pit in my stomach.

It wasn’t him. I knew it with a crushing certainty.

“Lila gave us records of all her contact with you,” Jude said, still cool and emotionless as he spoke to Ted. “Despite her refusal to speak to you, you ignored it and stalked her until she left Philly, even threatening her friends. I think apologizing face-to-face won’t give you the closure you seem to be claiming to seek and will only give her more ammunition to press charges.”

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