Page 21 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

Petty of me, yes, but there wasn’t a soul who wouldn’t celebrate if he quit the force tomorrow.

We paused outside on the sidewalk, with Borrowman lifting a hand to pause us. “Before I lose you, can you follow me down to the station? Got a guy in for questioning.”

“Sure.” Borrowman had bent over backward to be helpful on my case, so it was only fair I supported him on his. “Actually, sounds great. I can show Abby the ropes on how we do interviews.”

“Then let’s go.”

Abby looked excited too. She really did love this line of work, and her enthusiasm showed.

We all piled in our respective cars, driving the short distance to the precinct, then unloading. Donovan walked Abby through the process of signing in.

Borrowman showed me to the first interrogation room, so I slid into the viewing room on the other side of the mirror. I say “slid” because I did my best to not touch the door, and Donovan shielded me from it just in case. Abby slipped past too. She was hot enough the door was at risk from her as well. Just not immediately, unlike me.

Abby looked all around the dim room, noting sound equipment and walkies, taking it in. “So it really does look like this? Not just in TV land?”

“Nope, not just on TV. I mean, police procedurals in movies are rarely right, but the way a station looks is usually not too far off.”

She pointed at the glass. “But if we’re on this side, how do we communicate with Detective Borrowman?”

“That’s where I come in.” Donovan picked up one of the walkie-talkies from the charging station and waggled it in the air. “We use either this or my cell to speak to Borrowman. He’s got a Bluetooth earbud that lets him hear everything.”

“Ooooh. This is spy level.”

“Pretty much.” I, too, enjoyed the clandestine nature of it. I think all our inner children liked the idea of being sneaky.

Borrowman entered with his suspect, they both got situated at the table, and I took a minute to evaluate the suspect. On the surface, he looked like a blue-collar worker, one of those hardworking men you’d see at church every Sunday. Below the surface, though…phew, Lord Almighty. The only other narcissist possibly worse than this man was Rodger, and that was saying something.

I didn’t say anything. I watched Abby instead. She had good instincts with lines, it was simply experience she needed now, so I wanted to give her the chance to figure things out on her own, if possible.

She stared hard at the man, eyes narrowed, upper lip curled in disgust. “Yikes. He’s as bad as a villain of the week.”

I started laughing. Donovan damn near doubled over, leaning against the glass.

She blinked at both of us, innocent and confused. “What?”

“Abby, that has to be the best description ever.” Donovan straightened, still laughing on an internal level, bright yellow all in his lines.

“Pretty damn accurate, too.” I must remember this description later.

Borrowman had done the whole time and date thing. Now he was in full interrogation mode. “Mr. Addiman, I think you know why you’re here.”

Addiman just glared. Nothing to say yet.

Borrowman made a show of flipping through the police report in front of him. Rather thick report, too. “So far, I’ve got video evidence of you stalking your ex—”

“She’s not my ex! She’s my damn wife!” Addiman snapped. “And I didn’t tell her I wanted a divorce. She doesn’t get to leave unless I agree to it.”

I pursed my lips in a soundless whistle. Woooooow. Good job, lady, escaping this psycho.

“A marriage certificate isn’t a bill of sale,” Abby muttered in disgust.

“You’ve got that right.” Donovan also glared at the guy.

Why was I even here? Pretty sure Borrowman had this guy squared away with evidence, but I was also sure he’d brought me in for a reason.

Borrowman kept his voice level, body posture easy, like he had all the time in the world. “That why you tried to burn the house down with her in it?”

Oh shit. This wasn’t a stalking case. This was attempted murder. I paid better attention, and yup, there it was, tangled with the scarlet rage in his lines. The greyish white had been buried for a second there. It was clearly visible now, though.

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