Page 33 of Running to the Mountain Man

Finally, after what feels like hours but is probably more like 30 minutes, Deputy Mark, the sheriff, and some guy with a limp come strolling out of a back room. I stand up, but they pretend not to notice me.

They’re all shaking hands and patting each other on the back.

“Well done apprehending the fugitive from the Sterling Ranch case, Deputy,” says the sheriff. “It’s good to have you with the department. You’ll be getting a commendation for this one.”

It’s all I can do to keep my head from popping off my shoulders. Or tackling that guy to the floor.

Deputy Mark feigns humility. “I just wish the young lady would talk. Then we’d put the public’s mind at ease about having a real killer off the street.”

The sheriff pats him on the shoulder. “As soon as her lawyer gets here, we’ll continue our interrogation.”

“I’m her next of kin. You need help getting a confession out of her, call me,” says the guy with the limp.

And here I am, trying to decide which of these chumps’ heads I want to bash in.

“Where. The fuck. Is Goldie?”

The three men look in the direction of the psycho in the lobby, hollering for fool’s head off. That would be me. I am the psycho.

The sheriff hooks his thumbs in his belt. “And who might you be?”

“I might be her fiancé. And I have the right to speak to her.”

The guy with the limp and the deputy with shit for brains exchange a skeptical look, then stare at me with murder in their eyes.

“Well, now,” the sheriff starts. “You do know that she’s being investigated for murder.”

Just then, the door bangs open. In strides a tired-looking woman in her fifties, wearing a smart gray suit and carrying a weathered briefcase. She makes a beeline for the back room, ignoring the sheriff.

“Now, wait a minute, Audrey.”

“Can it, Lucas?”

Both Mark and the guy with the limp look at the sheriff. “My sister, the crusading public defender. What can you do?”

I’ve never been so happy to see someone besides Goldie.

Without asking permission, she throws open the door to the interrogation room. The sheriff and Mark watch her in bewilderment. Me, I don’t wait for permission. I sprint over there and slide into the room before she shuts the door.

“Oh my god! Barrett!”

I don’t hesitate to scoop up Goldie in my arms and kiss her tear-stained face everywhere. “Baby,” I choke out. “Did they hurt you? What happened? What did you say? Did you answer any questions?”

She seems to laugh and cry at the same time. “No. No, I didn’t say anything.”

“Good girl.”

Audrey blows out a heavy breath and plops her briefcase on the table across from where Goldie and I are pawing, kissing, laughing, and crying.

“As soon as you and your daddy dom are finished, I can brief you on what to say before Thing One and Thing Two mosey on back here.” She pulls out a legal pad, a pen, and a phone, which she uses to begin recording.

Goldie looks at me, then looks at Audrey. She stiffens her spine and pulls herself together as I pull out her chair. “I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but I’m ready. What do I say?”

Audrey folds her hands, rests them on the legal pad, and then looks Goldie dead in the eye. “You don’t say shit, okay? You let me do the talking.”

Goldie looks at me and smirks. “Well, that was easy.”

I laugh and lean forward, pressing a kiss to her temple.

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