Page 62 of The Blue Rose
“If they’re here, they already know what I did.” Her head shoots up at me, fear laced in her blue eyes, the ocean is swirling within them.Her eyes will always give her away. I need to teach her how to wear a mask.
Kissing the top of her head, we walk over to my closet, and I hand her a pair of sweats and a shirt. She mindlessly puts it on, and I do the same. She bites her nails, and I stride over, taking her hands from her mouth.
“I’m scared, Aster, what if they take you away for hurting him?” she whispers.
“They won’t do that,” I say matter of factly.
“If they were going to arrest me, they would have done so when I came to the door.” I feel her body relax a little as she takes a deep breath and nods like she’s ready for battle.
“Okay, let’s go tell the police what happened.” She lifts her head, charging for the front door, pulling me right along with her. A chuckle releases from my throat as I watch my brave vixen walk towards the lion's den.
Opening the door, we only see the sheriff there, and every bone in my body freezes, fear of if the deputy started walking the property lacing through my brain. Scenario after scenario plays out in my head of what he could find. If it stumbles upon my shed, and starts asking questions or wanting to enter it. Scared their discovery could lead to Serena discovering the truth. Then everything relaxes as I see him jogging back to the house from his car with a pen and notebook. I open the door further toallow them inside my home, every instinct screaming at me for allowing them to taint it with their presence. We go into the kitchen, and the officers take a seat at one side of the island while I grab the two other chairs and pull them to the other.
“Ms. Raven-”
“You can call me Serena.”
The sheriff clears his throat, pen on paper. “Serena, I am told the night the victim went missing, you were on a date with him?”
She steels her shoulders and places her hands crossed in front of her. “That is correct.”
He scribbles some more on his notepad, and the deputy is just watching us. “Can you tell me how your night went? When did you last see Mr. Blackwell?” His bushy eyebrows relax as he waits for her to respond.
She takes a small breath and looks the sheriff right in the eye and repeats the events of the night. My girl is so smart, showing no signs of nervousness or signs she has something to hide. The sheriff is furiously writing everything down, and I feel eyes penetrating me. I look up and see the deputy staring at me, his eyebrows pinched together, not looking away from my gaze. He must still be trying to figure out who I am. I look like my mother and if this deputy knows who she is, he can put two and two together. My face was all over the news when they were taken, and after I started my venture into their hobbies, I made sure my face wasn’t anywhere again. I look the same, just older. Even if he does connect the dots my files were sealed after I turned eighteen, I made sure of that myself.
Serena finishes her story with me showing up, then the sheriff places his hand up to silence her. I see her nails dig into her hands, my back tenses, and I crack my neck, pinning my glare on his hand. If he wasn’t a sheriff, that hand would already be snapped and his head would be bashed into my island, blood dripping to the floor.
“Aster-”
I place my hand up to silence him the same way he did to Serena. “Call me Mr. Graves.”
His eyes round and his fat head shakes a little. “I’m sorry?”
Is this guy dumb?I place my hands infront of me, the same way Serena had hers, and stare this dumb fucker right in his eyes, repeating slowly so he can understand. “I said, you can call me Mr. Graves. Don’t call me by my name, only those I trust can call me my name, and you, and your deputy, aren’t on the list of names I trust, so, again, call me Mr. Graves.”
The look of shock on his face turns to anger quickly. He points his fat stubby finger at me. “Now you look hereboy, I very well will call you whatever I please, so you better respect your elders and answer my questions,” he cautioned.
I lean over the island to get closer to him. “You’re in my house, and, by law, I can kick you out anytime I please.” The sheriff's hand tightens around his pen, face turning red. “I’ll answer your questions, but if you place your hand up to silencemy womanagain, the respect you want from me will be the same respect you showed to her.” Leaning back and crossing my arms, I continue. “Apologize to Serena, and if she forgives you, we can continue this conversation. If she doesn't, then both of you can leave my home and take your questions with you.”
The vein in the sheriff's forehead pulses, and his cheeks puff out. The deputy places a hand on his arm, making him take a deep breath. He looks at Serena and grits his teeth, like it's painful to have to apologize to her. “I’m sorry, miss, that was awfully rude of me to tell you to be quiet with my hand.”
Serena looks up at me, then back at him, her eyes growing darker.
She’s pissed.
She narrows her eyes on the sheriff. “While I find it was very rude for you to silence me when I was only answering thequestionsyouasked, I’ll forgive you only because I want to help you find Tyler, so let's continue.”
That’s my little vixen.I smirk.
They both clear their throats, and the sheriff turns to me. “When you got there what happened?”
“I punched him for trying to force himself on Serena and told him to lose her number, after that, he ran away, and I walked Serena to her car, before following her home to make sure she was safe.”
“So, you assaulted the victim?” The deputy finally speaks, making me clench my jaw.
“No. I protected my woman from aboytrying to touch her without her permission.”
“If she was your woman, why was she on another date with a different man?” the deputy asks.
