Page 18 of Unexpected Trouble

He sighed, and Trevor snickered and said softly, “I don’t think you’re going to win this one. I’m on Maggie’s side. You broke her heart, and you lied to her.”

“Shut up,” Greg growled toward him.

“I got your back, Maggie. You stick with me, and I’ll help you get even.”

I laughed as we pulled into the parking lot of the police station, and then sighed. “Do I really have to tell them what he looked like?”

“Yes,” Greg said as he took off his seat belt and spoke over his shoulder toward me. “The more detail you can give them, the better it is for the case.”

“I still don’t see why they need this when Chuck will probably tell them who Len is.”

Greg exited the vehicle and then opened my door for me and gave me his hand to climb down from the seat. The minute I was out, he let go of me and stepped away. I guess he really didn’t have any feelings for me after all these years. That kind of sucked, because after only a few hours of being in his presence, I was totally crushing on him again.

Oh, Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, you need to just let this go and be happy that you got to see him again after so many years. If you thought he hurt you as a teenager, he could probably destroy you as an adult.

Chapter Seven

Gregory

That whole conversation in the car irritated me. Maybe I didn’t love Maggie, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t have fond memories of our time together. But come on, it was almost twenty years ago. I’d been in half a dozen relationships since then. I’d seen a hundred different war zones, seen a lot of death, screwed a lot of women, and kept moving forward. It was always better to move forward and not look back.

At first, when I’d gone overseas, I’d thought a lot about her. I’d carried her photo in my pocket with me for the first few months, and then I’d stuck it in one of my notebooks that I always took with me. Over the years, that damn photo had moved from one notebook to the next. Damn, if it wasn’t in the one that was now burning a hole in my pocket.

Why had I kept her photo all these years? Maybe it had just become a habit, or I’d come to think of it as a good luck charm. Or perhaps it had become a symbol of what I gave up to fight for our country’s freedom. I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t know that I wanted to dwell that much on it now.

When we reached the door, I took hold of her arm, pulling her to a stop. “Hey, Trevor, go on in; I want to have a word with Maggie.”

“Alright,” he said as he stepped around us with a knowing smirk. Not sure what he thought he knew.

I let go of Maggie’s arm as she studied me. “I’m sorry about what I said in the truck.”

Her once curious look turned into one of annoyance with one blink. “Forget about it, Greg. Yes, you hurt me a long time ago, but that wasa long time ago. I’m a big girl now, and I know those were silly adolescent words. Trust me, I’m fine, okay?”

“You’re sure? You’re not upset with me?”

“Hardly,” she retorted and stepped away. She said she understood, and maybe Maggie did, but I still had the feeling that she wasn’t happy with me.

I followed her into the police station, and we were led back to a conference room to have a seat. Wanted posters and updates to general orders were posted all over one of the walls, announcements on another wall, statistics on the opposite side. They must do roll calls in here, I thought to myself and noted that Trevor was also skimming over the walls and stopped at the wanted poster.

A few minutes later, a detective came in and took Maggie away to interview her. Trevor was handed a statement form to fill out since his involvement was limited to the cellphone, and I was escorted to another room to give my interview.

Giving a statement was very similar to a debrief after a critical mission. You told them the facts: the good, the bad, and the ugly. No emotion, no opinion, no unnecessary details. I was done in less than twenty minutes and found Trevor kicked back in the same chair, a cup of coffee to his lips. At least he’d gotten some. I still needed to get my own fix. There were several other victims now seated in the room with him, along with a couple of people I didn’t know.

“You done?” he asked when I approached him.

“Yeah, Maggie come back yet?”

He laughed. “No, and I don’t think she’ll be done for a while. Alex is bringing your truck over so you can get Maggie home when she is finished. I need to get back to the office; I forgot how long it was going to take for her to do a sketch and give a statement.”

“Ah, that’s true.” I winced. Maybe I should leave her a message to call me after it was done, and I could come back. Who knew how long it was going to take her to get this done.

“Hey.” He slapped me on the back. “Stay here; don’t worry about work. I’ll fill you in on anything you need to know later. Make sure Maggie gets home safely and that she’s okay.”

“All right, I appreciate it.”

He started to walk away and stopped, coming back and leaning toward me to speak softly. “And find a way to make it up to her. I think you owe it to her after walking away from her all those years ago.”

“Give me a break,” I muttered as I shook my head.

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