“The ISB is on the way, and they will escort you to their office, where you can contact a lawyer,” I told him, knowing he would likely just be questioned at the ISB office and then taken to the local sheriff’s office for holding.
However, given the sensitivity of this, and the fact that Diden and Jennings had already had a tussle about Stanton, I chose to drive him myself over to Agent Andrews’ office.
I’d done my part of the plan. Now it was time for Andrews to do hers, and hopefully we could get some much-needed answers for this case.
22
“Love makes your pupils dilate and your brain shut off.”
—It’s science
Iris
A breeze hit my face, akin to what a hairdryer would feel like. Even though it was early evening, it was still hot, and that breeze did nothing to cool me off.
I spent approximately ten minutes after Hector left sitting on the porch before I realized all I was doing was worrying about him since he seemed so stressed when he left.
I knew it had to do with Chantal Simpleton’s body found at the lake. I hated that this case—a case that likely wouldn’t exist without me—was stressing him out. And that was stressing me out, so I decided to take Sarge for a walk to help me clear my head.
Hector lived so close to one of my favorite spots—the Wash Wetlands park area. It was a little oasis in thedesert. Literally. It was a small wetland full of lush plants and bright colors. It was one of those things that you wouldn’t think existed in the desert, but it did, and I was grateful for it because my soul needed it today.
I sat on a rock near a stream contemplating the entirety of my existence and the situation I was in, all while Sarge sniffed every square inch of the area around me. There was a narrow trail for people to walk or run on, but Sarge was mostly oblivious to the people, preferring to investigate other critters nearby.
“Iris, is that you?” I heard, looking up to see a man about my age. “It’s Lt. Patrick Michaels…You interviewed me at the lake.”
Oh yes, now I remembered.
“Oh, yeah, hi,” I said to him, turning to shake his hand, which prompted Sarge to want to go and sniff our newcomer.
“I like your dog,” he said to me, leaning down to give Sarge some head scratches.
“Oh, he’s not mine. He’s actually Hector Madeira’s.”
He stared at me briefly for a moment before speaking. “You walk his dog from time to time or something, or are you dating?”
I knew it was a simple question, but for some reason it felt more personal than that.
“Um, no, I’m not a dog walker,” I explained. “We’re seeing each other, yes, and I’m staying with him right now, so I decided to bring Sarge down for a walk.”
His face went from curiosity to smiling, and then he shook his head and chuckled.
“What?” I asked, not sure why that was funny.
“I’m a little embarrassed to tell you, but that first day we met, I asked Hector if he knew whether you were single,” he told me, and I thought back to Christine’s comments about her catching Patrick staring at my butt that day. “Hector told me you weren’t single, but he didn’t tell me that he was the one you were dating. Now I kind of feel like an idiot.”
Hector told him what?
That timeline didn’t match. We didn’t even talk before that day at the lake and for the next week after. Why did Hector tell him we were dating?
“Don’t feel like an idiot,” I told him. “I’m flattered you even asked.”
“Well, tell Hector I said hi. Good seeing you again,” he said and then made his way along the trail.
Shortly after Patrick left, Sarge found a frog and was having fun following it along the path and getting excited every time it jumped. His amazement at the little things had me realizing that sometimes joy hides in plain sight, waiting for us to slow down enough to see it.
Much to Sarge’s disappointment, we hopped back into the car for the short drive back to the cabin. I had wanted to make sure we were home before Hector returned, just in case things didn’t go well for him. Maybe I just needed to offer Hector some joy in plain sight, too,when he got home.
Sarge and I were only home for about fifteen minutes when Hector walked through the door. Sarge greeted him with copious amounts of sniffing and licks before I decided it was my turn.
