Both Livvy and Judson turned to face the man. Addie moved as well, positioning herself right behind them and looking over their shoulders so she could see Elijah try to storm toward them.
Try but fail.
Deputy Garrison Zimmer blocked him and tipped his head to the metal detector. “Walk through there,” Garrison ordered.
Elijah looked ready to argue with that, too, but, muttering obscenities under his breath, he finally went through. And immediately set off the alarms. Garrison drew his gun, and while he didn’t actually aim it at Elijah, it caused the young man to thrust his hands in the air.
“There’s a sign on the door that reads, ‘No firearms or knives allowed on these premises except for law enforcement officers,’” Garrison pointed out. “There’s even a picture of a gun with a red line drawn through it.”
“I didn’t notice it, all right,” Elijah snapped. “All I was thinking about was getting in here to see my girlfriend.”
“Using just two fingers, remove your weapon and place it there,” Garrison instructed, motioning toward a box on the table next to the metal detector.
Elijah glared at him, but did as he was told and produced a small handgun from the back waist of his bulky cargo pants. He put the gun in the box and lowered his other hand.
While Garrison dealt with locking up the gun in the box, Judson walked through the bullpen to reach Elijah.
“We’ve been trying to reach you for hours,” Judson told the man. “Where were you?”
“At work,” Elijah said without hesitation. “And then training for a boxing match.” He tapped a bruise on his right cheekbone. “I don’t answer my phone or check my messages when I’m at the gym or in the ring. Good way to get your face busted. When I finished and listened to the voicemails, I drove straight here. Now, I want to see Jennifer.”
“I’m sorry, but Jennifer can’t have visitors,” Judson informed him. “And Shane probably told you that when you saw him outside.”
Elijah cursed. “Shane’s a wimp. I figured he didn’t press hard enough about that.” He rammed his thumb against his chest. “But I will see her.”
“You won’t.” Judson returned the fierce stare the man was giving him. “I can have her contact you after her interview.”
Oh, Elijah didn’t care for that, and the fury raced through his stormy gray eyes. “Is Jennifer under arrest?” he demanded to know.
“Not at the moment, but she’s been detained for questioning,” Judson replied.
“Why?” the man insisted. “What is it you think she did?”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that with you” was Judson’s reply.
Elijah cursed some more. “Did that train wreck Yvette have something to do with this? If so, you shouldn’t believe a word she says. The woman is a walking, talking bag of…lies,” he finally finished, but Addie thought he wanted to use much stronger language to describe her.
That clearly got Judson’s attention. “You know Yvette?”
“Of course I know her. She’s always trying to worm her way back into Jennifer’s life. Always boo-hooing aboutforgive me, baby,” he said in a mock-pitiful voice. “As if. That woman has put Jennifer through hell and back over the years.”
“What about Trevor?” Judson pushed. “Has he done that, too?”
Elijah had a surprising response. His glare shifted to a smirk. “Trevor’s lazy and worthless, and he’ll suck every penny out of Yvette. Personally, I hope he does. That’ll be exactly what Yvette deserves.”
So, maybe that meant Jennifer wasn’t concerned about Trevor’s possible gold-digging. Unlike Shane, who seemed to want his share of his mother’s money.
“Any idea where Yvette and Trevor are?” Judson asked.
“Hell if I know. Last I checked, I wasn’t their keeper.” He paused again. “Did one of them do something to hurt Jennifer?”
Judson turned the question around on him. “What makes you ask that? Has one of them hurt her before?”
Elijah opened his mouth. Closed it. “I don’t know. Let me speak to Jennifer’s lawyer,” he tacked on to that.
“She doesn’t have one,” Livvy provided.
“And you’re hounding her anyway?” Elijah howled. He started shaking his head. “No, no, no,” he strung out. “That’s not gonna happen. No more questions until she has a lawyer.”
