The words startled me, and I swallowed so hard I could hear the click in the back of my throat.
River let out a sigh. “I know nearly everyone in the NGPD, Mr. Paxton, and you’re one of the few who don’t hassle me about being here. You just accept that I am. I appreciate that, and I want to thank you in my own way. Like I said, this will be over quickly.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I fell back into my seat just as Monroe turned his attention on me.
“Where were you on October eighth, the day your husband went missing, Mr. Paxton? I know it’s been warm, but most people aren’t swimming this time of year.” Monroe scrunched his nose up at me, and if I could guess why, it would be because I’d already told him this at some point in the last three days.
“He was a diver. He often goes, even in the cold. He’s interested in local boat wrecks. Alex claims there are as many in Lake Ontario as Erie, or he wants to prove so, at any rate.” I realized I was babbling too much and pulled myself together. “On duty. I was on duty. You can check.”
River frowned at me and then at Monroe. “If my client was on the job, at apolice station, when the victim went missing, why is he here?”
Pitts glared at him. “Alex Paxton’s estimated time of death was twelve hours before your client called it in.”
“That would be because he was atwork. Officer Paxton, tell these detectives, if they can call themselves that—” The last part was mumbled, and I managed a small smile at River. “—what time you started work, what time you finished, and precisely who can verify this information.”
“We’ve been doing twelve hour shifts the last few weeks. Picking up some extra slack for lack of cops on the streets. I started work at five that morning, and by the time I got home it was just after six. My new partner, Rogers, can confirm I was here the entire shift. I’d stopped on the way home to get some takeout for us for dinner, and when I got to the house, Alex wasn’t there. I checked the time then called him. He didn’t answer.” My hand curled into a fist on the table and shook. I didn’t miss the way River glanced at it, squinting. “It was odd for him. Too odd. Alex doesn’t do that, and he doesn’t have many friends because we just moved here. No family, either. So I called it in immediately.”
“And what was the coroner’s estimated time of death, Detectives?” River smiled, except it wasn’t pleasant. Condescending was the better word. He knew he’d won.
“The autopsy hasn’t been finalized,” Pitts grumbled, his face as red as the hair on his head. “Early word was twelve hours. It’s a good estimate.”
“Estimate, huh? In that time frame the deceased could have woken up that morning and gone swimming after my client left for work. But you still thought you had the right to ask my client questions during such a sensitive time for him?” River shook his head and sighed, just shy of gloating. “You’re making this too easy.”
“We weren’t accusing him of nothing.” Pitts crossed his arms and I held back a smile at his sign of defensiveness. “We just wanted to talk.”
“Before he gets the chance to bury his husband?” River shook his head. “I doubt that. Now, if we’re done, my client wishes to get back to work.” He shoved himself to his feet, and like a majestic lion stalking his prey, he strode over to the door and opened it again. “Officer Paxton, shall we?”
I smiled apologetically at the detectives because while they were hoping to pin something on me, I knew how hard their job was as well. I stood and followed River out of the room. He strode down the hallway, back straight and determination in every step. He was a man who didn’t lack confidence, and I respected him for it because he knew he was good at his job.
I stopped by my desk, but he turned, grabbed my forearm, and then dragged me out of the bullpen. I forced down the surprise at his touch and let him lead me out toward a quieter part of the station, into a little-traveled hallway close to a cleaning supplies cupboard that smelled like bleach and disinfectant.
He grimaced, probably at the scent of cleanser, and gave me a long look. “They have no reason to pull you in again, unless they find proof of a crime.”
“I didn’t kill him. I….” Drooping, I leaned my shoulder against the wall and used it for support. Cold seeped through my body and I felt nothing but exhaustion. Grief that should have been there wasn’t. What was wrong with me? “He was a marine combat diver. He shouldn’t have drowned in that fucking lake on a nice day.”
“Nature doesn’t discriminate.” River tugged at his suit jacket, and I thought he might have been uncomfortable with this conversation because he glanced at the wall on the other side of the hallway. “If you have any issues, please call me. Here’s my personal cell.” He pulled a card out of the inside of his jacket and passed it to me. I grabbed it with a nod of thanks and stared down at the neat scrawl of numbers on the white card above the gold text. This one only said:River Demchenko, Esquire.
“Thank you.” I stuck the card in my pocket and glanced at him again. He was shorter than me, though barely, but he was stockier than I’d imagined he would be when I stood at a distance from him. More handsome than I thought, too, with a Romanesque nose and plump lips.
River frowned up at me. “Are you related to Hayden Paxton?”
I startled at the familiar name, squinting at him. “Yes, he’s my brother. Do you… know him?”
“Yes, I do. He’s a King. I represent the Kings of Men motorcycle club, so of course I know him.”
“A King?” My heart took off in a gallop, and for the first time since they told me about Alex I felt something. I just didn’t know what it was. “As in, a biker?”
“You didn’t know?” River’s eyebrows did this little dance that distracted me for a moment. He had nice brows. Thicker than Alex’s and very dark.
Even though I thought about River the way I did any attractive man I came across, and could appreciate his finer qualities, I still felt nothing. Emptiness sucked at me. Could Alex really be gone? Maybe I should ask to see his body; it could give me more closure. “Hayden’s here in town?”
“Yes.” River cocked his head as though he wasn’t sure what to make of me. “If he’s your brother, shouldn’t you know that?”
I didn’t answer because I didn’t know how to explain all the bullshite—the blame our parents threw at each other that imploded our family before Hayden and I became glorified babysitters for our younger half brother, Garrett. I took off the first chance I got as a teenager, leaving Hayden to deal with whatever I’d left behind. I’d never forgiven myself. When Alex and I had come looking for him, he’d been gone for a long while, and not even Dad knew where to.
“Thanks for your help today,” I said as I straightened and forced my legs into action. “Truly appreciated.” Turning, I headed down the hallway too stiffly. As soon as I got into the bullpen the eyes were on me, as was the judgement. They wanted to know if I’d killed my husband, a handsome man who most people thought was funny, and loved not long after meeting, and their minds wouldn’t stop wondering who they were working with. But I wasn’t a quitter. I’d worked too hard for my place in the world. Fought too hard. I could deal with my grief when I was at home with the blinds shut.
Six hours later, after my shift had ended, I sat outside the Kings’ junkyard in my truck in the growing gloom. Farther back from the road on the right of the property the dark outline of an out of use water tower stuck straight up into the air like a club a giant had planted into the ground. The supposed scrap business the Kings of Men ran probably had a name, but I couldn’t see it on the sign because it was scratched from years of wear and tear. Even the barbed wire fence looked ready to break with a gust of wind. Bikers came and went, but none who I recognized as my brother. It didn’t occur to me until now that I didn’t know what Hayden looked like anymore. He could have gained bulk since the last time I’d seen him, and being that he was in an illegal motorbike club, I thought maybe I didn’t know him at all. We’d both gotten into trouble as teenagers, but I never expected him to join a gang like this. When had he gotten into bikes?
