Annie grunted in agreement. “Well, we think that Christine Seager was sleeping with Michael Stanton. I think he got her the job and Michael is the dealer,” Annie smiled wider. Saying it aloud had cemented her reasoning even more. “And I think Michael is working for someone else, a bigger fish in all of this, but only Elijah can get me that info.”
Paul breathed out a heavy sigh, irritation setting in his features. “I don’t know about that, seems a bit of a stretch, Miles. Michael Stanton is a respected businessman, what the hell would he be doing getting involved with drug dealing?”
“I agree that there’s more to this, but I really think this is it. If I could just get access to Mr. Stanton’s accounts, I think we’d find something there that would tell us exactly what we need to know.” Annie’s gaze connected with Mrs. Seager’s.
“There’s no evidence to get a court order, other than a witness to a different crime looking like his insane wife, so no, just stick with what we know,” Paul swallowed with a shake of his head. He could feel Elijah’s angry glare burning into him.
“But, Davies—,”
“I said leave that alone!” Paul snapped, surprising both Annie and Elijah. “We don’t need to go making enemies where we don’t need to, and you’re getting ahead of yourself. Just focus on what we do know. Bring Christine in, and I’ll get Elijah back there.”
“Okay, boss,” Annie said with sarcasm and hung up.
Paul turned to Elijah and delivered the news. “Mrs. Seager has managed to get her daughter, Christine, to come in for questioning. Apparently her daughter is ready to talk about the Medco case—but she’ll only speak to you.”
“I’ve got more important things to worry about than the Medco case right now, Paul. I need to stay here for Delores,” Elijah said with a shake of his head. “And what was the other thing about?” Elijah asked, sensing unease with Paul. He knew Annie and Paul had had a very brief affair a while back, and he also knew that Paul still harboured certain feelings for Annie, so for him to speak to her like that was unusual. “What did she want a court order for?”
“Nothing. She just needs to know when to back off. She’s always jumping to conclusions; putting two and two together and reaching five,” Paul replied, his face flushing pink, though with embarrassment from losing his cool, or from actually losing his cool with Annie, Elijah was uncertain.
“Some would call that a cop’s instinct,” Elijah said, raising an eyebrow.
“Some would call it far-fetched,” Paul retorted bitterly.
Elijah dropped the discussion. “Okay, so what now?” Elijah asked, moving the discussion forwards.
“I’m not sure. I guess I could go check in on Delores for you, but you need to head back home and speak to Mrs. Seager. We need Christine’s statement on file. Where’s your car? I got a cab to town. Figured I’d find you in one of the local bars. Took three tries before I found your sorry ass.”
Elijah gestured to his hire car a little further up the road and both men began to walk towards it. “Paul, I’m not going anywhere until I know she’s okay. I don’t trust him. Not after what she tried to do last night.” Both men climbed in the car and Elijah started it before pulling away from the sidewalk. “She said he told her she had to kill herself. What kind of person does that?”
“A sick son-of-a-bitch, that’s who,” Paul said, his tone full of the same anger and frustration that Elijah was feeling.
“Look, the precinct needs this case cracking—and you need to do your job. Trust me to keep an eye on the Delores situation, buddy. Mr. Stanton can’t keep me out of the hospital, remember? And hey, you said there was a cop on her door now, right? So she’s being watched constantly. Perhaps a little distance will give you some clarity, help put that cop instinct of yours to good use.” He smiled at Elijah and Elijah nodded in agreement. “Are you okay to drive? I saw you with the scotch.”
“Yeah, only had the one. But look, it doesn’t feel right leaving her.” Elijah drove down the quiet street towards the hospital. The image of Delores from the previous night kept flashing in his mind. Her eyes, so lost, so confused. She had tried to kill herself because of what Michael had told her, but no one was going to believe her word against Michael. It was all hearsay.
“She’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it. You can trust me, buddy.” Paul reached out and patted his friend’s shoulder reassuringly. “Haven’t I had your back through all of this? I’m not about to let you down now.”
Elijah looked across at his friend and nodded in agreement. “You’re a great friend, Paul.” He smiled and looked back to the road.
“You’ve had my back more than enough times over the years,” Paul retorted with a laugh.
“That’s true,” Elijah laughed back. Elijah turned the car into the hospital parking lot and drove towards the entrance, before pulling into a space. “You got a hotel booked?”
Paul unbuckled his belt. “No, but I’ll find something. I’ll phone for a cab and get them to take me somewhere cheap.”
“Money saving?” Elijah asked with a laugh.
“You know the wife. Damned woman is always watching what I spend, even if I can claim it back on expenses,” Paul opened his door and climbed out. “Watches me like a damned hawk.” His features were twisted, bitter like they always were whenever he talked about his wife. Paul stared off towards the hospital entrance, a frown on his face.
“You okay?” Elijah asked. “I know things have been rough between you two for a while. You can talk to me if you need to, you know that, right?”
Paul looked back in at his friend. “She asked for a divorce, can’t say I care too much if I’m honest. All she ever cared about was my money,” he laughed bitterly, “since I don’t have any I guess I’m of no use to her now. Don’t worry about it. Look, head back home and get Christine to come in and give a statement. Let’s close that case, and I’ll work on things here with Delores.”
He slammed the door shut and waved goodbye to Elijah. Slinging his bag across his back, he walked towards the hospital, giving a brief glance back to Elijah and waving. Elijah waved back and began to reverse out of his space. He pulled away from the parking lot and headed towards his motel to pack his things.
It still didn’t feel right leaving Delores with her husband. Everyone was saying Delores was crazy, but in Elijah’s eyes, if anyone was crazy it was Michael Stanton. The man was messing with his wife’s head, putting things in her brain that no person should ever have to think about.
Would he really do all of this because he was jealous that she cheated on him? Michael hadn’t been faithful either, so would he really be that egotistical? He could cheat, but she couldn’t? It seemed absurd, but then, he’d met the man and he’d seen the hate in his eyes.
