“Good,” I say when he hangs up.“Now, we wait.”
I pull out a chair, sitting across from him, gun never wavering.“While we’re waiting, let’s chat about your wife’s hobby of sexually harassing gay men and then filing false reports when they reject her.”
Mark’s expression shifts, something like resignation replacing some of the fear.“What did she do this time?”
His response surprises me.“This time?So, this has happened before?”
He removes his glasses, rubbing his eyes wearily.“Alex has… issues.With men she can’t have.Especially gay men.She sees them as a challenge.”He looks up at me, a different kind of fear in his eyes now.“Who did she go after?”
“A doctor.My doctor.”I don’t elaborate on my relationship with Xavier.“She cornered him, grabbed him inappropriately, then filed a false harassment claim when he rejected her.Got him fired today.”
Mark’s shoulders slump.“Jesus Christ.Not again.”
“Again?”I lean forward, interest piqued despite my anger.“This has happened before?”
He nods miserably.“Twice.Once at her previous hospital.Another time with our neighbor’s son.We had to move because of it.”His eyes meet mine, something like defeat in them.“I’ve tried to get her help.Therapy.Medication.She refuses.Says there’s nothing wrong with her.”
The sound of a car in the driveway interrupts our conversation.Mark tenses, eyes darting to the front of the house.
“Not a word,” I warn, moving to stand behind the door where Alex won’t immediately see me when she enters.“Let her come in first.”
The front door opens, Alex’s voice carrying through the house.“Mark?Where’s the water coming from?I don’t see anything…”
She stops dead when she enters the kitchen, taking in Mark’s pale face and my gun now pointed at her.Recognition dawns in her eyes, quickly followed by fear.
“You,” she whispers, taking a step back.
“Me,” I confirm, giving her a smile that makes her flinch.“Sit down.We’re going to have a conversation about Dr.Blane.”
She remains frozen, eyes darting between me, Mark, and the door.Calculating her chances of escape.
“Don’t,” I advise, reading her intention.“You run, I follow.And trust me, you don’t want that.”
Slowly, she sinks into a chair, as far from me as possible.“What do you want?”
“The truth,” I reply, keeping the gun steady.“And then you’re going to fix what you broke.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she tries, but her voice wavers.
“Your wife knows exactly what I’m talking about,” I tell Mark, never taking my eyes off Alex.“Ask her about cornering Dr.Blane in a supply closet.About grabbing his dick without consent.About filing a false report when he rejected her.”
Mark turns to his wife, disappointment and anger warring in his expression.“Alex.Tell me you didn’t.Not again.”
Something in her crumbles under his gaze.“He was asking for it,” she spits, defiance replacing fear.“The way he looked at me.I know he wanted it.”
“He’s gay,” I say flatly.“And even if he wasn’t, he didn’t want you.Nobody wants a predator.”
“I am not a predator!”she shrieks, slamming her hand on the table.“I was just trying to help him see what he’s missing!”
“By sexually assaulting him?”I keep my voice deliberately calm, which seems to unnerve her more than if I’d yelled.“By grabbing him without consent?By lying to get him fired when he rejected you?Plus you’re married, and a cheater at that,” I point out.
Tears well in her eyes, but I recognize them for what they are—not remorse, but self-pity.“You don’t understand.None of you understand.”
“I understand perfectly,” I reply, standing to my full height, using my size to intimidate her.“You’re going to call the hospital right now.You’re going to confess that you lied.That Dr.Blane rejected your advances, not the other way around.That you filed a false report out of spite.”
“I can’t do that,” she protests.
“You should have thought about that before you assaulted a doctor and lied about it,” I tell her, no sympathy in my voice.“Make the call, or I start making calls of my own.To the police.To the nursing board.To your previous hospital.To your neighbors.”
