“Let’s grab a table, play a couple rounds, and see if anything comes back to you.” The beer was cheap, but to be safe, Rick stayed away from the tap and grabbed a round of bottles for their little party.
Dan and Judy played a game while Rick sat watching beside Meg and Lucas. While they chatted, Rick studied the bar. The five of them stood out for their sobriety. It was early and there were already men sloshy drunk and leaning against the bar for support.
“It looks like she’s bouncing back,” Lucas said.
“She is,” Meg said with a sigh. “But . . .”
“But what?” Rick asked.
“She’s not back completely. I can’t even put my finger on why I feel that way. She bitched about work all the time, before. Now there’s almost nothing.”
“Work is getting better.”
“Yeah. I know.” Meg glanced at Judy taking down a striped ball. “It’s little things. She’s not spending any time online decompressing with those stupid games she plays. She stares off sometimes.”
Rick took a swig from his beer. “She plays games on her computer?”
“On her tablet, mainly. She was obsessed with this war game and now she doesn’t play it at all. It’s stupid, I know . . . but it was her favorite procrastination pastime.”
Lucas nudged Meg and looked toward Rick. “Maybe she has a new favorite procrastination pastime.”
“I guess that’s true. She hasn’t had a lot of alone time since all this happened.”
Meg didn’t sound convinced. If anyone really knew Judy, it would be her best friend.
Something at the front door distracted his attention away from Meg.
Wearing suits, and not even trying to blend in, walked Detective Raskin and Detective Perozo. Damn it. He’d been waiting for the shoe to fall, and it looked as if it was about to.
“Is that . . . ?”
“Yeah.”
Raskin noticed them and started walking their way.
Rick wasn’t sure if the room grew quiet, or his own anxiety had him hearing his heart beating in his ear. “Hey, Utah?”
Judy lifted her gaze and followed his stare. The small smile she’d managed since they walked in the room disappeared. She tossed the cue on the table and moved to his side.
“You don’t think—”
“I do. Call Neil,” he told her.
“What’s going on?” Dan asked.
Rick looked at the other men. “Stay with the girls until Neil or someone on his team relieves you.”
“Where are you going?” Lucas asked.
Raskin stopped in front of them. Judy slid her arm around Rick’s shoulders.
“Hello, Judy.” Raskin addressed her first.
“Detective.”
“Mr. Evans.”
“Detective.”
No one said a word. The music on the jukebox filled the room; the attention of everyone in the bar was on them.
“We have a few more questions for you, Mr. Evans.”
A few questions . . . right!
“I can come in the morning and answer them.”
Raskin actually laughed. “We’d like you to answer them now.” He nodded toward the door.
Well, I had to try.
Judy sat on his lap and glared at the detective. “You’re looking in the wrong direction.” Her voice hitched higher.
“Mr. Evans, let’s do this quietly, shall we?”
“He didn’t do any—”
Rick cut Judy off. “Stay in control, babe.” He kissed her cheek. “Call Neil and stay with the team.”
“What the hell is going on?” Lucas asked.
Rick helped Judy to her feet and stood. He placed his hand on his front pocket and Raskin turned to the side and bared his gun.
Rick stopped, placed his hands in the air. “Keys to the car so Judy can get home.”
“I’ll help you with that.”
Before the detective approached, he lifted his hands higher. “I’m carrying two. Right side and left leg.”
He didn’t stop the detective from removing his firearms and the keys to Judy’s car.
Taking no chances, Raskin turned him around and slapped cuffs on him before he marched him outside.
“Holy shit!” Dan yelled. “What’s going on?”
Dan and Lucas followed behind along with Judy and Meg.
A crowed gathered as Raskin frisked him before putting him in the back of the unmarked sedan.
Meg had her arm around Judy’s shoulders. Instead of falling apart, Judy looked like she wanted to hurt someone. Stay in control. Stay alert. He hoped his thoughts made it to her head with nothing more than his eyes.
“Am I under arrest or what?” Rick asked as they pulled away from the curb.
Raskin turned in his seat. “You have the right to remain silent . . .”
Well, that answered that!
Something inside her fractured when she watched the police put Rick in the back of a car in handcuffs. Rick made her feel safe, gave her the confidence to walk tall and dare anyone to touch her. He was one of the good guys . . . the guy your mom tells you about . . . the one you wait for.
As the car drove away, she was vaguely aware of her friends talking. She opened her purse, found her phone, and called Neil. While the phone rang she pocketed the stun gun Rick had given her only hours before.
“MacBain,” Neil answered.
“It’s Judy. They took Rick in.”
There was no surprise in Neil’s voice. “Where are you?”
She gave him her location and looked up and down the block. The small crowd from the bar was already moving back inside. “Meg and I are here with friends. I don’t know where they are taking him, Neil. Do you have any idea?”
“I’ll find out. Don’t worry about Rick.”
She blew out a frustrated sigh. “That’s like asking you not to worry about Gwen. Listen, I’ll head home and wait for you there.”
Neil agreed only after she agreed to have the men in the car with them.
The drive home was quiet. Judy let Meg show Lucas and Dan around the house while she turned on the outside lights and looked around like she’d seen Rick do more than once. Confident that no one was lurking in the shadows, she placed a call to Mike, asking him to call her back as soon as he could . . . day or night. Asking for his financial help for Rick was easier than asking for herself. She had no experience with bail and jail . . . but she’d learn.
“They really think Rick attacked you?” Dan asked when they were all waiting for Neil to show up.