“I want you here, Amy,” Richie said. “Don’t let him try any bullshit like that.”
Amy said, “I’d like to talk to Richie alone for a minute, Sam. I’d appreciate it.”
“I’m in charge here, Amy.”
“I realize that.”
“And you talking to him alone... are you talking to him as the DA or as his sister?”
“I just want to talk to him is all.”
“I really shouldn’t let you do this, Amy.”
“Just a few minutes, Sam. Then I’ll leave and go back to my office.”
“The Chief isn’t going to like this.”
“I’d really appreciate it, Sam.”
Sam stood up.
“You’re going to get both of our asses in a sling, Amy.”
“I won’t be long. I promise.”
Sam walked over to the door. “I really wasn’t hard-assing him, Amy.”
“I know that.”
“If anything, I was trying to help him. Once the state boys get here, they’ll really start in on him. I thought it might help for him to at least have his story straight.”
“I appreciate that, Sam. I really do.”
He opened the door and looked outside. The beauty of the late morning rode inside on the scented breeze. “Hell of a morning for something like this.”
“Yes,” Amy said, half whispering. “Hell of a morning.”
Sam glanced at Richie, then at Amy. He stepped outside then, closing the door quietly behind him.
“That son of a bitch,” Richie said.
“He’s trying to help you.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s what he’s doing. Trying to help me all right.”
“Believe it or not, Richie, he is.”
“You being in love with him wouldn’t be coloring your opinion, would it?”
“You’re my brother, Richie. You’re my first concern. Always. And you know it.”
He put his face in his hands. Shook his head back and forth.
“Is he right, Richie? Don’t you remember last night?”
He lifted his face, looked at her. “Not much of it, no.”
“Do you remember being at Riley’s Pub?”
“It’s not real clear but I remember most of it, I guess.”
“You remember Darcy being there?”
He sighed, stared at his hands. “I remember trying to take her by the shoulders and shake her.”
“Why did you want to do that?”
“She was hinting that I’d gotten her pregnant. I hadn’t. I couldn’t’ve. I’d never slept with her.”
“You’re sure of that?”
“What the hell does that mean? Am I sure of it? Don’t you believe me?”
“Maybe you slept together when you were drunk and don’t remember.”
He shook his head. “I was never that drunk around her. I mostly saw her during the day. Out at the club.”
“Did she ever come out here?”
“A couple of times.”
“Inside?”
“Yes.”
“And sat down?”
“Yes.”
“Then Sam’ll probably find her fingerprints in here.”
“Oh, great, that’s just what I need.”
Amy paused, choosing her next question carefully. “You really think you were just trying to shake her last night?”
“Yes. I’m positive.”
“Some people are saying that you were trying to choke her.”
He sighed. “I can see where it would’ve looked that way.” He raised his gaze to hers. “Honest to God, Amy, all I wanted to do was shake her, stop her from letting everybody think that we’d been to bed together. God, why did I even spend any time with her?”
“But you weren’t trying to choke her?”
“No. That’s one thing I do remember. They started shouting at me, like I was really going to hurt her or something. I remember wanting to explain myself so they’d know I wasn’t going to choke her or anything. But I was so drunk, I couldn’t talk real clearly.”
“Do you remember anything after that?”
“Not real clearly.”
“Don’t lie anymore.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“You lied to Sam a while ago. About taking the bridge home. That’s the kind of thing they can catch you in. And it makes you sound as if you’re lying about everything. So you don’t remember coming home?”
“Not exactly.” He looked at her hopefully. “But I didn’t find any blood on me or my clothes this morning.”
“From what I could gather, there wasn’t any blood on her, either.”
“Oh.”
“So the last thing you remember is waking up this morning?”
“Pretty much.”
“How did this place look?”
“What?”
“Did it look like you might have had a struggle with somebody in here?”
“No,” Richie said. “Not at all.”
“Did you see anything of hers in here? Tube of lipstick or a comb or anything like that?”
“No. Nothing.”
She didn’t say anything for a time. She walked over to the window by the kitchen area and looked up the hill. Sam was up there talking to Doc Klever, the medical examiner. Doc had delivered about eighty percent of the town’s current young generation. Moses had personally made him a doc, went some of the local humor. Good, competent man who still made house calls and late-night calls. He was a sweetie in every regard.
“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” he said.
She turned back from the window. “Maybe.”
“Oh, Amy, don’t bullshit me.”
“Right now, things don’t look good, Richie. But Sam and his people are getting started on their investigation.”
“I know he’s your boyfriend, Amy, but do you really think he knows what he’s doing?”
She came over and sat down next to him on the couch. The air was sour with the smells of sweaty sleep. She took his hand. “I know you’re scared, Richie. I’d be scared, too. But Sam’s a good law officer and a very honest one.”
“He hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you.”
“Yeah, then why did he take Steve Arnette’s side the night Arnette beat me up?”
“Because Haymes took Arnette’s side. Sam doesn’t trust Arnette but he does trust Haymes. And Haymes said you started the fight, and were resisting arrest. There were no other witnesses. That didn’t give Sam much room to maneuver. He had to take Haymes’s word for it.”
“Haymes’d naturally take Arnette’s side. Arnette’s dating his sister now.”
She shook her head. “Small towns. Somebody’s dating somebody’s sister so they say one thing. Or they’re not dating somebody’s sister so they say another. It’d be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic.”
Richie put his face in his hands again. “What’m I gonna do, Amy?”
“I’m going to get you a lawyer.”
His head jerked up. “You think this is serious enough that I need a lawyer?”
“I think it’d be a good idea, Richie. And I think the best criminal-defense lawyer around here is Tom O’Brien.”
“But he’s Bob Medlow’s partner. And Medlow represents Arnette.”
“Different trials, Richie. And he really is the best around. I think you should take a quick shower and go see him after Sam finishes up here.”
“I didn’t kill her, Amy.”
“I know.”
“You really believe me?”
“I really believe you.”
“I’m going to change, Amy. I really am. I don’t want to live like this anymore.”
Maybe this is what it takes, Amy thought. Maybe you really do need to hit rock bottom before you see any reason to change.
“I’ll call Tom when I get back to the office.”
“I still feel weird,” he said, “having him being partners with Medlow.”