Mildred smiled showing her white teeth behind red lipstick. “Hey, sweetie. Welcome back.” She helped Elizabeth sit up and handed her a coffee cup filled with water and ordered her to take a sip. Constance whispered something to Marilyn and walked back to the main office area.
“Mildred? What happened?” she asked as she tried to stand.
“Whoa, hold on a sec.” Helping her into the chair she explained, “You just had a teeny fainting spell.” She handed the cup to Elizabeth. “Here, honey. Drink this and sit right there until you feel the dizziness wear off. If you need anything I’ll be up front.”
She took another sip of water. “Thanks, Mildred.” Her conversation with Marilyn came rushing back to her. She stood up and held the back of the chair for balance.
Before leaving, China said, “Hey, I’ll meet you in back, Liz.”
Placing her hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder Marilyn asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. I’m going to go back to my office and finish some things up.”
“I’m sorry, Elizabeth. If there is anything I can do, please let me know. If you need to take the rest of the day -”
“I’ll be okay, Marilyn. Thank you. I appreciate everything you’ve done.” She was embarrassed. “I apologize for this,” she said waving her hand. “It was just a little too much bad news for the day.”
“No need to apologize, kiddo. I understand.”
Elizabeth smiled shyly as she turned to walk back to her office. Walking through the front office, she was uncomfortable. She imagined everyone’s thoughts about her situation and had a feeling they would be talking about her like they did the poor victims that passed through. The last thing she wanted was to be pitied.
China saw Elizabeth go into her office. She walked to the door, leaning her back against the frame. “Hey, sunshine. You okay?”
Holding onto the edge of the desk, she tilted her head back and took a deep breath. Tears formed in her eyes, one sliding from beneath her lash and down her cheek. Quickly wiping it away with her hand she said, “This has to be the worst day I’ve experienced in a while.” She sat down in her chair and reached for her purse from under her desk fumbling through it for her pills.
China unfolded her arms and sat in the chair across from Elizabeth, offering her undivided attention.
Finding the pills she unscrewed the lid and popped one into her mouth, washing it down with a sip of water from her cup. Her face was full of anxiety. “He’s getting out next Friday, China.”
“I know he is, honey. I’m so sorry.”
“What am I going to do? What if – I’m not sure – shit!” She rested her head on the back of the chair for a moment and shut her eyes giving the pill a chance to kick in and clear the clutter in her mind. Opening her eyes, she looked at China who was waiting patiently, allowing her to rant further. “Pam DeFranco is dead.”
“Oh wow...” China’s face dropped further. She was unsure of what else to say.
“Yeah.” Shaking her head and rolling her eyes she said, “Martinez is going to be tied up all weekend and I’m sure Monday is going to be a shit show at court with all of this if an arrest is made. And now Steve.” Her face was red and her eyes became watery again.
Attempting to change the negativity in the air, China burst with enthusiasm. “You know what we need? A girls night. Why don’t you come over tonight? We can fire up the hot tub and drink some wine. No guns though. I don’t want to shoot with you in your current state of mind.” She was serious in a humorous way.
Elizabeth smiled and brushed another tear from her face. She really didn’t want to be alone for the evening and she could never dismiss China’s innate ability to lighten any mood. “You know, that sounds really awesome. But tomorrow is Saturday. We’ll miss the beach. And you mean to tell me you don’t have a date set up for a Friday night?”
“The beach will be there next week and I told you, Chester is old news.” She rose from her seat. “Come over around 6-ish. I’ll make dinner for us.” She turned to her before going across the hall. “Everything’s gonna be alright, Liz.”
Chapter 9
Martinez sat at his desk recounting the earliest part of his investigation in his first report. He looked at his watch. It was after one o’clock and still no word from Brandon DeFranco. As he finished typing, Shawn walked in and sat at his desk across from the partition separating them.
“What’s up man? Heard you had a crazy morning.”
Looking up from his computer screen, Martinez nodded.
“Oh, come on. What, no dirty details for me?”
Still angry from their last encounter, Martinez lightly blew him off. “I’m just trying to get some stuff done, man.”
Throwing his hands up Shawn said, “Okay, okay. It’s cool. I get it.” He turned away to face his computer.
Martinez shot a suspicious look Shawn’s way. His wheels were spinning again. He pulled up his email and proceeded to write to Investigator McMurphy asking for more information regarding the email he never received, when his phone rang.
“Hey, Martinez. I have Brandon DeFranco down here, says you wanted to speak with him?”
“Thanks Alexander. I’ll be right down.” Hanging up the receiver, he saved the draft to his email and placed the password protection on his computer screen. He headed down the back stairwell that led to the police station lobby, where Brandon stood waiting for him.
Putting out his hand he said, “Mr. DeFranco, thank you so much for coming. Again, I am so sorry considering the circumstances.”
Brandon refused his handshake. “Save the formalities, Detective. Can we just get on with it? I
