But Not For Love: A Clint Wolf Novel (Clint Wolf Mystery Series Book 9) by BJ Bourg

Author:BJ Bourg [Bourg, BJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

5:39 p.m.

Mechant Loup Police Department

Susan paused outside of Interview Room #1 and hitched up her gun belt. She’d been forced to loosen her belt by one loop this morning to make her breathing a bit easier, and she was starting to think she might have to loosen another one before the day was over.

She frowned when she pushed through the door to the interview room and saw Nikia sitting on the floor. His face was buried in his knees and he was still crying.

“Do you need more time, Mr. Billiot?” Susan asked. “I can come back in a few minutes.”

Nikia took a quivering breath and shook his head. He scrubbed at his face with his palms and pulled himself into the nearest chair. “I’m ready to talk.”

Susan took the seat opposite him and placed her notebook on the desk. Clint had fed her some questions he needed answered and she wanted to get to those as soon as possible, but she also wanted to take it easy on Nikia. She knew he had been deeply traumatized by what he had seen and, if he was truly innocent, she didn’t want to make it worse.

“If you’re ready, can you begin by telling me what happened from the time Clint and I left the trailer earlier today, and continue up until we saw you coming out of the woods?”

Nikia sniffled and nodded. When he looked up, his face was red and his eyes bloodshot.

“I was there when y’all came by earlier today,” he admitted. “I know I wasn’t supposed to be, but she invited me over. I loved her and I missed her, so I wanted to be with her. Look, I made some mistakes, and I know that now. I have an anger problem and I can get mean when I’m drinking, but I do love her.”

Nikia stopped and pulled the front of his shirt up to wipe his nose. He took a breath and blew it out forcefully. “I had asked Cassandra to get me some beer. She was going to Northern Chateau anyway to drop the charges on me and cancel the restraining order, so I asked for some beer and some chicken. After she was gone…”

His voice trailed off and Susan sat patiently, not wanting to interrupt his train of thought. After a full minute of silence, he started talking again, but his voice was so low she was having a hard time hearing him.

“I know I shouldn’t have, but I called Zoe and told her I wanted to see my boys.”

“Zoe—is that your ex-wife?” Susan interjected.

“Yes ma’am. We have two sons together and the only way she’ll let me see them is if I’m nice to her, so I’ve been keeping up with her for some time now.” He dabbed at his eyes with his shirt. “That’s what Cassandra and I were fighting about when I was arrested. I promised her I’d stop talking to Zoe, but that would mean I couldn’t see my boys again, and I can’t live without seeing my kids.

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