Page 58 of Stone Coast

“At least I’m grasping.”

He breathed a frustrated exhale through his nostrils. "Look, I can assure you we have all of our resources on this. If something comes up, you'll be the first to know.”

My eyes narrowed at him. It was a load of shit.

"I promise. But these things unfold at their own pace.”

"According to the statistics, most cases don't unfold at all around here.” I hadn't actually seen the numbers, but Ithought it would be enough to get under his skin. With the way this department operated, I figured they had a pretty low solve rate.

"How about you leave the homicide investigations to me?”

I bit my tongue and continued to glare at him.

“Now tell me exactly what happened here.”

"I already told Officer Doughnuts. I'm not answering any more questions without an attorney present. Am I being detained?”

Scarborough hesitated for a moment. “No.”

"So I'm free to go?”

"For the time being.”

"I want my pistol back.”

"It's evidence. You'll get it back, eventually.”

“That’s two of mine you have now.”

“Stop shooting at people.”

With the way things worked, or didn’t work, around here, I might never get them back.

The news crew closed in as I walked back to my bike, wanting an interview. I had no intention of speaking on camera.

"Stay out of trouble,” Scarborough shouted.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Tessa asked.

I hopped on the sportbike and pulled on my helmet andgloves. I cranked up the engine and revved the throttle a few times, then eased out the clutch and pulled away.

The cameraman managed to grab a shot of me pulling out of the parking lot. It would be all over the news later. They had filmed Scarborough's conversation with me from a distance.

Olivia and I watched the replay of the segment on the flatscreen behind the bar when we met for drinks later. The Busted Rudder was a little rustic shack of a bar on the water. A nice little hole in the wall with good music, cheap drinks, quarter pool tables, and a dartboard. An outside deck overlooked the water. There were plenty of boaters that tied up at the pier to grab a drink or a burger. There was a stage for live music, but there was no band tonight.

"Look at you," Olivia said with glee. "You're a celebrity now.”

"I think I'd rather remain anonymous.”

"I don't know. It's pretty exciting. You're almost like a superhero now. You killed a home invader, you stopped a liquor store robbery… Is there anything you can't do?”

"Remember anything before three weeks ago,” I quipped.

She gave me a flat look. I'd used up all my sympathy cards. "That will come back to you in time. And if it doesn't, just take the opportunity to start all over again fresh.”

"So far, this fresh start hasn't been all that great.”

"I think you're off to a great start, all things considered. It's only gonna get better from here. All the bad stuff is behind you. How much worse could it get? It doesn't get any lowerthan rock bottom, and you were at rock bottom. And look at you—you're already doing good for your community.”