Almost as embarrassing was being practically in his lap when O’Brien returned.
Dodge tensed briefly as she seated herself in the armchair once more, but he took a deep breath and relaxed. He held me closer and let me lean against him. The detective hardly looked at him, and certainly didn’t raise an eyebrow about me being plastered to his side.
Instead, she sipped her coffee and flipped through her notebook. “I know this is the tough part, Persephone. It’s important to get the details right, as you remember them. It’s often easier to talk about this sort of thing if you imagine it was a movie you watched.”
Until movies made you smell blood and raw meat, that wasn’t a great analogy.
O’Brien must have seen something in my expression that communicated my disbelief, because she smiled and tried to hide it with the coffee cup. “Or not. So. We stopped when you were leaving the habitat where you moved around all the plants and dirt, and you heard something outside. What happened next?”
I rubbed my hands on my thighs, wishing there wasn’t a window behind me. Bridger’s guys had parked on the street outside Deirdre’s house, so maybe they’d try to sneak up on us. “Well, I thought maybe Geordie wanted to check on my work. He’s been really... intent on figuring out everything that I do at the sanctuary. I felt like confronting him over his bullshit. It wasn’t smart, obviously, since it was dark and there wasn’t anyone else – there wasn’tsupposedto be anyone else around.”
“Had Geordie ever threatened you? Made you feel like you were in danger?”
I picked at my jeans over and over, staring at a faded patch on the knee. “He yelled a lot. Blamed me for everything going wrong. He’s a bully. I didn’t think he meant to hurt me at the time, but looking back...” I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. If I challenged him in front of people, he would getveryangry. Angry enough to be violent, though? I don’t know.”
Dodge caught my hand in his and I flushed. He must have found my picking and fiddling annoying. But Dodge turned his head and pressed his lips to my temple. He murmured, “Trust your instincts, Persephone. Close your eyes and go with your gut.”
I swallowed the knot in my throat and struggled with the surge of emotions. I’d always felt uneasy around Geordie but brushed it aside because I wanted the job. I was so desperate for a good job that I’d been willing to overlook an asshole who made me deeply uncomfortable. The feeling of Dodge’s fingers curled through mine settled some of that uneasiness. He’d been right; borrowing his confidence was almost as good as having my own. “Yes, I was – Iamafraid of Geordie. I don’t know what he’s capable of. He doesn’t like the animals and doesn’t have a charitable bone in his body, so I don’t know what he’s doing working there.”
The detective made a thoughtful noise. “What is his relationship to Ms. Bridger?”
“She hired him and gave him directions daily,” I said. That much I’d known for sure; I’d overheard snippets of their conversations, though they’d been too cryptic for me to understand. “He had his own office while the rest of us shared a few spots.”
“So you thought he was there that night and you went to confront him.”
My chest tightened as I felt the same sinking sensation in my guts. “I went to – to the vet building, the main building where the animals get check-ups and the dietician prepares all the meals before the keepers feed the animals. That’s when I heard the voices.”
“Mhmm.” O’Brien watched me with a neutral expression, waiting for me to go on.
But my throat seized up and I couldn’t force the words out.
Dodge shifted a little, then abruptly dragged me all the way into his lap. His arms wrapped around me and held me back against his chest as he turned to kick his legs up to the loveseat. He adjusted the blanket over us and kissed the side of my neck. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
My cheeks burned but it was easier to talk without having the detective staring at me. I could pretend I was back in my apartment, in my bed, with Dodge next to me. Even if he’d hardcore rejected me when I wanted to get frisky, his steady presence and the even rise-and-fall of his breathing lulled me into a more serene state of mind. I took a deep breath and started narrating what happened after I saw the men dragging the tarp-wrapped body into the building.
Dodge grumbled and occasionally smoothed his hand down my arm to calm me when the tremors grew too strong. It made it easier, though. He definitely made things easier. I felt a little bad that he had to sit there with me sprawled all over him as I mumbled and fought back tears. No doubt Dodge had been told to sit there with me.
But I couldn’t force myself to pull away, regardless of my brain telling me I needed to stand on my own.
The detective murmured the occasional question as I stumbled through the story. Every time she spoke, Dodge tensed or a hint of a growl bubbled up in his breathing. It made me feel better that he, at least, felt the same way I did about her dragging things out. My head finally dropped back to rest against Dodge’s shoulder. I breathed in the scent of his skin and his clean shirt, and the warm whiskey cologne that clung to him.
A few shots of whiskey would have been nice preparation for reliving the events of the night before. If I had to talk to Dodge about anything even slightly sensitive, I’d definitely need a drink or three first. I wanted to know why he’d insisted on sleeping next to me but ran away with his ass on fire when I wanted more. Maybe getting drunk was the best way to end the night. Alcohol could definitely give me courage, if not confidence.
When I finally ran out of words and O’Brien ran out of questions, the detective turned her attention to Dodge. “Very well. Shall we run through your experience during the altercation?”
“That’s fine,” Dodge said. His hands caught my waist, as if he meant to lift me off him, then hesitated. He rested his chin on my shoulder and murmured, “Do you want to stay to hear what I have to say, or do you want to go take your nap?”
Him saying it that way made me sound like a cranky toddler, given the choice between time out and bedtime. I kind of wanted a nap but I didn’t want to do it alone. My cheeks ached with embarrassment to know that I wantedhimto nap with me, to put his arms around me. It was the only way I felt safe. He was the only shelter that worked.
His arms tightened around me briefly, trying to get my attention. “I don’t want this to upset you, babe. I’ve got to talk about the ugly stuff that happened.”
The endearment sent chills racing through me, as did the gruff affection in his voice. I almost didn’t mind the thought of hearing about our shared and horrible experience, so long as he was the one talking about it. I could listen to that soft, rusty voice all day. All night. I could imagine him saying my name in that gentle tone, murmuring how much he loved me, asking me to stay with him.
My heart tripped and stumbled over the thought. What the hell was wrong with me?
My head still rested against his shoulder, my forehead against his neck, and I sighed. “I’ll stay here.”
“Good,” Dodge said, and kissed my temple before he turned his attention to the detective. “I tracked Persephone to the sanctuary so I could retrieve her for Evershaw. They needed to explain several things to her. I approached the sanctuary in wolf form and arrived at approximately...”
