Page 20 of Having HIs Back
“It would be pointless anyway, because you know I’m right. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” He grinned and carded his fingers through Kerry’s hair, loving the feel of him against his skin.
Kerry quivered beneath him, and Brian groaned as they rocked slowly, heat and passion building to the point where Brian could no longer contain it. Only his control to wait for Kerry held him off until Kerry gasped and wet heat spilled between them, and then Brian tumbled into his own release, holding Kerry tight.
Brian wokea few hours later. He and Kerry were slightly stuck together, but he didn’t care. Slowly, he pulled away, and Kerry shivered next to him.
“Are you okay?” Kerry whispered.
“Yes. I guess I kind of lost things a bit.” He snuggled closer to Kerry. “Have you been awake?”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking. I want to see what this guy is up to, and I’d like to be there when you question him.” Kerry said. “I am a highly trained psychologist, so maybe I can give you some insight.”
“But the boys?”
“Karen has invited them over. According to the boys, she has the best toys, and she and Caroline were close friends. I don’t want to tear the boys away from her. She was part of their lives before, and I feel it’s good for them to have things that are as normal as possible. I can come down in the morning.”
“Okay. I’ll wait until you get there. But you’ll need to observe only, and I don’t want him to see you at all. Remember that he is trying to get custody of Phillip. This guy is a real asshole, and he thinks he’s the kind of person that the police aren’t going to get anything out of.”
“So you’ll need to play hardball.” Kerry shrugged, and Brian couldn’t help wondering just how much steel was in that backbone of his. “Fine. I’ll bring the damned baseball bat.” Kerry drew closer, the heat building between them once more. “Okay, I’ll stay out of sight no matter how much I want to wring the fucker’s neck.”
“There you go. That’s the spirit.” Brian hugged Kerry tightly and then reluctantly got out of the bed. He didn’t want questions from the boys if they found him here in the morning. He dressed and then leaned over the bed, kissing Kerry gently. “I’ll see you tomorrow. And remember the rules when you get there.”
“I will.”
Brian quietly made his way to the front door, stepped out into the night, and went right to his car, wishing he could stay with Kerry. It shocked him just how much he wanted him and to be part of their little family. Brian wished he had known Caroline. She was probably quite a person, judging by her brother and by what Kerry had shared with him. Once in the car, he drove away, but found himself taking a swing around the block, just to make sure that everything was quiet. Then he headed home. Once he arrived, he sent a message to Kerry just to make sure that everything was okay before going back to bed, alone.
The followingmorning, he met Kerry and escorted him to the viewing room. He wanted to kiss him but refrained. “Okay. You can make yourself comfortable in here. Of course, you can see into the room, but Charlie is not going to be able to see you. We will bring him in once we’re ready, and I’ll talk to him. Janine is going to be in here with you, and she will be able to communicate to me directly if it’s absolutely required.” It was best if he were able to concentrate as closely as possible during this type of questioning.
“Okay. I won’t interrupt unless it’s absolutely necessary, and I’ll do it through Janine if it’s required.”
Brian hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary. “Thanks. I’ll see you later. It will take a few minutes, so get comfortable and relax as much as you can.” He left Kerry and returned to his desk while one of the uniformed officers got Charlie and took him to the interrogation room. Once Brian knew he was in there, he waited, letting Charlie stew. Then he went down and opened the door.
“I know my rights, and I want my lawyer,” Charlie said as soon as he entered the room.
“Very well. We’ll get him.” He sat down and stared across the table at Charlie, not saying anything, but not looking away either. He had a right to an attorney, but that didn’t mean that Brian was just going to leave him alone. This was the psychological part of the interview: make Charlie as uncomfortable as possible.
“Stop looking at me,” Charlie said, but Brian shrugged and didn’t turn away. Charlie looked at the side walls, which were gray and blank. Then he tried looking over Brian’s shoulder and finally down at the table. “What are you hoping for? I don’t have to talk to you.” Again, Brian remained quiet as Charlie got more and more agitated. “I don’t know anything anyway. I don’t know why I’m here.”
“So, you want to talk?” Brian asked. He didn’t press about an attorney; he simply watched the other man.
“I don’t know anything.” He was becoming more and more fidgety, and then without a word, Brian opened the folder in front of him and slid out a form, turning it toward Charlie without pushing it across the table, but knowing he could read the large print at the top. Attorney Waiver. Charlie grabbed the form, and Brian tossed him a pen. Once Charlie signed it, Brian took it back, put it in the folder, and took out the picture of Caroline as she had been found.
“Do you know her?” he asked, and Charlie shrugged. “Verbal answers.”
“Yeah. So, she’s the mother of my kid, and she kept him from me. I know she’s dead because I checked at the funeral home, and now I want my kid.”
“Is that why you strangled her?” Brian asked as coolly as he could. “You figured you could get your son if his mother was dead, so you strangled her and then hung her body to try to make it look like a suicide.” He smiled. “We know it was you.”
“I didn’t do any of that,” Charlie burst out too loudly to be really convincing.
“See, we know you did.” Brian pushed his chair back. “Stand up and lift your pant legs.” He had on baggy jail pants. “Go ahead. Lift your pant legs.” Charlie got to his feet and pulled up his right pant leg. Then his left, which was covered with nasty scrapes and lurid bite marks. They were infected and going to get pretty bad. Brian swallowed hard because the guy’s leg looked kind of gross, but other than that, he gave no indication of what that injury proved.
Brian also knew that at that moment, Janine was directing one of the cameras in the room to get a close up of the injury. This wasn’t television, and they didn’t have the equipment to match the injury back to Pebbles, but Charlie didn’t necessarily know that.
“I got this riding a friend’s motorcycle,” Charlie supplied as though he had all the answers.
“No. You got that when the victim’s dog, Pebbles, attacked you. He tore into your leg, and unfortunately for you, we were able to get DNA off the dog. So, we can match that injury to the victim’s dog, the same victim that you deny harming.”
Charlie turned to him, his eyes dark, and Brian figured he was about to jump at him at any time. “That damned bitch had my kid, and she was trying to get money out of me for him.” The look in his eyes was feral. “I had to do something.”
