His hand was trembling as he stared at me. He blinked, looking confused. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“You’ve just had a little too much to drink, that’s all. Put the knife down, and we can work this out. If you stab someone, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble, Todd.” I took another cautious step toward him.
He scanned the crowd of customers, who were watching him fearfully. He scrunched his face, appearing muddled. “I… I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want to go home.”
“Great. Put the knife down, and we can see about making that happen.” Mostly, I was paying lip service. I needed to get him to put down the knife but couldn’t just let him go home after behaving like he had. Brandishing a weapon was aggravated assault. In Texas, it was considered a second-degree felony.
I felt sorry for the guy though. I didn’t want to charge him with aggravated assault because I suspected he had mental health issues. I was positive those issues had been exacerbated by mixing alcohol with lithium. The two substances had clashed in his system and brought out paranoia. However, even though I didn’t think Todd was a bad guy, I couldn’t just let this slide. He was unstable. His friend had implied this had happened before. That couldn’t go unchecked. He needed to be evaluated by a mental health professional.
I held out my hand, muscles tensed in case he got violent. “Give me the knife, Todd.”
He swallowed hard, eyes glittering with confusion. “Do you swear you’re a cop?”
“Yes. I just want to help you.”
He glanced toward his group of friends. They nodded, looking worried.
His gaze returned to me. “Okay,” he said softly. He held out the knife to me, and I took it gingerly. Once I had the knife, Deputy Sam advanced on him and cuffed him. Todd was mumbling to himself, and his friends slumped with relief.
One of his buddies came over to me. “You’re not letting him go home, are you?”
“No. Sorry. We’ll transport him to Dallas for seventy-two-hour treatment and evaluation.”
“Shit. I was afraid of that.”
I narrowed my eyes. “If he’s done this before, why did you let him get drunk? Didn’t you know this might happen?”
“He’s never grabbed a knife before. He’s just gotten out of hand and paranoid.”
“Okay, but knowing that, you still thought getting him drunk was a great idea?”
“It was his birthday, man. We were just trying to make it one he’d remember.”
I sighed. “Well, he’ll remember it all right.”
“Yeah.” The guy wilted. “Do you really have to arrest him? He didn’t hurt anyone.”
“He could have though. Even if it was accidental, he could have seriously hurt himself or someone else. Like I said, we’ll hand him off, and from there it’s up to his lawyer and the courts to decide what’s best for him. I’m sorry. I can’t do much other than enforce the laws of the state. That’s my job.”
“Okay.” He wandered back to his group of friends.
The next hour and a half consisted of a lot of paperwork. Deputy Sam was kind enough to volunteer to transport Todd to Dallas. I appreciated that because I really wanted to get home to Max. I was worried about him and curious about how things had gone for him at work today.
When I walked into the house, Grumpy greeted me. I picked up the pup and kissed his cold, wet nose. “Miss me, fella?” Grumpy’s tail wagged even faster, and I smiled and set him down.
Max was in the kitchen, stirring a pan of soup. As I approached, he smiled. “Welcome home.”
“Smells good in here,” I said, sliding my arms around his waist.
He leaned back into my hug, sighing. “I didn’t know when you’d be home, so I opened a can of soup. Shall I put this in the fridge and call for a pizza or something?”
“No. How about I add another can to that and we just eat soup tonight? I’m tired, and I just want to relax.”
“Oh, um… sure. This is vegetables and rice. Are you sure you don’t mind that there isn’t any meat in it?”
I kissed the back of his neck, and he shivered. “I’d eat anything right now.”
“Sounds promising.”
