"So, he grabbed you?" Mannix prompts. "How?"
"From behind. His hand was over my mouth." She demonstrates, hand across her lips. "He dragged me backward a few feet and threw me to the ground. I fought and kicked, but he slapped me. Before I could do anything else, he put a knife to myface, and then he cut my shirt and bra off.” His voice wavers. She sucks in a deep breath. Squares her shoulders, lets it out, and keeps going, voice steady once more. “I…he slapped me again and put the knife to my throat, warned me to hold still or he'd kill me. Said he…" She trails off, voice shaking. "He said he’d fuck my corpse if he had to.”
I growl, that red haze washing over my vision again.
She turns into me, palming my face. "Hey, no, no, no. Stop. I'mokay. It's just hard to recall. I'm okay. I'll be okay." She lifts on her toes, pulling my face down to hers. "Breathe. Don't go back there."
I touch my forehead to hers, following along with her as she takes long, slow breaths in, holds them, and lets them out. "Okay."
She rubs my lips with her thumb. “Okay.” She turns back to Mannix. “I…I waited until he was unbuckling his belt. He was drunk. Clumsy. I saw a chance when he got distracted by his belt and kicked him. Fought my way over to the car and opened it so Panzer could get out. I…” She pauses to breathe. “I was worried about Bear. Duane told me he had you taken care of permanently. I was worried you were going to kill someone. I couldn’t stand it if you went back to prison, so I…I called Panzer off and drove to your complex. I saw the bodies, and I…” she shudders. “I thought they were all dead at first. I called Riley, and we figured out that you came here—the yard, the files."
Sheriff Mannix arches an eyebrow at her. "You were worried not that he was in danger but that he'd kill someone?"
She shrugs, gesturing vaguely at the crumbling, collapsing single-wide and the Lay-Z-Boy recliner on its side near the rust-bucket early-aughts sedan I stole from the thugs who jumped me and drove here. "Well…yeah."
Mannix closes his notebook. "I've got what I need, I think." He glances at Panzer and then at Noelle. “Probably for the bestyou called off the dog, you know. Death by guard dog cases can get seriously complicated legally, even in cases of clear-cut self-defense."
Noelle exhales, rubbing her face with her hands, smearing and flaking the drying blood, then looks at her hands with a wince. "I just…I remember thinking I don't want someone's death on my conscience, even if it may have been well-deserved."
"Can't unring that bell," I say. "Damned hard thing to forget."
“Facts," agrees Sheriff Mannix, his own gaze distant. He shakes his head. “Well, like I said, I've got what I need for now. I know how to find you both if I have any more questions, but I doubt I will." He claps me on the shoulder as he passes me on his way to his squad car, nudging me a few steps away from Noelle. "Get her home and run her a bath. It's gonna hit her like a fuckin' Mack truck any minute, and she'll need somewhere safe and familiar to process and decompress."
I nod. "Yes sir, thank you, sir."
He surveys the damage I did and grins at me, shaking his head with a huffing laugh. “Never seen anything like it, man. You’re a beast.” He pats my shoulder again. “Good job keeping your shit on a leash. You obviously could've ripped his arm off and beaten him to death with it."
“The hardest thing I’ve ever done,” I admit, my voice pitched so only he can hear me. “Wanted to…” I shake my head, growling a sigh. "Wanted to do really bad things to him."
"But you didn't." Mannix holds my gaze, nodding. "That's what counts."
"Thank you, Sheriff Mannix. You ever need anything…"
Mannix grins. "You know, me and a few other guys get together to play football couple'a times a month. You're welcome to join. Officially, it's touch, but every once in a while, someone gets a proper tackle in. By accident, of course." He winks. "Allfriendly fun. Crack a few beers, toss around the ball, shoot the shit. Felix and Riley tag in once in a while. You should too."
Play football with a cop?
What a weird world I've found myself in.
I nod at him. "Sounds like fun. I'll give it a try sometime."
Mannix's radio crackles and the dispatcher rattles off a code and a car request. Mannix keys his radio and responds. “Gotta go. I’ll have the Crowe boys bring you to the next meetup.” He jogs to his squad car, and they peel out, leaving Riley, Felix, Noelle, and me alone in the night.
Noelle comes up to me and all but collapses against my chest, her hands together under her cheek. "I wanna go home."
"Me too." I bend and scoop her up into my arms.
She rests her head on my shoulder. "I can walk,” she mumbles, making no effort to get down.
"Course you can. Not gonna, though," I answer, carrying her to Riley's truck.
Riley opens the rear passenger door and I settle her on the seat; Panzer immediately pounces, resting his bulky body on her thighs and frantically licking her face and throat.
She holds onto his head, eyes closed, and lets him lick. "ThankGodfor you, boy," she whispers.
"Her house," I growl at Riley as I shut her door and open the front passenger one. "Now, if not sooner."
"Roger that, pal," Riley says.
