Threatened

Chapter 14: More Questions

My gun is strapped to my hip, but that doesn't stop me from leaving my hand securely on the pommel, ready to fire. Lee is walking dutifully beside me with the collar of his leather jacket turned up, trying to hide his face as much as possible.

"You're not fooling anyone and leather doesn't stop bullets. Ease up a little," I try to say, but the words come out as, "keep your collar up and your head down." Lee does as I asked and hunches over even more.

"No, that isn't what I meant, Lee, wait," I whisper, pulling him into a pawn shop. "You don't have to be scarred, I've got you. Just don't draw attention, or we will be surrounded quickly and trapped."

"Yes by the press and any fan who happens to notice. Yes, Anna I know who can see me. At least I can see them; the people I'm going to point my finger at are everywhere and no where at the same time. I can't see them, but they can find me whenever they want. I'm honestly surprised that I'm still alive." His words hit me like a truck.

"Nice to know that I'm special, Mr. Pace," I mumble, thinking about that night in the hospital. How he thanked me for saving his life and refused to stay in a different room than me. "We need to keep going if we're going to arrive on time," I say harshly, stepping out of the shop and back onto the sidewalk.

"Anna! Anna, you know I didn't mean it like that," Lee calls after me, emerging from the safety of shelter. He wraps his fingers around mine and forces me to slow down. But he cannot make me look at him. I won't. I won't. "Anna? Please, I need you to look at me," Lee whispers gently. Damn his enticing voice. I reluctantly look up into his gorgeous eyes and instantly forget most of my anger. Most of it.

"Anna, I know how that sounded, but you must know that I fully trust you with my life. I just feel cornered with no possible way to escape. Can you tell me I shouldn't feel that way?"

"You are in a very tight spot. Even if your testimony puts Cordero away, the rest of the gang will hunt you." Lee's eyes drop, but at least they are not as hopeless as I sound. "I believe in the law, Lee Pace. I believe that it can work in your favor, but I also believe that it can tear you limb from limb with its loopholes and laziness. You have to have faith that the LAPD can uproot the Vipers and keep them away."

"I'm supposed to put my life into the hands of people like your partner? Arrogant and enabled?"

"Hey now, Zach trained me and our unit is not full of pricks or dirty cops. You can take my word on this: not a breath will escape my lips that is not devoted to tearing the Vipers down. You will not die while I can defend you. Can you promise to have faith in that?" I swear, searching his eyes.

"I can put my faith in you. If you can't, no one can. Let's not be late," Lee agrees, heading off down towards the justice building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Please, Mr. Pace, do not leave any details out. Anything could be useful," Sam Palteroy, the assistant district attorney reminds Lee. This isn't his first major case, but he is still relatively new to his position. From where I'm at, Sam is completely hidden behind Lee. Sam isn't a short guy, maybe five foot ten, but Lee is huge in comparison. But I know he's twirling pen and biting his lip. Little quirks I picked up when we met for a date.

He has terrible table manners and awful conversation skills. There wasn't any desire for a second date from either of us. Apparently I'm boring.

"Where were you the night of October 17th?"

"Eating dinner at Jackson Hole around 10:00, and I left around 10:30. I was on my way down 35th street when I heard muffled cries coming from an alley. I snuck closer to the sounds to see if there was something I could do to help, but then gunshots sounded, so I stepped back into the shadows and peered through the fence." Lee pauses for a moment, like he is trying to replay that night on his head. "Three men came out, mostly wearing dark jackets that were four sizes too big and grew hats. The tallest looked me in the eye and pointed his gun, but ran instead when the police cars came wailing around the corner. I ran into the alley, but the girl was already dead. Blood was everywhere, and there were bloody footprints all around the girl and out of the alley."

"Mr. Pace, did you have anything to drink that night? A beer, a cocktail, anything that might have impaired your vision in the slightest?" Palteroy asks, trying on his tablet.

"I may have had one beer with my food, but that isn't out of the ordinary. I was completely myself and anyone can swear to that."

"Did you keep the receipt?"

"Who keeps those?"

"Alright, we'll probably need to talk to the waitress to verify your alcohol intake," Sam sighs, taping away on his screen. "The defense is going to drill you on every single thing you say, try to twist your words and make it seem like you were responsible for something you weren't, do you understand?" Lee nods, sitting up more in his chair. "Do you want me to interrogate you similarly to how Ms. Marilar will tomorrow? Or would you rather not go through the torture twice?"

"Anna, can you step out while he interrogates me? I don't want you to see this," Lee asks, turning to face me with pleading eyes.

"If you're sure, Lee. I've conducted a few interrogations myself, it wouldn't be the first time-"

"Please, Anna?"

"Okay, okay. I'll go. Don't break the witness, Palteroy," I concede, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour passes before Sam invites me back in. Lee looks exhausted, his shirt has sweat stains and his hair is mangled beyond belief.

"What did you do?" I ask the attorney, fussing over Lee. He takes my hands and presses them against his clammy face.

"I'm fine, just wasn't expecting to feel drained after 'simple questions' for tomorrow," he pants, relaxing at my gentle touch. "Can we go now?"

"Please, be here at 7 tomorrow morning and look as much like a saint as possible, Mr. Pace. Anna, may I speak with you privately for a moment?" Reluctantly, I nod and walk out into the hallway so Lee can keep resting.

"You can't be here during questioning."

"Why not?!"

"You know why. It will look like you're feeding him information as his police informant/girlfriend. You can wait outside the courtroom, but you can't be in there with him." I knew it. Stupid honesty. Why did that have to be a dominant trait for me? "He'll be perfectly safe. There are going to be extra guards due to the nature of the crime." I nod, hoping he will just shut up. I'm done talking about this. I just want to go back home.

"Is that all?"

"Yes. I've said my peace. Get some sleep, Lord knows he will need it," Sam says, gesturing toward Lee.

"Goodnight, Sam."

"Good bye, detective." He walks back into the office and sits behind his desk and starts tapping some more. I help Lee out of the chair and we make our way out of the building.

"Let's get a cab this time," I suggest.

"Yes, please."