Officer Jones

Chapter 48

We cautiously descended the steps. My leg began to flare up with pain and I lagged behind. When I got to the bottom, I thought I’d walked into a Batman convention. Gadgets, posters, dolls.

“Holy freak show, Batman,” I said, upon the bizarre discovery.

“Can you shed any light on this?” Gwen asked.

“I think he might like Batman,” I said, feeling nostalgic. “I remember watching the Batman television show with you and we had to have my mom come in the room to read all the words that flashed on the screen during the climactic fight scenes. POW, BAM, KABOOM.”

Gwen smiled. “If I remember correctly, I learned to read before you and put a stop to that.”

“Are you ever not competitive?”

“I can’t believe you’re talking.”

She wandered to the wall and read out loud the inscription on it. It was a poem, entitled Batman: The Dark Knight.

Gwen turned back to me. “What do you make of this?”

I looked at my watch in a subtle nudge to hurry this along. “Not sure, other than it sure isn’t Keats.”

I read the words on the wall one more time. He battles crime, his victims bleed stuck with me. I thought of Noah. I filed the poem away in the back of my mind, just as my cell phone startled us.

“I just left the police station. And so did Jones, so you might want to think about getting out of there.”

“What happened to stalling?” I asked, motioning Gwen to hurry up the staircase.

“Once I showed them a video of your boy assaulting me, they got rid of me as soon as possible.”

“I owe you one. I’ll give you first shot at Jones when we nail him.”

“It’s only going to take one. I’m going to kill that little punk.”

“Deal.”

We bolted up the stairs and out of the house, fairly confident nothing was out of place and no prints were left. I trailed her into the woods, using my cane to fight off branches and prickers. Our adrenaline warmed the cold night.

We arrived at the van, huffing and puffing. At least I was, Gwen appeared as if she was ready to run a 5K. She started the vehicle and we peeled out of the driveway like we were driving the getaway car at a bank robbery. As we turned onto Evergreen, it seemed we were home free, and I let out a sigh of relief.

But that’s when we saw the flashing aerial lights of a police car. We both knew who it was.

I braced as Jones stepped toward the van. Gwen rolled down her window.

“Are you lost ma’am?” he said with a plastic, obviously forced smile.

What a comedian.

He looked to the passenger side and his face gripped with jealousy. “Good evening, Mr. Warner. I’m glad to see that you’re still in one piece after such a brutal assault.”

I doubted that he was. “Thank you, officer. I never like getting my ass kicked on an empty stomach.”

Jones turned back to Gwen. “I thought you were going home?”

“After the fight, I brought JP up to the emergency room at New Milford Hospital. But it was the typical Friday night zoo and the wait was like three hours. He said he was feeling better, so I was bringing him home.”

Jones looked at me. “I didn’t know you lived around here?”

Gwen thought fast once again. “We were headed there. But first I wanted to stop by and see that you were okay. I doubted you’d be here, but I wanted to at least leave you a note. It was actually an IOU for another dinner. I really hope we can do it again soon, but I also wanted you to know that I understand the sacrifices you have to make for your job.”

She reached into her purse and pulled out a note in an envelope and handed it to Jones. He read the note and appeared satisfied. She had thought of everything.

“I didn’t want you to think I was one of those clingy girlfriends, so I decided against leaving it. I guess I’m kinda a wimp.” She smiled at him.

“I’m glad you gave it to me,” Jones said with a creepy smile, and reached toward her. She jumped back-a natural reaction, but one that might make him suspicious … if he wasn’t already. Jones picked a pine-needle off of her dress. I looked down and noticed that we were both covered in pine needles. She made up a lame story about stopping at my parents’ house so I could pick up my health insurance information, before heading to the hospital. “The place is practically in the middle of the woods, and with his parents at the football game, there were no lights on. I ran right smack into a pine tree.”

“I’ve been to the Warner house, and it is very remote. I hope that you’re alright.”

“I’m better than the tree.” She laughed nervously once again, and then attempted to change the subject, “I thought you’d be working all night, Kyle. Maybe it’s not too late to have that dinner.”

“I’m tired, Gwen. I’ve had a rough night. So we’ll have to take a rain-check,” he held up his IOU as proof of a future date. “But we’re still on for our trip next week, right?”

“Of course. I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks.”

“That’s good to hear, Gwen. And it looks like I might have some unexpected vacation time coming to me. I’ll call you tomorrow-drive safe.”

Before returning to the police car, he handed Gwen the jacket she’d left on the way to the restaurant. He also flashed me a quick look to kill. I couldn’t figure out if his point of contention was my close proximity to Gwen, or if he wanted me to back off my investigation into Noah’s murder. Or maybe he was concerned we might have broken into his home and touched his Batman action figures. I contemplated the possibilities as I watched him walk back to his vehicle.

The minute he was gone, Gwen blurted, “He knows.”

“He just thinks we were doing it in the woods,” I attempted to joke, while picking another pine-needle off her dress.

“The way he looked at me-he knew.”

“He knows what? That we broke into his house? That he thinks we’re having some kind of steamy affair? That we now know that he longs for some kinky three-way with you and Batman?”

“He’s starting to scare me, JP.”

“Starting? You’re not really going on vacation with him.”

“I can’t back out now. Besides, it’s a much better plan than this charade.”

“It wasn’t a question, Gwen-you’re not going.”

A lecture commenced about my right to have any opinion about her life, due to circumstances from years ago.

“C’mon, Gwen. That was like three lifetimes ago.”

“Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

I leaned back, defeated, and rubbed my temples. I remembered from the past that this was an argument I’d never win, and I wasn’t going to repeat it.