“I don’t know. I thought that was possible, yeah.”
“What happened next?”
“Well, once second he was pulling at my arm, his eyes crazy, and the next he dropped to the ground. I looked up and Lincoln was standing there holding his cane like a baseball bat. He hit Brent again in the body. I guess he had hit him the first time in the knee. Anyway, he hit him again and Brent dropped to the ground. That’s when Lincoln grabbed me and we walked away.”
“What did you think at the time?”
“I was scared, but relieved. I was also confused. I didn’t know that Lincoln was looking for me, so I didn’t expect him.”
“Were you afraid of Lincoln?”
“Not at all. I was worried he was going to kill Brent, but then he didn’t.”
“Why did you walk away with him?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t. It just felt like the right thing to do.”
“Why do you think Lincoln saved you?”
She paused. “Wouldn’t you?”
“Maybe, maybe not. I might not have broken the guy’s kneecap, especially if I was on parole,” she said.
I rolled my eyes at Jess. I knew you were a coward, my look said.
“That’s not Lincoln, though. He doesn’t do anything half way.”
“Explain that,” Jess prodded.
“I don’t know.” Brie paused, thinking. “It’s like, you watch him talk to someone, or he’s talking to you, and you’re the only person in the entire world for him. Or all those pinball machines in our game room, he set the high score on every single one.”
“So he’s intense?”
“Intense isn’t the right word. I mean, he is, but it’s much more than that.”
“He really made an impression on you.”
“Yeah. When someone does something like that for you, it means something.”
“So I want to ask you this again. Why do you think he did it?”
“Because he couldn’t have done anything else. He’s Lincoln. If he sees something, he does something. He’s not the kind of person to get help. He is the help.”
“One last question. Where did you guys go?”
“Not far away. We mostly just walked around. He made sure I was okay. I was pretty shaken up about it, so he helped calm me down. Then we went back.”
“Okay. Thanks, Aubrie.”
“That it?” I asked.
“From her, yeah.” She looked at Brie. “Do you mind sitting here while we ask Lincoln some questions?”
“Sure, whatever.”
“Okay, Lincoln. How did all that make you feel?”
“Pissed off, mostly. I’m not a fan of reliving painful memories.”
“No, specifically what Aubrie just said about you. How did that make you feel?”
I looked at Brie, at her wide eyes and pouty lips. I wanted to grab her face and kiss her hard, run my hands along her body. I wanted to feel her curves and skin and breathe in her smell.
It felt like coming home, when she said that about me. It felt better than breaking a world record. Better than anything else had.
“It felt like she reads too much,” I said, grinning.
The crew laughed, but Jess and Aubrie didn’t.
It wasn’t like I could say what I really wanted to say out loud. Not on camera, at least.
“In your words, why did you do it?”
“I saw a guy hurting a woman, so I hurt him. Is it really that complicated?”
“You risked a lot for her.”
I paused. I’d risk everything for her, I thought.
“That never occurred to me. It wasn’t like I took the time to make a pros and cons list in my head. I saw what needed to be done and I did it.”
“Okay. How about you tell me what happened from the beginning?”
I walked her through everything, starting from when I first arrived at the event. I talked about signing autographs and acting like I gave a fuck about the charity event. I talked about Misty, about how Aubrie left so abruptly. I talked about wanting to check up on her since she didn’t look like she was feeling well.
“That’s perceptive of you, considering you only saw her from across the room,” Jess cut in.
“I have great eyesight.”
She made a face. “Okay, so what happened next?”
I told her about hearing Brie yell and moving as fast as I could. I talked about smashing my cane into the guy’s leg, and again as he fell. I didn’t mention how fucking good it felt to hurt the piece of shit.
“Then we walked away. I talked to her while she cooled off, and that’s it.”
“That’s it,” Jess repeated. “Pretty simple.”
“Exactly.”