She pedaled faster, trying her hardest to get back to the apartment. Another two miles and she would be there.
God, I hope no one was hurt in that blast. At least I called the police and gave a description. They’ll never find out it was me.
* * * *
“Calm down, Trent. Don’t jump to conclusions,” Buddy told his brother as they searched for Nina on the way back to their house. They knew she rode the bike.
Buddy wondered why the hell Johnny let her take it if he knew she would be working until nine in the evening. That was dangerous in itself. But now, after heading to the scene of the explosion in a Dumpster by a school building, then hearing the 911 call, and identifying the woman as Nina, they needed answers. Jake was ready to haul her in for questioning. She was the only witness they had.
“Shit, we must have missed her,” Trent stated as he came up onto their driveway. “Unless she’s already home?” Buddy suggested.
“You think she made it six miles on a bike back here that quickly?”
“If she was scared, adrenaline pumping, worried about making the call and being identified, sure. I think she could have.”
“You see what I see?” Trent asked as they parked the truck in front of Nina’s garage and apartment. They both saw the one light on.
Trent turned off the ignition and got out of the truck quickly.
“Trent, we don’t know how involved she is in this. She could really just be a witness, you know, in the wrong place at the wrong time?”
“Or she could be involved, which is why she won’t tell us her name or anything about her life, where she came from, how she doesn’t have a license, identification, bank account, cell phone. Need I go on, Buddy?” Trent asked. Buddy shook his head. Now he was getting angry, too. As they climbed up the steps, Buddy felt on edge.
“Remember what Johnny told us about today. About the progress he made with her.”
Trent shot him a look. “None of that will matter if she’s a criminal.”
Trent knocked on the door pretty hard. There wasn’t an answer, but then they both heard something drop.
* * * *
Nina had just got out of the shower. She couldn’t believe she saw the person responsible for the explosion in the Dumpster and that it appeared to be the same person who caused her building to go up in flames. She just wrapped a towel around herself when she heard the banging on the door. She gasped and knocked over the bottle of shampoo, making it fall into the tub. She just bought that today.
Holding the towel against her body, she could see two large figures outside her front door. She freaked out, looking for something to defend herself with and couldn’t help but think it was Rico or his thugs.
A moment later, as she held one of the pie pans as her weapon, the door opened, and Trent appeared, gun, badge, and all.
“Jesus, Nina, we thought you were in trouble,” Buddy said as he put his gun back into the holster. She was shocked that they were there and broke into the apartment.
“What’s going on? You scared me. I thought you were intruders,” she said as both men looked her over. Buddy ran his hand over his mouth and she remembered she was standing there in only a towel.
“Oh God, I need to get dressed. I just finished showering.”
She turned to head into her bedroom when Trent spoke up.
“We have questions for you, so get dressed quickly and then get out here so we can talk.”
* * * *
“Did you see her back?” Buddy asked Trent and Trent just nodded slowly.
“What do you think those marks are from?”
“I don’t know, but we’re not leaving here until we have answers to our questions and we’re satisfied.”
Nina came out a few minutes later wearing one of the four outfits she always wore. It seemed to Trent that maybe they were all she owned. That bothered him. She was such an attractive woman and deserved to have more.
“Nina, why don’t you take a seat so we can talk.” Trent motioned with his hand for her to sit on the couch. She did, wringing her hands together along the way. When she sat down, he saw the bandage on her knee from the other night when she walked home in the rain and fell.
He swallowed hard. Buddy took a seat across from her and Trent stood with one hand on his holster.
“There was a fire tonight. An explosion in a Dumpster a couple of blocks from Angel’s Wings.”
“Really?” she asked. He widened his eyes and she looked back down at her hands. He could tell she was nervous. He really hoped that she wasn’t involved. He liked her, was attracted to her despite the age difference. She had it rough, it seemed, and that bothered him a lot.
“Nina, we know that you left work at nine. We know that you made a 911 call to the police identifying the one who set off the bomb and also asking for help for injured people in the parking lot.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He could hardly hear her. He flexed his muscles, clenched his teeth, and then calmed his annoyance with her lies. “Nina, you’re not in any trouble. We just need the truth. Right now the sheriff wants to haul you in for questioning. Others think you could be involved with these arson fires,” Trent told her, and she immediately shot her head up in shock.
“Me? I didn’t do anything. Is this how you police operate around here? You accuse the ones who identify the criminals and call 911 for help when they see people injured and then you blame them? Fucking incredible.” She stood up. Before she could move Trent grabbed her upper arm and locked gazes with her. She was all fired up and he was angry, confused, and even aroused being this close to her and inhaling her perfume and shampoo.
“You were the one who made the call for help?”
“Yes, I made the goddamn call, but no, I am not involved. Are you out of your minds? I was the one who saw him and called it in immediately. I saw people lying on the ground and I feared they were seriously hurt. I didn’t have a cell phone so I used the pay phone. Now you want to pin this on me?”
“Why don’t you have a cell phone?” he asked. Nina looked shocked. Even Buddy was a bit taken back by his brother’s redirection of questioning.
“I don’t need one. I can’t afford one. It isn’t necessary. Does that make me a criminal, too, Trent?” she asked with attitude.
He pulled her closer. “Don’t test my patience, Nina. I want answers now. What’s your last name? The real one.” She shook her head and tried pulling away. “Where did you come from? What are you running from?”
“Stop it. Just stop asking me questions that aren’t any of your business.” She raised her voice and pulled from his grasp.
“Don’t walk away from me, Nina. We’re the good guys.”
“Ha!” she said as she turned to look up at them. “You’re just like every other man. You’re just like him. You come in here and make your demands and threaten. You want to lock me up on bullshit, then do it. Put me in jail. I’ll probably be safer in there,” she said, her voice cracking.
“What does that mean?” Trent asked her.
“Someone hurt you? Was it a man, a boyfriend?” Buddy asked, and Trent grew angrier. Could the marks on her back and her forearms be from the guy who hurt her?
“Why do you want to know? Why do you need to?” she asked as she sat back down on the couch.
“Because we care about you. We want to get to know you. Johnny explained it today.”
“I can’t be what you want me to be. What he wants. I’m not good enough for one of you, never mind three.”
“What? Are you out of your mind?” Buddy asked, moving next to her on the couch.
She looked at him and then closed her eyes. “I’m nothing, no one. I’m just trying to live. It’s all I want to do is survive and be free. But everything around me turns into a problem, a conflict, a disaster. It’s like I’m destined to fail, no matter what. It’s him. He warned me. He told me that I would be nothing without him. I’m not saying any more.”
Buddy covered her knee with his hand and leaned closer. “Nina, you’re not making any sense. We’re both trying to understand what’s going on here. Help us. This guy, whoever he is from your past, obviously did a number on you. We can handle that. We can work through that. But right now we need to know if you’re involved in these arsons or if you can help us stop this individual who’s committing these crimes. Please, you can help and it can save lives.”
Slowly she looked up toward him with tears in her eyes. She stared at his face as if she were absorbing every line and wrinkle, or perhaps she was searching for safety in his eyes. Buddy wasn’t sure but he was losing his patience and he was also feeling more and more attracted to Nina.
“Answer him, Nina,” Trent said. Hard-core, demanding, get-what-he-wants-when-he-wants-it Trent.
She stirred slightly at Trent’s tone but remained looking into Buddy’s eyes.
“I saw the one you’re probably looking for. It’s a teenager. The night of the fire at my place he was wearing a red jersey with the word Costa or something on the back in white letters. He also had a baseball cap on. The Yankees. He was five feet seven, and blond hair was coming from his cap. He carried a box and put it near or in the Dumpster. Tonight when I left work, I took the back side streets because the main road was too crowded, and even on my way this afternoon I was nearly hit by a car.”