What?
"About which part?" I asked slowly.
His intense brown eyes flew to mine. "About me swooping in and thinking I'll make things all right."
"Oh." I had nothing else to add, but Pierce did.
"But the difference between people like me and people like you," he said, leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table, "is that we try to make the world a safer place, rather than just hoping it will be." He let a frustrated breath out. "Now, I don't have a kid, so I know you've got more to worry about than some. But to me it seems simple, Marie. You either trust everyone else will do the right thing so your kid will be safe. Or your grab the fucking bull by the horns and ensure it is."
Holy shit. This was how he got witnesses on side?
"Ah, you speak to all your potential witnesses like this?" I had to ask.
"No, just the monumentally stubborn ones. The ones I know can handle the truth and maybe, just maybe, do something with it."
He stood up abruptly from the table, snatched the pen and unmarked pad off the surface and headed for the door.
"What about the statement?" I asked after him.
"What about it?" he shot back. "Neither of us are in the right frame of mind right now."
And then he was gone.
I sat stunned and unbelievably angry with the man. Who the fuck did he think he was to put that kind of crap on me? He was meant to be one of the good guys. One of those charged with keeping us safe. And this is how he treats a frightened woman?
Oh, I could think of a few things now to hurl in his face. Of course, you always do think of great one-liners after the dickheads have gone. But as I stood from my seat and splashed water into my mug, cleaning it out with a little dish-washing liquid brusquely, a multitude of great comebacks flashed through my mind.
I started muttering a few of them under my breath. "Why don't you just pull your service weapon out to get me to comply? No? How about you stand in the dock in the courtroom then, and face off against the arsehole who wants you dead? Or maybe you should just handcuff me, throw me in a cell and wait until I'm compliant enough to do as you command, oh fucking wise one."
A chuckle sounded out over my shoulder and the mug crashed to the bottom of the sink.
"Shit!" I cried, as I waited for it to fracture into a million pieces. It was made of sterner stuff.
I swung around and found Ben leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over his impressive chest, a tribal tattoo peeking out from the sleeve of his t-shirt. A highly amused look on his face.
"If you like, you could just write 'em all down and post 'em to him later," he suggested in a drawl.
"That would mean I actually cared about what he said, " I pointed out, crossing my own arms.
"Oh, you cared. Otherwise Pierce wouldn't have said it."
"What does that mean?" I demanded.
"You'll figure it out," he infuriatingly replied.
"I don't want to figure it out," I complained, uncrossing my arms and slinking into a seat at the table. "I've got more important crap to deal with than a cop spitting his dummy out."
"I am so gonna tell him you said that," Ben teased.
"Traitor," I half heartedly snapped.
He walked to the fridge and started hauling out ingredients for a salad, plopping them down on the table in front of me, adding bowls, chopping board and a knife.
"You're on salad, I'll marinate the steaks," Ben explained.
I gratefully accepted the task, something to take my mind off infuriating and demanding police detectives, and give me a moment to calm myself down. I wondered if that was Ben's intention, because for a good ten minutes he didn't utter a word.
Then after returning the steaks to the fridge to marinate, he unscrewed a couple of beers, sliding one towards me, leaned against the bench and said, "I'm not gonna defend Pierce's behaviour."
"Good," I replied instantly, tossing the last salad in its bowl. "Because its indefensible."
"Nah," he argued, took a swig from his bottle and returned to studying me. "I'm just not the one to defend it."
"And your point is?" I asked with raised eyebrows, getting up to place the covered salads in the fridge too.
"My point, Marie, is Pierce knows what he's doin'. Whether that's chasin' down a criminal, settin' up a sting, or corrallin' a witness into doin' the right thing, he's good at it. There is never a time when he doesn't do somethin' for a reason."
"Who? Pierce?" Abi said sauntering into the room and going straight for Ben to nab his beer bottle, swiftly downing a large gulp.
"Get your own, Red," he said with an amused smile.
"Nah, she's good," Abi replied. "I like this one, thanks." She slipped into a seat beside me and added, while Ben grumbled good naturedly as he fetched a new beer for himself, "I checked on Daisy, she's still napping."