“Okay, Mrs. Stewart, I think that answers all of my questions.” Detective Thompson made the last of a series of notes, then looked up.
My stomach twisted hard, because I knew what was coming next. Fingerprinting. A mug shot. The sound of clanking locks.
Detective Thompson stood and walked to the door, then turned and looked at Lacey. “I’m going to file a probable cause declaration with the district attorney’s office.”
Lacey nodded. “I expected as much. I’ll get in touch with them.”
“I expected as much,” the detective replied, but somehow his attempt at humor didn’t work for me, especially since I had no idea what they’d just been talking about.
Lacey looked at me. “I’ll come with you. Kurt’s doing just fine on his own.” Her skin was turning a pale blue, and I knew the long hours without her oxygen were taking their toll. She squeezed his shoulder. “You’re one fine young man. I’m proud to say I know you.”
I managed to push myself up from my chair, and, remembering my episode from earlier in the day, I focused on trying to stay conscious and upright. I followed Detective Thompson down the hall, trying not to think about what was coming next. At least Lacey was still with me.
He stopped at a doorway and held it open for us. I could see the lobby just on the other side, the same blue plastic chairs we’d sat in this morning. What was going on here? I didn’t understand, but thought maybe Lacey was supposed to escort me to the fingerprinting. It didn’t make sense, but then, what did I know?
A flicker of movement drew my attention. Rick had stood up and was walking toward us, his face as grim and pale as I’d ever seen it.
He nodded at Detective Thompson, who returned the gesture. “Tell you what, Rick, you’ve got a wife and son with more guts than most prizefighters even dare to dream about.”
“Son? Kurt’s back there, too?” He looked from Detective Thompson to me.
“Kurt decided to meet me here this morning,” I said. “He turned himself in, told them everything.”
Bruce Thompson said, “You should be proud of them.”
“Believe me, I am.”
I jerked my head around to see if Rick was joking. He was proud? That we were criminals? He waited only until I was through the door before he put his arms around me, and the sound of an involuntary sob spasmed somewhere in his chest.
The door closed behind Detective Thompson, and then it was just the three of us, alone in the lobby. I looked first at Lacey. “What just happened?” Then I looked at Rick. “And what are you doing here?”
He shrugged. “I came to see if I could help.”
I wondered how exactly he thought he might help in this situation, but before going there I turned my attention on Lacey. “So I guess I’m a little confused. Am I under arrest or not?”
“Not yet.” She walked toward the front door, and Rick and I followed her. “They’re filing a probable cause declaration, which basically is Detective Thompson’s sworn statement about what happened between you and the bat. They’ll spend some time looking it over in the DA’s office, and then they’ll decide what they’re going to do about it.”
“So I’m free to go?”
“For now, you are.”
“Well, I guess you won’t need me to bail you out, then.”
So that’s why he was here. I reached over and hugged him with more emotion than I’d felt in years. “I can’t believe you came down here to do that. I thought you were so angry you’d let us both rot in prison.”
He held me tight. “That’s what I thought, too, for about the first couple of hours after you told me. Then I realized what courage, what absolute gumption you had to come forward like you were.” He leaned back just enough so that he could look in my eyes. “I’d forgotten.” He shook his head. “No, that’s a lie. It wasn’t that I’d forgotten, it’s that I’d taken it for granted so long that I no longer noticed.”
We held each other for a moment on the sidewalk, until I became aware of the gentle wheeze of Lacey’s breathing. I checked my watch. More time had passed than I’d realized. Lacey needed to get home and our daughter would be getting out of school soon.
“Caroline was supposed to be with you this afternoon.”
“I called the school and Katrina’s going to be at the house waiting for her.”
“Our house?”
“Our house. I wasn’t planning to leave here today without you, whether through bail or jailbreak, but I was coming home to Caroline with her mother, no matter what it took.” He grinned and said, “To tell you the truth, I don’t think she would let me back in the house any other way.”
“Well, we better go see that girl then.”
We drove home in our separate cars, Lacey riding with me. I reached over and clasped her wrist. “Thank you so much for all you’ve done today. I can’t even begin to tell you how much it means to me.”
She shrugged. “Didn’t do much.” She rolled her head toward me. “I know how the system works, that’s all.”
“Thanks, Lacey.” I pulled into her driveway, climbed out of my car, and started to help her up the stairs.
She pulled her arm away. “I don’t want help up my own steps. I may be frail, but I’m not ready to go there yet.”
I stopped at the bottom of the steps and watched her unlock her front door. “I’ll bring some dinner over in a little while.”
“Don’t have to.”
“I know, but I want to.”
She nodded and disappeared inside. I turned to find Rick’s truck parked on the curb, him leaning against the passenger’s door. I walked over to where he stood. “Why didn’t you go in to the house?”
He put his hands in his pockets and stared at the sidewalk. “After we had that little blowup the other night, I got back to my apartment and I was just miserable. Because it wasn’t until that exact moment that I realized whose fault this all is.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve never seen you lose your temper and throw things. Or kick a couch halfway across the room.” He looked up at me. “Or knock someone to kingdom come with a baseball bat. That temper, that part of Kurt that exploded, well, it didn’t come from anywhere but me. I realized then that I’ve got some of my own facing up to do. As much as I hate to admit it, I’ve signed up for an anger management program here in town, and … I’ve been thinking … maybe we ought to try one of those marriage counselors.”
“Really?”
“You know how I feel about those things, but I figure, what’s it going to hurt at this point?” He opened the door to his truck and climbed in. “I just wanted to say that before we got home and Caroline was standing right there, and I lost my nerve.”
“Thanks.” I knew just how hard that had been for him, and I thought maybe his good heart might not be completely buried after all.
I returned to my car, but before I’d even pulled into the driveway, Caroline was already standing there. “You’re home, you’re home! They knew it wasn’t Kurt’s fault, right? They’re going to let you go, and Kurt, too? Right?”
“Not quite, sweetie. Come sit in my lap and we’ll talk about everything that’s happened.”