Crashing Into You

“Yeah. You okay?”

“I think so. Is it wrong for me to feel relieved?”

“No.” I hug her tighter. “I don’t know what I would have done if he had hurt you. I don’t even want to think about it.”

“Carly told him where to find me.”

“‘Let’s leave that out of our story. The less complicated the easier it will be.”

“I trust you, Calder.”

“You need to give your real name when they question you. And tell them anything you know about his drug dealing.”

“Calder, I should tell you something. I wasn’t completely honest with you. When I ran from Chris. We had a nasty fight and I stabbed him with a kitchen knife. Then when he came at me again, I hit him in the head with a frying pan. He hit his head on the kitchen table and I thought he was dead. I thought I had killed him and Flip, that guy he worked for, he was on his way to collect and I panicked. I grabbed that bag and it had the money and drugs in it and I had no idea at first like I told you before.”

“It’s all right, baby. It’s all right.” I knew she hadn’t given me the full truth, but I can understand why she was scared to tell me what she thought she had done. Sirens wail in the distance and within minutes Big Jim and Little Jim are on the scene.

Little Jim takes Maggie/June to the station to give her statement and I give mine to Big Jim. In the end I reacted the way I was trained to. The perp came at me first. I only acted in self-defense. With June’s cooperation our department worked with the Florida State Police to bring down Flip’s drug ring. He is currently serving thirty years. When he was picked up his prints matched those of an unsolved murder that was five years old. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced.

Maggie doesn’t have to be afraid anymore. None of them will ever hurt her again.