Still Life With Taylor

::ELEVEN::

They nabbed us coming out of the bank. Fucking dirty cops. We had gone with Sal, no walking anywhere for a while. Fortunately I left the gun in the car. Sal left, the second he saw the cops. Good. I'm used to this. Christine isn't. All I can do is look at her, and hope she does all right. Cuffed, in the back of the car.

Sal will see that we get a lawyer, get us out of it. It's the wait I'm worried about. And where they'll take us. No names yet. No badges. This isn't anywhere close to being legit. We haven't been arrested yet. Don't expect that to happen. Lean over, as much as I can, in the back.

"Trust me, Christine." As quietly as I can. She jumps, at the slam of a fist on the grill separating the front and back. "Trust me."

"It ain't a whorehouse back there, save your pillow talk Reese."

She's frightened, but not showing it. You'd never be able to tell. Her eyes have gone a darker green, matching the dark ring at the edge. There's no laugh in them. I hope Sal is fast.

For once I'm actually glad to end up at a cop station. I was more worried about a drive to the edge of town somewhere. Take us around back. Wait til no one else is around, before taking us inside, watching for anyone else the whole time. Christine and I share a look. That bright intelligence is back in her eyes. No one else is to know we're being brought in. Her fear's still there, but less.

Interrogation room. Cold. Kept that way to make it as uncomfortable as possible. No windows. Hard light. Two way mirror. I doubt there's anyone on the other side. These guys don't want anyone else in on this. Antacid pink paint, peeling, on a cinderblock wall. Antiseptic. Stink of burned coffee and fear. Small scarred wooden table, bolted to the floor. Chairs, hard, uncomfortable.

Sit us down facing each other. If they were looking for information, they would have split us up. This is something else. Still cuffed. I want to ask them to take them off her at least. But I know that anything I say they'll turn against her, and it will go worse. All we can do is wait. She shivers for a moment. Nothing but a thin t-shirt. Her hoodie left in Sal's car.

"Thought you might want to know something about your boyfriend, Miss Cameron."

And here it comes. They're going to try to break her first. I expected it. I've been pulled in so many times I've lost count. I doubt Christine has ever been in this situation. Drop a file on the table. She's not looking. Her green eyes holding mine the entire time.

"These guys aren't your friends, sweetheart, they're killers. You told her where the bodies are yet, Reese?"

She hasn't blinked. Her eyes aren't dark anymore. Her fear is leaving. That deep dark calm is filling her. Like there's no one else in the room but us.

"You mean this guy hasn't told you what he is yet?"

"He's told me everything. There's nothing you can say that's going to change the way I feel about him. Nothing. You're wasting your time."

She says it to him, but her eyes hold mine the entire time. I never wanted her to find out what I did for a living. I sure never wanted her to find out like this. Would it matter to her if I told her I wanted out? I can't say a damned thing here, but if I could, would she hear me?

"All he knows how to do is hurt people, lady. Do you think that's going to change? Wait, I get it. You think you mean something to him? He's a killer, lady, he doesn't give a damn about you."

Throws Christine's torn panties on the table. They'd gone through my pockets.

"Why do you want to have anything to do with this shitheel anyways. Did he rape you? Is that why he's carrying those around? We'll charge him with rape, and then you get to go home."

That glint of gold is back in her eyes. She doesn't smile, except for her eyes.

"You never kept a girl's panties, officer?"

He slams his fist down on the table, paces to the wall and back. Decides to change tack, and go after me.

"She's not your usual, is she Reese?"

He's picked up her panties from the table, squatting down at the edge of the table, fingering the lace.

"She doesn't SMELL like a whore. Maybe you just paid more for her?"

The pig sniffs at her panties, and I can feel myself ready to get up. I'm cuffed. Don't know what the hell I could do anyways. If I do it'll be over, they'll have something to arrest me for. Part of me doesn't care. Christine kicks me, softly, under the table. The slightest shake of her head. No. Her eyes hold mine, as if she could hold me there by will alone.

"What the fuck is going on in here!!!"

The door to the interrogation room is slammed open, rebounding off the wall with a dull thud. I guess the dirt only goes so high.

"Get those goddamned cuffs off. NO!! I don't even WANT a fucking explanation. I don't want to know what kind of a stink you've dragged into my fucking station!!."

The cuffs are off. Christine holding her wrists, a raw red mark where they'd cuffed her. Too tight.

"You have something that belongs to me."

The room is silent. Christine's panties have disappeared into the fat pig's pockets. I don't want to say anything. Don't want to embarrass Christine, but the idea of this fat fuck going home with her panties in his pocket has me close to killing.

"Your officer has a pair of my panties in his pocket. I would like them back."

"You're a fucking disgrace, McLaren. Hand them over. Get the fuck out of my station. ALL of you!!"

Sal is waiting, with Matty sitting in the front, at the far edge of the parking lot. It seems like forever to walk with Christine. She held it together in there, but how does she feel about me now? Tell Sal to stop at her apartment, before sitting in the back with her, holding her. I don't want to say anything. I don't want her to ask.

"Wait here." To Sal, through the window. "I'll be back in a minute"

Christine, standing by the window in her apartment, looking out over the street. She's left the light off. Doesn't need it to see in here.

"I'm sorry."

My arms around her waist, my chin on her shoulder, hoping she won't pull away from me. She doesn't. Settles into my chest.

"I can't protect you here, Christine. I need you to get some things together. To stay with me for a while."

She turns to face me. I never thought a person could say so much without saying anything at all. She's so quiet. Buries her nose in my neck, breathing deeply, before putting a hand on my chest, moving back. Looking for clothes, putting them in a backpack. Rummage in the bathroom, while I sit on the edge of the bed. Before we leave, she grabs the painting that caught me this morning. A deep sigh, a look at her books, her paintings, that she tries to keep hidden, before we leave. I'll do everything I can to make sure she can come back to them.


Matty and Sal have the adjoining room, a sitting area separating the two rooms, back at the hotel. Sal has a guy outside, watching the bar. Turn the lights off, once Matty and Sal leave. I know she prefers it dark. Stand out on the balcony, close the door, and just hold her.

I start slow. Hell, didn't really know where to start. But I tell her everything I can, about what I did. I never liked what I did for a living, it was just what I had to do. Her forehead rests on my shoulder, her breath even. Waiting until I'm done. Look up at me. I can see every drop of rain in her hair. Her eyes that same strange green gold.

"There is a difference between what you are, and what you do, Taylor."

I had expected a lot of things. I didn't expect that. I thought she might just leave. She doesn't.

"If this all goes south, will you leave with me?" A whisper, I don't want anyone else hearing it. I'm afraid of the question, even more afraid of her answer. Hell, I don't even want to say it myself. I've been Matty's friend my whole life, but right now, all I want to do is take her and leave this whole mess behind. Start somewhere else, where neither of us has to worry about any of this. She kisses me first, soft.

"Do you want me to stay with you?"
"Yes."

Puts her head back on my shoulder, we stand like that for a while, listening to each other's hearts. Go back inside, curl up, still dressed, and fall asleep.