When the Bus Stopped

Chapter 24

Within minutes she had the short blonde man by the scruff of his neck, and away from his wife. "What the hell are you up to Shorty?" Lucy hollered. "Did your mama never teach you to be nice to girls? Or maybe you took that whole 'pick on someone your own size' a bit too literally?"

"My mama? What the fuck are you doing in my house?" He gave her a solid kick to the shin.

"Ouch! Why you little-"

"Get away from him!" The petite blonde woman cried. "I'm calling the police."

"Good idea! Then they can bundle this shin kicking sook into a cell! Don't worry about me, I can hold him."

"I'm not calling them to arrest my husband, but to arrest the lunatic that just broke into my house!"

"I saw him strangling you! I had to come in. What if you'd been killed?"

"He wouldn't kill me... he loves me!" Her hand fluttered up to cover the angry welts spreading across her delicate neck.

"My god! I try to do the right thing and someone calls the cops on me! Is it my dreadlocks?"

"Not at all," the woman complained. "It's your attitude!"

Dropping the short man and sniffing indignantly Lucy marched toward the door. "Well when they get here send them outside. I can't be bothered with this."

When she got back to the car Daniello was seething. "What the hell Lucy? I made you promise that if you were going to do another mission with me that you wouldn't get interactive with the crime scene. You promised! And then the next thing I know you are running off like some bull in a china shop. You could have been killed!"

"You are right!" Lucy snarled. "Where was my back up? I thought you would come in there with your shiny badge. Lucky I didn't wait or short stuff might have killed his wife and I at the same time."

"You've put my job at risk!"

"Hardly!"

"I wanted you to come on this stake out, so we could have time to talk."

"Talk? So you don't want me to help you catch anyone?"

Daniello paused. Lucy noticed him weighing things up. He sighed, "I've been wanting to tell you that-" The red and blue lights flashed through the back window, reflecting off the rear vision mirror.

"Your workmates are here."

"They aren't my workmates," Daniello told her. "I'm more of a private detective... you know... a Lone Ranger."

"Oh."

"Everything all right here folks?" A rounded face peered in through the driver's window with a wee torch held aloft.

"Ahh, hello mate!" Daniello smiled brightly. Opening his door he jumped out to talk to the officer.

Turning in her seat Lucy watched Daniello wander off with the officer in the direction of his cop car. They were deep in conversation.

Lucy could wait and hear what Daniello had to say but she felt peeved. After all of the time and energy she'd put into helping them all catch that murdering rapist she was the one that had ended up being treated like scum. Like her dreadlocks and swollen face had automatically made her a terrible person. Slipping the door open she left - pulling the hood of her jacket up to cover her locks she slipped off down the street, she wasn't going directly home because then he'd find her. Instead, she was going to do the unthinkable and spend a heinous amount of money on one lone drink at a nearby bar. After a glass of bubbles she would be able to smile upon the world again.