The Opposite of Love

Ch 21

We quickly headed back to the bank, where Charlie donned his holster and I my very high heels before we left the car. At the last minute, I popped a stick of gum into my mouth.

"Okay, I'm gonna talk to the teller right away," Charlie said as we approached the doors. "You can just hang around for a bit."

"You're trying to exclude me, aren't you?"

"Exclude you?" He looked confused.

"Yes. You want to do all the investigating yourself and leave me on the sidelines."

"I would never," he said sincerely. He pulled me aside, or at least out of earshot of any passersby, as he supported his claim with an explanation. "For the purposes of this investigation, we are partners. Equal legwork and equal credit. Or blame. However this investigation ends. But either way, any step of this investigation will either be done by both of us or neither of us." He took a breath. "I am only suggesting that we momentarily split up to sell the lie better. Our suspect might not believe that you are a rich and famous rockstar if you do all of your own work, especially if you already have someone who you are paying to do stuff for you."

"Whom," I corrected.

"What?"

"I believe the correct way to say it is 'someone whom you are paying.' Not who."

"Is that really important right now?" His words were condescending, but he was trying – and failing – to hide a smile.

"Correct grammar is always important."

He rolled his eyes and steered us back towards the door, straightening his posture as he pulled the handle and held the door open for me.

We were immediately stopped by a man in a security guard uniform.

"Excuse me, sir, but you aren't allowed to carry a weapon in this building. I'm gonna have to ask you to surrender your weapon or remove it immediately from the premises," the guard said. He was elderly and short and overweight, and there was no way he could intimidate someone like my companion. Nonetheless, I still expected Charlie, a law abiding – and enforcing – citizen, to give in and surrender his gun, or maybe just leave and come up with a new plan.

He did not.

Instead, he managed to make himself look threatening. Swiftly positioning himself between me and the guard, Charlie stood taller, and he looked determined. He uttered just one word in reply to the guard: "No."

The guard's hand flew to his own holster, which simply held a Taser. Charlie's eyes flicked to the man's hand, and then back to his face. "Let me assure you, I can draw my weapon and fire before you can even get yours out of its holster."

We were definitely going to get arrested.

"Is that a threat?" the guard asked, somewhat cowardly. His hand was slightly shaky, but he held his ground. It was impressive, given the circumstances.

"Of course not," Charlie said, but even I wasn't put at ease with the way he said it.

"Then, may I ask why you refuse?" the guard asked, his hand still resting on his holster. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the tellers notice the tension between the two men and disappeared into an office.

"My job is to keep this lovely young lady safe," Charlie said, stepping aside slightly so the guard could see me and then blocking me again. I pretended to be bored while the guard's attention was on me, but in reality, I was just waiting for someone to call the cops. "The last time something like this occurred," Charlie continued, "I did what I was supposed to and surrendered my weapon. Do you want to know what happened?"