Retribution

Chapter Fifteen

It was already dark when Johnny returned from visiting Katherine. The doctor had ordered her to stay in bed for the day and had given her some salve for the bruises on her throat. Bailey had come by later, and that despicable man, Green, had taken her statement. Johnny had stood his ground, not willing to leave her side as the questioning turned to him.

Did he know where Jerry was? No? Why not? Weren't they coworkers? How could he have no idea what Jerry was planning? He better be sure to inform the police at any sign of Jerry, or else—

 He wearily climbed the two flights of stairs to his room. His legs felt like jelly and his mind was overwhelmed. His broad shoulders were slouched dejectedly as he unlocked the door and swung it open.

An uninvited, unwanted visitor had made himself at home and was sitting on the single dingy leather couch which took up most of the space that doubled as the living and dining room. Jerry. "What the hell are you doing here? Get out, or I'll call the police!" Johnny tossed his hat onto a chair and stalked into the kitchen.

"Didn't you hear me?!" Fury shook his voice. "I know what you've been up to this afternoon—and I'm not going to stand for it."

"Oh, I was only messing with her. You should know I wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

"Do I? The police don't know that, and neither does she. And those bruises on her throat say different. There's a warrant out for your arrest, and I'm not in the least upset about it. Why are you still here? Get out."

"We didn't finish our conversation from earlier. I thought you knew that."

Johnny emerged from the kitchen, cold beer in hand. "I thought I made it very clear we did finish that conversation."

Jerry stood up, leaving Johnny the couch. "We didn't. I talked to Doug, and we decided it's not finished at all."

Johnny sat down angrily on the couch and snapped off the beer cap against the low table. "Katherine doesn't know anything about the letters. You're wasting your time. I thought you would've found that out today when you roughed her up." The fact that Jerry was standing and he wasn't made Morgan feel uncomfortable, as though he were at a disadvantage. "Here, sit down, there's plenty of room."

"No, I've been here long enough waiting for you to get back," Jerry replied shortly. "I'm giving you one last opportunity to find those letters before we're forced to take more drastic measures with your girl."

"She doesn't have them!" Johnny stood up suddenly, facing Jerry, and part of his beer splashed onto his hand. "We already searched her place thoroughly. They weren't there. You roughed her up already. She didn't talk. Where else could she be possibly be hiding them—in her brassiere? Just because the old professor outsmarted you and Doug doesn't mean she's responsible. Leave her out of it."

"Then why did she have to buy that particular desk? Huh? Tell me that!" Jerry's voice matched Johnny's in volume. "Of all the late professor's belongings, why did she have to choose his personal desk, with all his personal papers?

"He was her mentor. He meant a lot to her," Johnny snarled back at Jerry. "Some people actually have respect for other people. Nothing you would understand."

"I'll tell you what," Jerry said, his voice cool and calculating[AS1] . "Either you find the letters by tomorrow or we're going to have use more interesting persuasion than last time. Maybe her ex-boyfriend is hiding them for her at his place."

The loud smack of Johnny's fist hitting Jerry's jaw filled the room and gave Johnny satisfaction as Jerry stumbled backwards, catching himself on the wall. He straightened back up and rubbed his jaw,  spitting out some blood onto his hand. "I'd recommend you don't act the same way in your meeting with Torres tomorrow. He doesn't have the same patience I do."