Someone to Love

-5-

I woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon and coffee. Evidently, Dee and Livie had ordered room service and were chowing down without me. I was starving, and the slightest bit hungover, but they could've woken me up to eat.

"I hope you ordered me some." I groaned, stretching.

"Um, Tri-"

"Nope, Livie. I don't want to hear it. If you didn't order me some, I'm gonna kick your-" I sat up in bed to find two men in suits sitting in chairs at the table. One of them was Black, with a bald head and a well-kept goatee. The other, a serious older white guy with salt-and-pepper colored hair and a moustache. Both of them were staring at me.

"What's going on here?" I asked. Dee and Livie were sharing the armchair. Their faces were turned down. "Dee." She didn't look up. "Olivia." Even when I used her real name, she still didn't look up, so I turned to the strange men for answers.

"What is going on here?"

"Ms. Bernard, allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Detective Lawrence Waters, and this is Detective Chris Turner." the older guy grunted.

"What does that have to do with us?"

"Does the name Mark Luxemburg sound familiar?" Turner asked.

"Yeah, he, um." I swallowed hard, trying not to cry. "He tried to rape me last night."

Turner looked at Waters and a silent understanding passed between them. "We're going to have to take you in for questioning, Ms. Bernard." Turner said, standing. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

"Can I at least get dressed first?" I shot. All I had on was an oversized t-shirt. Unless they wanted to see my crotch, I needed clothes.

Turner looked at Waters for permission. He nodded slightly and grunted, "We'll be right outside the door. Don't take too long." They shuffled out leaving me and the twins.

I obviously didn't have much time, so I got dressed as quickly as I could.

"Tri, what are we gonna do?" Dee asked, fright leaking out of her eyes.

"They're not questioning you, Dee. They're questioning me. Look, you two are gonna calm down. It's fine. They just wanna ask me some questions. After that, I can leave. We can spend the rest of our minivacation in peace, alright?" I put on a pair of sunglasses to hide my healing black eye and hugged each of them. "I'll be back. I promise. And if anyone calls, don't tell them anything."

I brushed my teeth, pulled my massively curly hair into a high ponytail, and opened the door. Turner and Waters were waiting.

"Can we forgoe the handcuffs. I'm pretty sure all three of us know that I'm not going to try and excape. I came out of the hotel room in decent time, didn't I?"

"Part of our rules, ma'am." Turner sighed. I copied his sound and spun around, putting my hands behind my back. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can-"

"Yadda, yadda, yadda. Can we just skip this whole speech?" I butted in as he tightened the cuffs on me.

"-and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, but if you cannot afford one-"

"Trust me, I can afford one." I butted in again.

"-the court will appoint one for you." he finished the speech and started pushing me forward. His hand was tight around my arm.

"Could you loosen up on my arm, please? I bruise easily."

He didn't say anything or loosen up on my arm. So I jerked away, trying to get him to say something.

"I said loosen up on my arm. I already have a black eye. You must want me bruised everywhere." I kept trying to jerk away, but every time I pulled, he tightened his grip. Finally, we made it to the car and they put me in the back. My family would never believe this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Could you state your full name, please?"

"Katrina Tonette Bernard."

"As you already know, I am Detective Lawrence Waters. You have been read your rights. Do you have any problems as of now?"

"No. I'm just ready to go back to my hotel and hang out with my friends."

"During the course of this, I ask that you only answer the question. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Where were you last night?"

"Some club with my friends."

"Do you remember the name of the club?"

"No."

"Could you tell me what happened last night?"

"My friends, Dee and Olivia, and I went out partying. We drank...maybe four or five shots of vodka. I went outside to smoke. I didn't have a lighter because I rarely smoke, so this guy, Mark Luxemberg, lit me. We talked for a little but until he started getting creepy. He tried to rape me, but I managed to get away."

"How did you get away?"

"When he lifted my leg to get my panties off, I kicked him. Then I ran."

"Do you know what happened to him after that?"

"He was arrested, I suppose, which is why I'm here."

"Why didn't you immediately call police?"

"Well, my friend Dee told security and they said they would handle it, so we left."

"Where were your friends during the time where Mr. Luxemberg tried to rape you?"

"They were inside the club. They didn't know what was going on until I came in and told them."

"Last night, Ms. Bernard, Mr. Luxemberg died."

"I'm sorry to hear that. He was probably out being a creep somewhere else and someone shot him."

"Ms. Bernard, Mr. Luxemberg fell off of that balcony and fell two stories and onto a windshield."

"But...."

"Medical examiners also found a stab wound to his abdomen. Do you know how that could've occured?"

"I had on stilettos last night, but I didn't think I had kicked that hard."

"I have no more questions for you, Ms. Bernard. You're free to go. However, you must stay in the New York area until we get the paperwork together. If you go back to Florida, you could face some serious consequences."

"Will the paperwork be done by Saturday? I was supposed to leave then. I have to be at work on Monday morning."

"Have a good day, Ms. Bernard." He opened the door and walked out of the room.