Dangerous Love (ONC 2019 - LGBTQ)

6. Accusations

Two officers from the Avalain Police station tracked Harlan down a few hours after the fight. Considering he was staying at a hostel in a room booked under his own name, it wasn't very hard.

"There's been a complaint lodged against you, Lieutenant Quinn, by a Corporal Carter on behalf of a Lieutenant Juan Diaz," announced Officer Miller, coming straight to the point.

Harlan couldn't help rolling his eyes, just a little.

"And what's Carter say I've done this time?" He stood in the doorway of his room, with his arms crossed, making no move to invite the officers inside.

"'This time?'" asked Miller, quickly.

"Let's just say we have a bit of a history," answered Harlan.

Miller waited, but Harlan was silent. He didn't intend to go into any details, not with the police. It was none of their business.

"So what exactly is Carter saying?" Harlan prompted.

"He claims you assaulted Lieutenant Diaz in the street." Miller's companion, Officer Werner spoke for the first time. He was a tall man, just topping Harlan by a couple of centimetres, and looked like he spent a lot of time working out. Harlan could almost smell the testosterone.

"We had an altercation, yes, but Diaz struck the first blow. I merely defended myself."

"That's not what Corporal Carter says."

"Oh? What does Carter say?"

"He says you made an unprovoked attack on Lieutenant Diaz." Werner paused, waiting for a reaction, but Harlan merely grunted.

"He does, does he? And what about Diaz, what does Diaz say?"

"Nothing, yet. Unfortunately, Lieutenant Diaz has yet to regain consciousness. He is in the Clinic, undergoing medical treatment."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but I suggest strongly that you wait until he is able to tell you what happened himself, before you pay any attention to Carter."

The two officers exchanged glances. Quinn was right. There really wasn't much more they could do until they spoke to the supposed victim.

"We may need to speak to you again," warned Miller. "Please don't leave Avalain without telling us."

Harlan nodded, and watched from the doorway until the officers disappeared from sight.

Damn, Carter! Why couldn't he simply mind his own business? Instead of leaping forward—unasked—to supposedly defend Juan? Carter had no idea what he was getting into.

Harlan's next interview with Miller and Werner, a week later, was much less pleasant. Diaz had yet to regain consciousness and Carter had been agitating relentlessly for Harlan's arrest, so now the police were taking the charge more seriously.

This time, Harlan was taken to the police station for a formal interview. He gave his statement about what had happened, then offered to show them the bruises on his ribs. Werner watched stony faced as Harlan lifted his shirt to reveal his injuries, now turned a violent mixture of green and yellow.

"That's all very well, ser, but there's no way of telling when those bruises occurred, is there? Did you see a medic at the time?"

"No," said Harlan, grimly. "I didn't think it was serious enough. My mistake."

Up until that moment, Werner had been relatively polite, calling Quinn "ser" or "Lieutenant," but now everything changed.

"You and Lieutenant Diaz have had a hostile relationship for some time, haven't you, Quinn?"

"What do you mean?" asked Harlan, his stomach clenching.

Werner smiled unpleasantly. "I remember at our first meeting, you told us you had a 'history' with Corporal Carter. But it was Lieutenant Diaz who made the complaint about you that got you dismissed from the Patrol, wasn't it?" Werner leant forward, emphasising his point. "What was the charge again?" He looked down at his console unit as if reading something written there. "'Sexual harassment. Demanding sexual favours from a subordinate officer.' A serious offence." The condemnation was clear on his face. "You were dismissed under the Patrol's Regulations. In my opinion, you were lucky to avoid prison time."

The expression was wiped clean from Harlan's face. How on Earth had they got hold of that? Patrol arraignments were supposed to be confidential. Werner had to be bluffing, he couldn't possibly be reading an actual report. Fucking Carter had probably given him the details verbally, despite breaking confidentiality.

Harlan remained tight lipped for the rest of the interview, refusing to answer any more questions or respond to leading statements with anything other than "no comment."

When they finally let him go an hour later, Harlan was fuming. He was damned if he was going to hang around and be the target of another witch hunt. Not to mention that he was running out of credits, fast. He checked the message on his wristcom again.

He'd finally got a job offer, from an organisation he'd never heard of, based in Syden. True, some of the details were rather vague, which was why he hadn't jumped at it before, but now wasn't the time to be fussy. It was time to leave Avalain.

He paid off his account at the hostel, packed his bag, and headed for the Space Terminal.