Undercover

PART 37

#Undercover 37

Present Day

“Ma’am…ma’am” I hear a male voice say. I look up and a policeman is standing over me with his hand held out. I take his hand and stand. I look around and everyone is staring at me. Do they have no decency? Damn! I finally look down at myself and realize that Saddiq’s blood is all over me. The officer pulls me closer and walks me through a crowd of people until we reach his patrol car. He seats me in the back and closes the door.
We make it to the police station and I’m taken to a room at the back. The officer who drove me to the station walks me into a room and says “Our Chief Bradley will be with you in just a moment. Can I get you anything to drink or eat?” I shake my head no. Still in shock, I just sit there…staring. “Mrs. Harrington?” Chief Bradley says walking in. I look up but don’t say anything. “First, my condolences to you and your family for the loss of your husband. I don’t know the feeling of losing a spouse but I can only imagine the depth of that type of loss….” Chief Bradley says but I cut him off. “Look, Chief Bradley, I don’t mean any harm but I want to get this over with. Just bring in whoever you need to so that I can answer any questions and get home to my kids. My husband is dead and I’ve got to explain to my kids and his parents that their father and son is gone” I tell him. “Understood. I’ll get Detective Wright in here for you now. Again, my condolences” he says as he leaves the room. “Mrs. Harrington, I’m Detective Wright. I have just a few questions for you this afternoon. I’ll make this as quick as I can so that you may get on with your day” he says sitting down. I nod. “I’m turning on this tape recorder here to document our conversation. There is also a camera mounted in the right hand corner of this room. First, and I know this may be a bit difficult, can you explain what happened with your husband today. Start from the last moment that you saw him” Detective Wright says. “Well, we both woke up early because I had a flight here for a speaking engagement this morning. It wasn’t even daylight when I left my home this morning. At that time, he promised that he’d show at my speaking engagement. Right before I got ready to onstage, I ask my intern if she’d heard from him. She said no. I called him and he told me that he wouldn’t be able to make it. I went onstage and presented to everyone there and then opened up a Q&A for the crowd. After taking a few questions, someone takes the mic and says something about my wedding anniversary. It was Saddiq. He comes onstage with roses as a gift for me. As we’re standing there, his hand slips from mine. I look up but he’s not there. That’s when I notice that he’s on the ground. I look down and blood is everywhere….even on me” I manage to say as my voice continues to shake like crazy. “Thank you. So have you and your husband had any disagreements lately? Like anything prior to the shooting? How was your relationship?” Detective Wright asks. “Being married for 10 years, sure we had disagreements but nothing serious. Our relationship was great. He’s the love of my life and I’m his. Over the years we’ve managed to make a wonder life together” I tell Detective Wright proudly. “Is there anyone you know that would want to harm your husband, Mrs. Harrington?” he asks. “No” I reply. “Have either of you had affairs which could have caused someone to want your spouse dead?” he asks. “Excuse me? Affairs? Hell no. What kind of questions are these? What are you implying here?” I ask, now pissed. “Just trying to cover all bases here, ma’am. That’s all” he says with an attitude. There’s a lot more I want to say to him but I hold it in. “Has your spouse ever been abusive to you or your children? Or has he ever angered you to the point where you wanted him to go away?” Detective Wright asks just as I thought I was done with the questions. “Wait, are you trying to imply that I killed my husband…the father of my children…the love of my life….my better half!? How dare you!?” I scream as tears roll down my face uncontrollably. Chief Bradley steps in and says “That’ll be quite enough. Detective, if you’re done here, Mrs. Harrington will be released now.” The detective nods. Chief Bradley takes down my name and number. He gives me a change of clothes and I catch a late flight back home.
I pull up in the yard and his car is parked there in the driveway. “Lord” I say clutching the steering wheel. “Lord, give me the strength to go in here and face my family. I don’t know how I’m going to do this” I say as I force myself out of the car and to the front door. I walk in and everyone’s here; Kehlani, Saddiq’s parents, my kids, Taryn, and Nelle. Even Kehlani’s dog Max is here. I walk to my kids and just hold them. Saddiq’s parents have done the hard part. They told the kids about him. Just looking in their eyes, I feel their pain…their loss. As my voice cracks, I say “Tha…Thank you all for being here. I need each and every one of you to get through this.” Not able to say anymore, everyone surrounds me and hold the kids and I.
After getting the kids laid down, I finally make my way into my bedroom. I’ve been avoiding it all day. There’s nothing but memories of Saddiq in this room. I suck it up and head to the bathroom for a hot shower. After showering, I climb out and get into bed. I cozy up to his pillow. My God, it smells just like him.