The Guardian

Chapter Six

"This way", said Seth as he led him down the hallway a few cubicles and into another room.

"Hey, doc. Do you have that painkiller yet?"

"No, not yet. And I'm still waiting for a chance to get you up to x-ray to look at your knee. Have you been keeping the ice against it?"

"Yes, I have, but it feels very swollen."

Seth lifted the ice pack and looked at the knee in question. "You're right. It has swollen up to the size of a basketball. This is Detective Asher. He's here to talk to you about what happened this evening."

"Hello", said Gabriel. "I heard you got attacked tonight."

"I did. I was walking along the street, escorting a drunk girl home, when this guy jumps down between us and starts attacking me."

"What were you doing when the guy started attacking?"

"I was just talking to the girl."

"With your pants down? The paramedics first on the scene reported that your pants were down at your ankles when they arrived."

"We weren't exactly talking to each other using our voices. She was giving me head. You know what I mean? She wasn't even very good at it."

"So, you were having sex with this girl at the side of the road."

"Not sex. She was giving me head."

"You were having oral sex with this girl at the side of the road, where anyone could see you?"

"Yeah, but no one really cares about those girls."

"Those girls?" Gabriel could see Seth's fists clench in his peripheral vision, and he hoped that Seth would be able to control his temper.

"Yeah, you know, the girls who live in the juvie group home. They're always asking for it."

Seth clenched his jaw and shoved his fists into his pant pockets.

"They are?" said Gabriel. "I've worked with some of the girls in there before, and they have never asked me to have sexual relations of any sort with them."

Jason snorted. "No wonder. First, you're a cop. Second, you're old."

"Old?"

"Yeah, you must be thirty at least. No girl would make a move on a thirty-year old cop."

Seth smiled. His uncle was closer to seventy-five years in age.

"So, this girl was giving you head, and this guy swooped down and interrupted", he said, making some notes.

"Yeah." Jason adjusted his seat and winced as his knee moved.

"Can you describe the man for me?" asked Gabriel as he focused on his book and watched Jason out of the corner of his eye.

Jason grimaced. "No. I mean, he was wearing all black, from his balaclava to his boots. He was even wearing gloves, so I couldn't tell his skin colour at all."

"Did he say anything to you?"

Jason nodded. "He did. He told me to stay away from Julianna. He seemed to know her."

Gabriel stopped pretending to take notes and instead looked squarely at Jason. "So, someone who knew Julianna came down and interrupted your session with her, and you didn't recognize him."

Jason shook his head. "No, I didn't."

Gabriel switched his line of questioning. "Did you get Julianna a drink at the party?"