20. Ian

Ian explains what he's doing there.

Chrissy, the lieutenant and one of his officers sat at the table in the interrogation room while Ian paced around angrily waving his arms in the air.

“I still don't understand why I was arrested!” he ranted, “All I was doing was looking for my wife and daughter. Is that a crime?!”

“Of course not, Mr. Stewart,” the lieutenant answered calmly, “It's all a misunderstanding. We were just being cautious.”

Ian turned to Chrissy. “And why are you here?” He gave her a suspicious look. “Did you get arrested for fighting again?!”

Chrissy's eyes flashed angrily. “Ian! You have no idea what I've been through for the past few days! But I'm wondering the same thing about you. What the hell are you doing here?!”

“I'm looking for you and Emily. I grew concerned when you wouldn't answer my calls or texts. Then I received a text from someone pretending to be you telling me you were okay and not to worry. I knew right away it was a fraud. That made me really worried! So I caught the next flight back to the states. I checked our credit card accounts online and saw that your last transaction was at that general store. I decided to start looking for you there. When I got there the place was crawling with cops making some kind of a drug raid next door. I got out of the car and started showing your picture around and asking everyone if anybody had seen you. The next thing I know, this guy...” he jerked his thumb at the officer, “grabbed me and wanted to know who I was and why I was looking for you. I said I was your husband, but he just laughed at me and handcuffed me and threw me in the back of a patrol car!”

“Well, she said you were in Europe,” the officer responded defensively, “Besides, you look old enough to be her father.”

“He is old enough to be my father,” Chrissy chimed in, “So what?!”

“It made me suspicious,” the officer continued, “I was just trying to protect you and your daughter.”

“Alright, alright,” said the lieutenant in an attempt to calm everyone, “Let's wrap this up. It's late and we have a lot to do tomorrow.”

“But... I still don't know what's going on!” said Ian. He turned to Chrissy. “What happened with you and Emily? Why are you here?”

Chrissy heaved a big sigh. “It's a loooong story. I'll tell you all about it when we get home.”

“You can tell him all about it at the motel tonight,” corrected the lieutenant, “I'm placing you and Emily under protective custody until I'm sure you're safe. We're putting you up in a motel room with an armed guard outside for the night. And the pizza is on us.”

Ian's hard look softened. “Pizza?” he asked.

The lieutenant smiled and nodded.

“It's just as well,” said Chrissy, “There's some people I wanted to see one more time and tell them thanks before we go home anyway. Now you can meet them, too.”

“I'm just glad you and Emily are alright, Bittersweet,” said Ian. He walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead. Then he fanned the air with his hand.

“Phew! You need a shower!”

Author's Note

Suggestions and constructive criticisms always welcome.

Reviews

[Tina Kline]

So that's how Ian ended up there. Makes sense.
Good chapter.

[Craig2591]

Thank you.

[Nienor Niniel]

Highly reasonable explanation of how Ian gets involved. I like the mention of pizza (it does wonders to a person's mood!) and Chrissy needing a shower. It hadn't crossed my mind before, but I'm sure she and Emily would need one.

[Craig2591]

Yeah, I thought the shower mention would add a touch of realism in a funny way.