**Harper**
I was more anxious abut my second visit to the Miami Metro Police Department, for obvious reasons. I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Ann was dead. When Deb called earlier, I knew almost immediately what had happened. Deb's tone was smug and accusatory as she delivered the news and asked me to come in immediately for questioning.
Dexter could sense my mounting tension and did his best to prep me on the car ride over. "Tell them that we were together all night. When Ann left your hotel room you then met with me for dinner. You spent the night at my place and we went out on the boat early this morning."
At first, I wanted Dexter to take me back to my motel, but Dexter insisted on taking me to the station himself. I wanted a brief moment to clear my head and figure out what to tell Deb. However, I was now glad to have Dexter's support.
I was worried, even as Dexter told me not to be. I've had cases where the police held me as long as possible out of spite, but this was the first time one of my client's wound up murdered and that I've been the last person to see them alive.
Deb was waiting along with another detective when got there. Her expression told me that I did have a reason to worry, even more so when she saw that I was with Dexter again. I watched as her smug expression morphed into shock.
"Where the fuck have you been?"she cried at Dexter.
Dexter gave the two detectives a sheepish look, "Sorry, We were out on the boat and I guess the pager wasn't getting a signal. Harper tells me that Ann Harris was murdered?"
The male detective looked from Dexter to me. He was an older Hispanic male wearing a white fedora and Hawaiian shirt. "You're Harper Connelly?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.
I nodded and opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off by Deb. "We? Who's we. You took her out on your boat?"she asked, giving Dexter a pointed look.
Dexter ignored her question and turned to the male detective. "I'm really sorry for missing your page this morning. This is Harper and there's no real need to question her...she's been with me since around 5pm last night."
The male detective shot a quick knowing grin at Dexter before turning to me again, "Hello Miss Connelly, I'm Sgt. Angel Batista."he shook my hand.
"No worries about the page, Dex, Masuka filled in for you. It's about time you got a...break"he said, patting Dexter on the back.
While Batista seemed to think that Dexter's word about me was good enough, Deb was still not convinced. She tried to pull me into the interview room, but thankfully, Batista stepped in.
"I'll talk to her, see if she has any info that might help. Is that okay with you, Harper?" he asked me with a friendly smile. I was grateful and had a feeling that Batista would be someone I could get along with.
Rather than taking me to an interview room, I just sat at his desk with him. His desk was stacked with papers and old coffee cups. He asked me a few standard questions about my various encounters with Ann. I felt my anxiety melting away since he didn't seem to think of me as a suspect. I told him about what Ann told me of the waitress. He seemed interested in this new information and thanked me for my time.
**Dexter**
I watched from across the room as Batista questioned Harper and felt thankful for him stepping in. I knew that Deb didn't trust Harper and would have done everything in her power to crack Harper.
"Dex, are you listening to me?"Deb cried, grabbing my attention again. I hadn't been listening, knowing fully well that she would simply be complaining about my new companion.
"I was asking you what the deal with that chick is? Don't you remember what I told you about her?"she asked, her eyes were stubborn as ever.
I nodded, "Yeah, I remember." I said simply, not sure how else to explain my relationship with Harper.
"And that doesn't bother you? You're the most practical person I know." she continued, shaking her head in disbelief.
I really couldn't blame Deb for not understanding. It didn't make any sense to me either. Deb was just trying to protect me in a way, which could almost be comical, since she should be protecting everyone else from me. I turned to my little sister, putting my hands on her shoulders.
"Deb, I know you're just looking out for me, but you don't need to worry, I can take care of myself."I told her, looking her square in the eye.
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I know."she muttered.
"So promise you'll back off?"I asked, giving her shoulder a little squeeze.
She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Fine. I'll fucking back off, but if that bitch hurts you in any way or has anything to do with the Harris murder I won't even hesitate to take her down."
I chuckled, "Fair enough, Could I ask just one more favor from you?"