Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight. Thirty-nine.
"Are you even listening to me?!"
Charlotte stopped focusing on the ticking of the second hand of the clock and slowly lifted her head. "I already told you, Detective…I don't know where he is."
Jim ran his fingers through his hair, visibly shaken. "You're the last person to have seen him…we've already been through why this situation is dire…and you still can't seem to grasp that we need to—"
"Look, if you want to keep me here against my will, that's fine, but I need to contact an attorney. Now are you going to let me out of here, or are you about to read me my rights?"
He slammed his fist on the table, walking around it, "Forget it, I know you're not going to crack willingly." He grabbed Charlotte's wrist and twisted it behind her back. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will…"
Charlotte lowered her forehead back onto the edge of the table, closing her eyes for a moment. God, I'm tired…
Jim jerked her up out of the chair, "I said do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?"
"I do," she said through gritted teeth. How did I even get here? She looked up at the clock she'd been listening to and started to drown out the rest of what he was saying as he dropped her back down into the chair. By the time she snapped back into it, she just caught the last part of his speech – "I'll be back. Let's hope you're ready to talk."
Charlotte groaned and stared at her wrists as they left the room, slamming the door behind them. "I know for a fact they'll have to let me go," she muttered to herself, "They don't have anything of substance."
A sleep-deprived laugh escaped her lips as she recalled how she got there.
"You see, my dear? No hypnosis needed."
She looked up at him, horrified at what she'd done. "Jervis…I…I have to go." Charlotte slammed through the door and started down the hall.
"Wait, no!" Jervis called after her. His footsteps quickly bounded after Charlotte, who practically slid down the stairs.
She got to the bottom of the stairs, frantically fumbling with the locks on the front door. When she finally turned the knob and opened the door an inch, it quickly slammed shut, making her jump.
"I don't want to have to get forceful…" Jervis whispered.
Charlotte felt a tear roll down her face in silence as she faced the door, only catching a glimpse of Jervis' arm against the door when the lightning struck.
She could hear her own voice shaking as she slowly stuttered out, "What…What do you mean…forceful?"
"Oh, Alice," he said, slowly lowering his hand onto her shoulder, "you always have been quite stubborn, haven't you?"
She closed her eyes to think for a moment before it hit her. The clear image of the back door appeared in her mind, and she took a slow breath. "Jervis…I'll go back upstairs with you…just relax…I'll go upstairs with you…"
His voice lifted slightly, "You will?"
"Yes…let's just go back upstairs…" When he didn't move, she realized that he didn't fully buy her ruse. She cautiously walked a few steps up the stairs before she heard him lock the first lock.
Knowing he had to be turned around, she jumped over the stairwell railing and sprinted towards the back door. She practically tore through the lock and flung open the sliding glass door before running into the backyard.
Her feet splashed against the shallow puddles in the backyard as Jervis screamed her name after her. She knew he wouldn't follow her. He couldn't.
Once Charlotte hopped that fence she know she was free.
The door re-opened and Charlotte smirked, "Chief tell ya to let me go yet, Jim?"
"I'm not Jim."
She looked up and saw another man in a suit, "Then who are you?"
"Detective Bullock," he said, sitting across from her, "But you can just call me Harvey. Both Jim and the Captain have been acting strange lately, so I'm taking over this case. Jim seems too close to it. He gets like that."
"Sooo, are you the one who's going to let me go?" she yawned out.
He sighed, "I have to ask you a few things, first. You tired?"
"Dead," she scoffed, "I can hardly think straight."
"I don't know what's up with Jim…" he muttered to himself before looking back up at her, "D'you take coffee?"
Her face softened, "With creamer would be great, if you have it."
He nodded, "I'll be right back. If Jim comes back in, don't talk to him."
She rested her head on the table and groaned at the loud ticking of the clock. That damn second hand.
She ran down the street until her feet felt raw. The cold, wet ground stung her feet. "At least it stopped raining," she noted, sitting down on a curb.
A car slowly pulled up beside her. She felt her heart start to pound, concerned.
"Do you need a ride?" It was the voice of a woman, which put Charlotte at ease.
Charlotte looked up, "Are you sure?"
"Of course!" the woman replied, "It's freezing out, hop in the backseat."
She got up and opened the back door, sliding in. "Thank you."
"Are you okay?" the woman asked, "Do I need to take you somewhere?"
"I'm just off of Jones Avenue, across from the Farmer's Market…I'm fine…I'm just tired…"
"Are you sure..?"
"…yeah, I'm just…tired…" Charlotte leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes, "…it's been a long night…"
Charlotte cracked her neck and tried to stretch despite her cuffed hands. Harvey pushed through the door with two cups filled with creamer stacked in one hand and a coffee pot in another.
He set down the cups and coffee pot before walking behind Charlotte. "You should've said something," he said, uncuffing her hands, "These were put on way too tight." He went to sit back down and started to pour two cups of coffee.
"I don't know," Charlotte shrugged, "I didn't see a point." She took one of the cups from Harvey and nodded, timidly, "Thank you."
"Now," he said taking a sip, "If you could get me up to speed, that would be great. All I know is that Jim has been trying to talk to you and that you have some relation to Jervis Tetch."
Charlotte mirrored him, taking a long sip of her drink, "Honestly, I don't have much to say. I've made contact with Mr. Tetch a couple of times, but it's just because I saw him with a friend of mine at a club. He performed a show."
Harvey nodded, "And how'd you end up here?"
"It's like I told Detective Gordon, I freaked out when he came to my place. I know I shouldn't have done that, but I did nothing illegal. He said he only wanted to talk, anyway. That being said, I got jumped, which is how I lost my belongings. Sometime later, I accepted a ride from a stranger. I must have passed out in her car, because she took me to a hospital. Unfortunately, your overly paranoid friend had already shown my photo at every gas station, hospital, and store in the area. I asked to be discharged after a couple of bags of IV, but by the time I was unhooked, Detective Gordon picked me up."
"Jumped, huh?" Harvey asked, skeptically, "You look alright."
"Well, not jumped, per say. That may have been a harsh term. I wasn't touched, but I was threatened and had my belongings taken from me. That's it. I'm fine, though."
"Robbed, then?" he asked.
She nodded, "Robbed, then. I just passed out from sleep deprivation and dehydration. I'm fine, really."
After staring at her for a minute, Harvey broke the silence, "Look, I know you're hiding something from me…but I really don't think you're a bad person. My guess is you're just a case of wrong place at the wrong time. I don't know if you were a friend or a date of Tetch, but please avoid him."
"I don't intend to try to find him," she said, a lot more bitter than intended.
Harvey smirked, "Date gone bad then, huh? Bad luck with men?"
Charlotte took another sip, "Why, are you looking?"
He chuckled, "Good one…you're quick."
"I ought to be."
"Why's that?"
"I'm a psychiatrist, you know."
Harvey's eyes widened, "Shit, I didn't…guess that means you have the money to cause a problem over this arrest then, huh?"
"You and I both know that Gotham PD doesn't have anything on me. If you let me go now and make sure the arrest isn't documented, I'll drop it…but I also expect to be left alone. I can't handle the incessant harassment. I'd hate to have to continue to constantly look over my shoulder for no reason."
"So long as you don't make contact with Jervis Tetch again, I can ensure that you will be left alone."
Charlotte finished her coffee and nodded, "I'll make that deal."
"That easy?" Harvey said, refilling her cup.
"Well, actually…like you said, I could cause a problem…or we could settle this out of court and save both of us time."
"What do you want?"
"I'd like help moving into a new place…one that Tetch and Gordon don't know about. I want my roommate, Roxanne, to move with me and get the same decency I expect from now on."
Harvey smirked, "You sure you aren't an attorney?"
"Positive," she smiled back, "Now, does that all sound fair to you?"
"I'm sure I can make that happen," he nodded, "How soon do you need this done?"
"Mm…you said it, not me. 'Jervis is dangerous.' That, and your partner is a loose cannon. I just want to be left alone."
Harvey thought for a moment, "Actually, I think I know a place. It's a little pricey, but if you and your roommate are okay with that, it's a nicer area of town."
"I'm sure we can figure it out."
"Then how about this…I can drop you off back home, you can collect your roommate, then I'll put you both up in a hotel for the night for your troubles. Tomorrow, I'll get it all taken care of."
Charlotte took a deep breath, "Whatever makes this all go away."
"I can talk to your roommate if that makes any of this easier on you."
"I'm just tired. I haven't slept in well over 24 hours and could really use some sleep..." She ran her hands through her hair, "…and a shower. Actually, yeah, could you drop me off at the hotel? I can just call Roxie and let her know what's going on."
Harvey pulled out a notepad and slid it over to Charlotte with a pen, "If you write down her number, I'll go take care of it before we head out."
Charlotte jotted down their landline and slid the paper back, "Nice pen, can I keep it? Not too often that I find a good one."
"I've got a dozen more. Go for it." Harvey stood up and headed towards the door. "I'll be right back."
Charlotte slowly swirled her coffee in its cup, watching the ripples she created.
I hate this. Roxie and I should move away. Not just to some different area of Gotham. Away. Far away. Maybe even away from New York. I wouldn't mind getting my licensure renewed elsewhere. I'm way too smart to be acting this stupid. This little crisis I'm going through has got to end. Maybe everything can go back to normal, but what if I run into…him? I'm so concerned about myself but know that I could never tell anyone what really happened. After all this…and he still hasn't left my head. All I can think about is his eyes and that damn second hand ticking away.
No hypnosis needed. What a stupid concept.