Chapter Eleven
Interrogation
Leonard Philbrick was sitting stoically, waiting for the inevitable questions about his possible involvement with the two shooters. Ever since what happened with his girlfriend, he had been running, but he really needed to see her, to prove that he really cared about her, and try to figure a way out of this situation.
His thoughts were interrupted when his old friend and Agent Reeves came into the room, with Larry clearly trying to keep a neutral look on his face that was still laced with anger and sorrow and Philbrick decided it was best to remain quiet for the moment.
"Mr. Philbrick, before we begin, I want you to know that your lawyer is on her way and that it will be a few minutes before she gets here but we were wondering if you were willing to talk to us about your whereabouts for the past few days and why you were at the hospital earlier today."
"I am willing to cooperate, Agent Reeves." Philbrick said, "As to where I have been, I have been laying low at several low rent hotels, planning out my next move in relation to the people who were after me."
"You weren't concerned enough about your girlfriend to be with her at the hospital sooner?" Megan inquired
"There wasn't anything I could do at the moment for her." Philbrick simply answered, looking almost ashamed of himself, "When I knew it was safer to try to see her, that's when I went to hospital, where I was surprised to see you all there."
Larry was struggling to come up with what he could even say to this man, someone he once considered a friend, and he thought he said what he needed to when they last saw each other but he did feel the need to reiterate to his former friend.
"Leonard, while I would like to believe that you were genuinely afraid for your life, I find it disgusting that you would leave your girlfriend defenseless, in a coma no less, and not try to find help sooner than you would've but you also essentially put a hit on me and my friends." Larry said, with pure disgust in his voice.
"Fleindhart, you know as well as I do that there wasn't anything I could do short of the deal when dealing with these people." Philbrick said defiantly, to the disgust of both Larry and Megan
"Do you even care about your girlfriend?" Megan asked, wondering what the woman even saw in the man she was looking at.
"I do, Agent Reeves, I was planning on staying at the hospital until she woke up when I showed up today and that we could disappear when she recovered enough." Philbrick said, as if that would make anything better.
"What about her own life? Her family? Friends?" Larry asked
"When we met, she was just like me, disgraced with no family or other friends to stand with her, so it was logical that we would end up together." Philbrick answered
"She was 'disgraced' because she made a mistake in college," Larry said, "She was in the wrong crowd and ended up alone pregnant, abandoned by her so-called friends and family but when you two met, she was getting her life back on track with her son and daughter being in college, so it is hardly the same situation as you, Leonard." Larry said in disgust
"What did you even tell her when you two met?" Megan asked, still wondering how the two even got together.
"I told her everything." Philbrick insisted
"Really? Because I was on the phone with her son yesterday, as he and his sister haven't been able to get back to see their mother due to problems with the planes but are on their way now, is that you told them that you were "framed" by the casino and that Larry sold you out to the Casino to get out of trouble."
"He misunderstood…" Philbrick began to say before Larry interrupted him.
"Enough, Philbrick," Larry said sternly, "Not only have you once again brought innocents into your troubles, two shooters that were looking for me, because of your deal, ended up at CalSci, where students and staff should feel safe, and had a shoot-out and injured one of the agents, Reeves' boss and a friend of mine, Agent in Charge Don Eppes, who you should recall meeting last time you were here."
"I didn't know that they were going to send shooters, I thought they were just going to bring you in." Philbrick said
"Maybe," Larry said, "But you still made a deal, and because of that, many are scared for life and a Dean that is demanding answers for what happened and many parents wanting to know if their children will be safe and I don't blame them."
"It wasn't supposed to happen!" Philbrick insisted
"Whatever was supposed to happen, it wasn't going to end well, they still wanted their money and were going to get it by any means they deem necessary." Larry said
Philbrick didn't say anything, and Reeves was fine with that and she saw that his lawyer was coming and left to greet her.
"You were a teacher, Philbrick." Larry said, "You should have focused on helping others but now you have dug a hole that even you can't get yourself out of and I really did not wish for this to happen but it did and you have to live with that for the rest of your life."
With getting that out of his chest, he left the room and Philbrick to his fate, with a sadness of the downfall of the man he once considered a friend.