"Yes. That's right. There was an attack." She said, trying not to break down.
"Here. Sit down." He said, motioning to her couch. She sat next to Shane, putting her arm around him, and a blanket around her shoulders to cover her ripped shirt. John took out a note pad and a pen. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Okay." She said, taking a deep breath. Gigi explained everything, not going too much into detail, but getting to the point. John took notes as she struggled to keep on track as her mind raced. When she was nearly done, Rex burst through the door.
"What the hell happened here?" He asked, seeing John there, with Gigi and Shane, looking distraught. He ran over to them, taking John's place on the couch as he got up. "Are you all right? What happened? Why are the cops here?" Before she could respond the other two cops came into the living room.
"Everything's clear." Said one of them.
"Good. Okay, I think our work here is done for now. You all should talk, and when you're ready, come down to the station so we can get an official statement, and know more." He said. He nodded to the family. "I'll explain things to the other residents of Llanfair and notify security." He said. Rex was still confused.
"No one's explained what the hell happened here!" He said.
"Hold on." She said to him, squeezing his hand, then to John, "Thank you, so much, John, we'll probably be at the station later tonight." With a nod, they all left, locking the door behind them.
"I'm fine, Rex." She said.
"Me too, Dad." Shane said.
"Good. Now can you please explain?" he said.
"Shane," Gigi said, "The officer said the house was safe, now could you go up to your room while your Dad and I talk?" Shane obliged without a word.
"Well?" Rex said, at Gigi's pause after Shane went upstairs. "What's got you both upset and the cops here? Did someone break in?" She breathed in deeply.
"Do you promise not to freak out and to listen? Please?" she said, not wanting to start uproar.
"Now you're really freaking me out." He said.
"Promise!" she told him, grabbing his hand tightly.
"I promise." He said.
"Okay. Well, after you left…Schuyler came to the door." She said.
"Schuyler? What the hell did he do?! Did he do that to your shirt?" Rex asked, growing angry quickly. Gigi wrapped the blanket around her tighter.
"You promised!"
she said. "I'm upset enough already, can't you see that?"
She said, starting to cry again.
"Shhh, shh," he said, hating to see her tears. He tried hard to calmly look into her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said softly. He took a deep breath. "Go on."
"He was acting strange. He…" she looked into his eyes again, unsure as to go on. "He tried to kiss me again." She saw a brief bit of rage in his eyes, but she could see he was holding it in. "I made him stop, but he kept going on about wanting to…to be with me." She saw even more anger in his eyes, but it was contained.
"Yes?" he said, an awful feeling growing inside him of what would happen next.
"And then, he sort of…kissed me again. Harder. And then we were on the ground…" she said her voice growing quieter. She didn't look into Rex's eyes for fear of what she would see. "He was on top of me, and I tried to get away, but he wouldn't give up, and then Shane came in and tried to get him off of me. The he---" she stopped, cut off by the fire she saw in Rex's eyes. He pulled his hands away from her's and got up, his rage unable to be contained any longer.
"He hit Shane, didn't he? And then what happened?" he yelled, his anger flaring.
"He ran. He didn't come back." She said quietly. Rex was shaking with anger, his fists tight, and his knuckles pale.
"I will kill that son of a bitch!" He said, running for the door. Gigi tried to stop him, but her speed was no match for the speed of his rage. She stood hopelessly at the door, collapsing into tears. She grabbed the phone.
"John? It's Gigi. I just told Rex what happened and he's going after Schuyler." She said. John, back at his office, threw down the papers he was working on.
"Damn! I should've known he would try. Where do you think he's headed?" He said, getting up.
"He knows where Schuyler lives; at the Angel Square Motel."
"We're on it." John said, hanging up.
Rex burst into the Angel Square Motel, anger still flaring. He marched up to the front desk, to where his mother works.
"Hey, baby, you come to see your Momma? You finally forgive me?" she asked hopefully.
"Has Schuyler Joplin been here?" he asked, a mission in his eyes.
"He left a little while ago. Went to the Buenos Dias. Why?" she asked. Without a word, he stormed out. Only 15 minutes later, John McBain and two other cops entered the Angel Square.
"Hey, Roxy, has Rex been here?" he asked.
"He came askin' for the Joplin boy. I told him he was at the Buenos Dias café."
"Thanks, Roxy." He said, leaving quickly with the other two cops.
"Why?" she yelled as he left. She sighed. "No one tells me anything around here. Not the cops. Not my own son." He said, shaking her head and grabbing a bottle of Vodka she had under her desk.
At the Buenos Dias café, Schuyler was drinking a cup of coffee, anxiously tapping his foot. He put up the hood of his jacket, looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to him, and then slipped two pills from his pocket into his mouth. Suddenly someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned around to see Cole Thornhart and Starr Manning, former students of his. They were with their infant child, Hope, who was in a stroller. When Cole went through a phase of hard drugs, Schuyler helped Starr deal with him, bringing them close. Cole caught Starr trying to kiss Schuyler, and hated him until he won her back and got off drugs permanently. Schuyler was never into Starr, as she is underage, and later she realized her wrong ways and the last time the three of them saw each other things ended on a positive note. But Schuyler barely recognized them.
"Hey, Mr. Joplin." Cole said, a friendly smile on his face. "Starr insisted we say hi." Schuyler swallowed the pills quickly.
"Uh…right. Starr and…." He looked, puzzled, at Cole.
"Cole. It's Cole." Starr said, confused with his hesitation. "Are you all right, Mr. Joplin?" she asked.
"Why the hell does everybody keep asking that?" he asked, getting up. "I'm fine, absolutely fine. Never felt better. I was just about to leave." Starr and Cole looked at each other, both confused, but before they could say anything Rex burst in and spotted Schuyler.
"You!" he spat, running toward him. He threw a punch at Schuyler, and he fell to the ground. The whole restaurant fell silent.
"I am just pissing everybody off today!" he said, smiling as he turned back to Rex and tried to get up.
"Yeah, that's what happens when you try rape my girlfriend, you bastard!" he threw another punch that pushed Schuyler back to the ground. Schuyler was not fazed.
"Oh, is that what she told you? I just remember her moaning my name all afternoon while we did it all over your living room!" he said, laughing. Starr and Cole were shocked. As Rex tried to hit him again, his rage flaming even more than before, Cole and another restaurant customer snapped out of the shock and tried to pull him back. Rex shrugged them off and began to kick Schuyler repeatedly on the ground. Schuyler grabbed his leg and knocked him down, rolling on top of him. He punched him hard as he struggled.
"Feels pretty good, doesn't it?" Schuyler asked, a wild look in his eyes. This time Cole successfully pulled Schuyler off of Rex and Rex got up. The other male customer, in an attempt to help, held Rex back. Before anything else could happen, John and the two other cops came in. Schuyler quickly wriggled out of Cole's grasp and ran out through the kitchen, then the back door. The Officers ran after him as the other male customer let Rex go. John ran up to Rex, Cole, and Starr.
"What happened?" he said, seeing the developing bruise of Rex's face. Carlotta, the owner, who was just about to call the cops, hung up and ran over to them.
"I'll get you some ice." She said, seeing Rex's face and that he had calmed down.
"We fought. I'm sorry, John. After what he did to Gigi…I wanted to kill him." McBain looked at Starr and Cole.
"What do you two have to with this?" he asked. Rex himself wanted to know.
"We were talking to Schuyler before he came in." Starr said, nodding at Rex.
"Okay. Well I'm going to have to get statements from you two before you leave. Sit down." Before he could continue with Rex, one of the cops came running back in, huffing and puffing. "We lost him." He said, his hands on his knees. "Officer Grant is still looking for him and calling for back-up, but we're pretty sure he got away."
"Dammit!" He said. "Hold on, Balsom, I need to make a call and I'll be right back." Rex took a deep breath and folded his arms, distraught.
"Rex?" Starr said. He turned to her. She spoke softly, "Is it true, what you said? Did Mr. Joplin try to rape your girlfriend?"
"Yes. It's true. My son, my 10-year-old son, caught him trying to do it. You know what he did?" he said with disgust. "He elbowed him in the stomach and ran away like a coward." He said, talking more to himself then Cole or Starr. He walked away, to John, and began to give him his statement.
"Oh my God." Starr said, shaking her head. "What happened to Mr.J? I can't imagine him ever trying something like that."
"I can." Cole said, looking solemn.
"What?" she asked, knowing Cole had forgiven him.
"That's what drugs can do to you. Make you a completely different person." He said.
"But---Oh. You think he's using again?" she asked, concerned.
"I'm sure of it. Seeing the way he acted---it was like me when I was on drugs."
"But you never tried to rape anybody." She said, grabbing his hand from across the table.
"That doesn't mean I didn't think about it." He admitted, guilt in his eyes as he looked at Starr. She nodded and let go of his hand as she turned her attention to the baby, who was sound asleep during the whole confrontation.