"The people in the bank all said the same thing." Nick was sitting in the interrogation room together with Sara and the security guard whose uniform was stained in blood. "That you attacked the robber and wouldn't let go of him."
"So what? I did my job without killing the guy. Is that a bad thing?" The security guard didn't know why he was here. He thought he was a hero for what he did.
" 'How could you do this to her? What were you thinking?', does that sound familiar to you?" Sara asked.
He looked confused.
"That's what you yelled while you knocked him unconscious with your gun, isn't it?"
"What is this? I saved a dozen lives and you harass me like that? Why?"
"The robbers were unarmed, there was no need to hit him like that."
"Unarmed? No, the guy I hit had a gun in his hand!"
"Not until you put it there, right? Didn't you think we check the surveillance footage? They came in unarmed and when you checked for a pulse after you crushed his skull, the gun suddenly appeared in his hand, with your fingerprints on it..."
"I didn't plant it on him!"
"The video tapes say otherwise. And didn't you think we'd check this guy out? We know he's dating your daughter."
The security guard looked astonished. He didn't think it all through, he just acted on impulse and when he realized what he did planted the gun. He was too astonished to even talk.
"Quite a weird case, huh?" Greg was pouring coffee in a mug.
"Well, they probably thought it would be easy to rob a bank when you know the security guard. If he hadn't recognized them, maybe this would've worked out." Sara was sitting at the table in the break room. Julian was sitting next to her but didn't join the conversation just yet. He was busy reading one of his gossip magazines.
"Didn't it occur to him that he doesn't want his girlfriend's father to go through a bank robbery? I'm sure it's not easy to deal with something like that." Greg sat down opposite Sara.
"Well he needed the money and probably didn't think about the security guard's feelings."
Greg laughed humorlessly. "And the way the security guard reacted when he recognized the robber... Can you imagine having so much rage in you to do something like that?"
This made Julian listen up and join the conversation. "Well, when you really love someone, I think everybody's got that kind of rage in himself. When someone stands between you and that someone, you just do what you think is right."
Both Sara and Greg were a little speechless. They just talked about a man smashing somebody else's head in, and Julian agreed with it?
Greg thought that he maybe didn't get all they were saying and explained the case to him again.
"Oh, in that case..." Julian said, "He should be lucky he didn't get shot."
"How could you say something like that? Acting on your emotions isn't always the best thing to do." Greg was kind of shocked to hear that from Julian. He knew he wasn't the most compassionate person, but agreeing on murdering someone was weird.
"Come on, Greg. Didn't you ever want to hurt someone because they wronged you or tried to take something from you?"
"Well... Of course I've been angry before, but never angry enough to want to kill someone! No matter how angry you get, you have to control yourself, don't you think?"
Julian shrugged. "Some people just deserve what's handed to them."
"So you say you'd be able to kill someone?" Greg asked.
Sara tried to stay out of this discussion, but was clearly on Greg's side. It was visible in her face.
Julian noticed the looks he received and decided to back down a bit. "No, I mean, I sometimes understand when others do it, but I'd never... do it..."
Greg and Sara shared a look.
"You know, I really hope you'll never experience what it feels like to kill somebody, I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about." Greg ended the discussion with this sentence. Julian heard about what happened with Demetrius James a few years ago, but he never heard it from Greg. He only knew that Greg got attacked and killed one of the attackers in self defense, but that's about it. He didn't say anything to keep the discussion going, either, he just accepted that it ended with this sentence and thought about how he could use the fact that Greg once killed someone in his favor. A thought that never occurred to him until now.
"Hey, Greg!" Julian was running up to him in the parking slot.
"Yeah?" Him and Nick turned around.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked as he looked to Nick.
Nick rolled his eyes a bit. "I'll wait for you in the car."
"I wanted to apologize. I think I might've been a bit insensitive earlier..." Julian said with an apologetic look on his face.
"You're entitled to your own opinion, no need to apologize." Greg smiled.
"I just hope I didn't hurt your feelings?"
"No, why should this hurt my feelings?" Greg asked confused.
"You know, I heard about what happened a few years ago... Demetrius James?"
Greg looked a bit surprised. It's been almost five years. He still thought about it sometimes, but he processed it by now. It still wasn't one of his favorite topics to talk about, though.
"That's what you were talking about, right?"
Greg shrug his shoulder. "I was just talking in general."
Julian put his hand gently on Greg's left arm. "I'm sorry if I reopened old sores..." He gave him a smile and walked over to his car, leaving him a little puzzled.
"What was that about?" Nick asked. Greg was driving Nick home.
"Nothing. He just wanted to talk to me."
"...About?"
"Geez, are you obsessed with him?" Greg said with a smile on his face.
"I told you before, I don't trust him. And since you seem to be BFF with him... I just try to look out for you."
"Me and him, we're not best friends," he said laughing. "He's nice when you get to know him, that's all. That doesn't mean I want to spend every minute with him."
"Yeah but does he know that?"
"Of course!"
"Oh yeah? Then why does he keep coming to your home unannounced? No, let me put it this way. Why does he keep coming to your home?"
Greg rolled his eyes as he smiled at Nick. "I don't know. He doesn't have any other friends, maybe that's why?"
"Did you ever stop to think about WHY he doesn't have any friends?"
"Come on, Nick! What am I supposed to do? I feel sorry for him."
"Pity is not a good foundation for friendship, Greg."
"It's not just pity. I like him."
"Why? What do you like about him? That he's rude and condescending? Or that he tried to force himself on you more than once?"
Greg gave Nick a look. On the one hand, he thought he was going a bit too far. On the other, though, he was right. There wasn't much to like about Julian. But Nick didn't know Julian that well. He could be a cool guy if he wanted to. Only problem was, he usually didn't care to be that cool guy.
"Can't we talk about something else?" Greg said, desperately trying to change the subject.
When Greg got up on the next day and got ready for work, he couldn't find his cell phone. He was sure he had it when he came home from work, but now it was gone. He tried to call to hear it ring, but he couldn't hear it. It just wasn't there.
He had to go to work now, anyways, and didn't have any time to look for it. Maybe he forgot it in his car or at the lab, he thought, although he was pretty sure he remembered putting it out of his pocket when he came home.