139. Mistaken identity
139
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Daire
“You expecting someone, Archer?” Micah asked as a car pulled up.
I caught a glimpse of the car out the window. “It’s at the manor. Probably someone for Ryder or Ivor.”
Archer peered through the curtains. “I hope not. It’s a police car.”
“What?” I leaped up. “Now what?” Two cops got out and one checked a file in his hand. Oh shit. One pointed to this house, which was Archer and Micah’s, and the pair strode along the sidewalk and up the path.
“Did you forget to pay your parking tickets?” Archer asked his mate. “Or your speeding fines?”
The unicorn shifter was notorious for driving too fast and parking where and when he shouldn’t and then ignoring the payments.
“No. Everything’s up to date. I can pay on an app now.” Micah waved his phone under Archer’s nose as the bell rang.
Elune and Jasper were at day care so there were no excited shouts about policemen being at the door. Micah strode toward the door as Archer’s phone rang.
“Yes? Can I help you?” Micah’s voice wafted through the house.
“We’re looking for Archer…”
I didn’t hear the rest. Instead my gaze went to my wolf shifter friend.
Archer’s eyes flicked to the front entrance. “I’ll phone you back.” He ended the call. “You’re looking for me. How may I help you?”
The cops exchanged glances. The taller one cleared his throat. “Are you the owner of a white sedan, license plate number…” His voice trailed away as he paused and checked his phone, and showed Archer the number on the screen.
“Yessss.” Archer looked at Micah. “Have you been driving my car? ”
His mate shook his head. “No, not for ages because you complain I put the seat back, adjust the temperature and change the position of the mirror.
The other cop asked, “Were you in the vicinity of River Boulevard at two a.m. this morning?”
Archer burst out laughing but neither of the cops joined in. Their serious expressions had me get up and wander over to stand behind my wolf shifter friend.
“I’m a father of two young children and I’m usually in bed by nine.” Archer folded his arms.
“What’s this about?” I asked.
“This has nothing to do with you, sir.” The shorter of the two cops dismissed me with barely a glance.
“We have reason to believe you were involved in an accident early this morning and left the scene.”
“That’s preposterous.” Micah’s raised voice left me in no doubt that he was distressed. And he was right to be worried. This was much more serious than an unpaid parking ticket. “My mate was in bed with me asleep.”
“I would advise you to keep your voice down, sir. This is a serious matter. Your mate has committed a crime. A hit and run.”
“No.” Blood drained from Archer’s face. “I haven’t driven the car in days because Micah has taken the kids to daycare. I’ve been so busy I haven’t left the house.”
The taller guy checked his notes. “Based on the security footage, you sideswiped a parked car and hit an omega who is in the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.”
Tears were streaming down Archer’s face but Micah had fisted his hands, and I grabbed him in a big grizzly hug because he was about to take a swing at one of the cops. That wouldn’t help Archer and would probably get the unicorn shifter arrested.
“If I hit a car and a pedestrian, my car would be damaged,” Archer insisted.
One cop rubbed his chin as if pondering what my friend had told him. “Are you saying it’s not?”
The wolf shifter grabbed his keys and led them outside. Micah and I followed. I didn’t want to let Archer out of my sight and I was sure Micah felt the same way. The small white car with two kids’ car seats sat in the driveway. “There you go. No sign of an accident.”
One cop walked around to the other side and beckoned Archer. “What’s this?” Micah held Archer’s hand as they followed the guy while I walked at their heels.
“No!” Archer shrieked. “This is a mistake. I didn’t drive the car in the middle of the night and I’ve never hit anyone.”
Ryder and Ivor came onto the manor porch. Ryder was holding Dyani’s hand and Ivor scurried over to us. He mouthed, “What’s going on?” I shook my head as I peered over the side of the car. There were scratches down that side and huge dents. And there were splotches of a dark red substance. I outstretched my hand but one of the cops yelled, “Stay away. This is a crime scene. Everyone get back.” He mumbled into his police radio while the other guy got out a pair of handcuffs.
“You’re under arrest.” I blocked out the rest as I held Ivor and phoned my dads. While Micah and Archer had the funds for a lawyer, and we’d used them in the past, we needed the best criminal lawyer in the state. If Archer couldn’t prove his innocence, he might go to jail. He probably would.
“This is ridiculous,” Micah yelled and I pulled him away as Archer sobbed and was led to the police car.
“We’ll post bail,” I yelled as our wolf shifter friend was shoved into the back of the car. The other cop put that yellow police tape around the car and told me and Ivor to go home. After speaking to my parents, I texted Micah a lawyer’s name. But I didn’t go further than the manor as more cars pulled up and detectives swarmed Micah and Archer’s home. They asked Micah to wait on the porch.
Ivor scuttled off to pick up Elune and Jasper while I told my unicorn shifter friend I’d meet the lawyer. I sat at the station house for hours until the lawyer got there and then we moved next door to the court house. Micah finally arrived having been allowed to leave by the plain clothes detectives.
We sat at the back of the courtroom while lawyers and clients came and went. The judge yelled, “Bail granted” or “Bail denied'' countless times and banged his gavel.
“What if he’s not given bail?” Micah asked. “He’ll be in prison until he comes to trial. That would be months or years.”
The lawyer had to convince the judge Archer wasn’t a fight risk. He had a job, a mate and two young children. He’d grown roots in the community. but even if the judge was willing to let him out, the bail might be too high. That wouldn’t happen. I’d give them whatever they needed.
It was a good thing the justice system and the police were run by humans. If they were shifters, they’d never allow any shifter to get bailed out because they could shift and never be seen again.
We’d been here most of the day when Archer was led in. Micah leaped up but I yanked him back. Archer’s case number was called and the lawyer moved toward the front. The prosecutor argued for Archer to remain behind bars because he’d left the scene while the lawyer insisted our friend wasn’t a flight risk and he could prove Archer’s innocence. They went back and forth, interrupting one another, interspersed by the judge’s questions.
When the judge had finally heard enough, I put an arm around Micah. If Archer was locked up, his priority would be the children which meant the burden of running the company would fall to me. But I would do that gladly and it was nothing compared to what Archer was facing.
But the judge believed Archer wasn’t a flight risk and gave him bail .
“Thank Gods,” Micah mumbled.
We spent more hours waiting for Archer to be released and it was late in the evening before he fell into Micah’s arms. We thanked the lawyer and he said he’d be in touch.
“Go home to your babies.” I gave Archer a big hug. “Forget about this tonight and just be with your family.” There was no way either of them could put it out of their minds but Elune and Jasper needed them.
I got in my car and texted Nate, Neil, Ryder, Ivor, Martin, and Anthony. As a human who didn’t know shifters existed, Anthony was sometimes excluded from our get togethers, but we needed everyone to help Archer. By the time I arrived home, everyone was in our living room, including Toby, Charlie, and Dyani.
I summarized what had happened and everyone shouted questions at once in typical Sunshine Manor fashion. “Obviously, Archer wasn’t out driving in the middle of the night, but someone used his car.” Either the plan was to frame our friend in order to get back at him for some reason. or it was possibly a bunch of kids who’d seen the car and decided to steal it on a whim. “We have to find out who did it.”
“Why us?” Martin asked.
“Because the police have his car on security footage, as well as the damage and blood spatters on the car. As far as they’re concerned, they’ve got their man.”