6. Obstruction of JusticeSomething
SIX
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE OR SOMETHING
S al drove back to his house on Prairie Drive, determined to finish his glorious weekend while reminding himself along the way that it had nothing to do with Lucca telling him to hire Valerie.
There was abso-fuckin-lutely no way Valerie Monroe was capable of the cyberattack on the Horseshoe.
Hell, he had known it despite what he had told Officer Daniels.
The Great Salvatore knew a gamer when he saw one, and Valerie was exactly that.
From her colored hair that shined a brighter blue in the sun, the MoonPies she packed in every weekend, to her oversized colorful hoodies and the big clunky pink headset he watched her wear as she desperately peeked through the window.
Valerie was practically a walking billboard for the company Razer, and on her forehead was spelled “gamer.”
So, when he pulled up to his house to find a police car had returned to hers, he was shocked to see what Officer Daniels was carrying.
Well, shit.
Huffing, he threw on his glasses, wondering if he was really about to do this, when he caught a closer glimpse of what exactly was in his hands. That was when he regretfully decided he was.
Sal got out of the car and approached the officer and got an up-close look to find his suspicions confirmed. The computer Officer Daniels held was a custom-built PC that even had him curious.
“Hey, Officer Daniels, how’s it going?”
“Not too bad, Sal.” He continued lugging the big thing toward his patrol car. “Just about to head to the station. Do you mind opening the trunk for me?”
Sal went for the trunk but found his fingers fiddling with the release button. “You know, I, uh … could take a look at that for you and let you know what I find.”
Quickly, Officer Daniels transferred the heavy thing to one arm, going for the trunk button himself to pop it open. “Oh, that’s okay.”
“I wouldn’t mind,” he assured him as he watched Daniels continue to set it in the trunk despite his best efforts for him to hand the fucking thing over.
“I’m sure you’re busy—”
When Daniels went to swiftly close the lid, Sal stopped it before he could.
“ Really , it would be no problem at all,” he tried again more persuasively as Sal’s eyes narrowed on the officer.
What in the hell is his deal? Usually, Daniels was their easy-going cop for things the family needed, but he seemed anything but pleasant today.
“Listen, if she really did what they say, then no one in your precinct is going to even be able to break into her computer, and she definitely wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave a trail.” Sal tried to level with him as he continued, “Well, not any that they could track.”
“The sheriff will have my ass if I don’t bring this in. He personally asked me to.”
Officer Daniels had finished with a smile that Sal could see right through, considering his hand still stayed on the trunk.
“Oh, don’t worry; Sheriff Calloway owes me a favor.” Sal laughed, going to pick up the computer from the trunk. “ Big time. ”
A hand placed on top the computer, Daniels kept him from taking it. “Let me just give him a call.”
“Sure.” Sal deviously smirked and let the computer go to place his hands in his slacks’ pockets. “Please do.”
Officer Daniels reached for the walkie on his shoulder. “Sheriff Calloway?”
They both waited for the sheriff to patch in with a staring contest until a rather hostile voice finally came through. “What is it, Daniels?”
Clearing his throat, Daniels asked his question while his eyes never left Sal’s. “Sheriff, I got Salvatore Lastra here, asking to take a look at the girl’s computer.”
The sheriff’s voice returned in a more mellow tone. “Let him have it.”
Sal smiled confidently, rocking on his heels, having figured that would be the outcome on the account that he’d found out the sheriff was banging every woman under his jurisdiction with a badge.
How none had caught on yet defied his imagination, but he assumed if one of his groupies finally did, he’d have a herd of women after him who carried a gun and knew how to use it.
When he went to pick up the computer this time, he wasn’t thwarted by Officer Daniels as he placed it in his arms. There was nothing Daniels could do now, and he knew it.
They both did.
’Cause like the sheriff … Sal knew Officer Daniels’ dirty little secret, too.
“Have a lovely day, Harvey.”
Valerie paced the cell’s floors as she nervously bit each nail down to the quick. The ink still on her thumb pads had tasted rather bitter when she went for a hangnail and instead got a mouthful of leftover ink.
Never once in her life had she run into the law, and yet, here she was, a wanted woman for something she didn’t even do but certainly could.
How was she going to prove she didn’t do it when, to be fair, she would put her own name the highest on the suspect list?
She had motive …
Recently fired.
And whoever did it had to be good enough to cover their tracks; not unless she herself got out would she be able to possibly trace who had done it.
Looking around her cell, she had to admit the chances of that weren’t likely.
I’m fucked.
When she heard heavy footsteps coming from down the hall, she yelled out for what seemed like the millionth time.
“Hey! Don’t I get a phone call?” Coming close to the bars, she tried to get a look at the officer approaching as she continued her obnoxiousness.
“Isn’t it, like, obstruction of justice or something if you don’t give me one? ”
The officer came into view and stopped in front of her cell. It was the other one who had arrested her along with Daniels. Crossing his arms over his chest, he took in the sight of her. It was rather obvious by his facial expression that a day in prison hadn’t done much for her appearance.
“I guess you could call it that.”
“Yeah,” she agreed boastfully, glad she’d paid attention to things other than video games from time to time.
She pointed an angry finger at the officer through the bars.
“I have rights, you know, and I’ll also have you know I plan to sue every last one of you fuckers to kingdom come if you don’t open this door and let me the hell outta here right n—”
“Your lawyer is here.”
Shocked, Valerie eyed the policer officer distrustfully as the cell door clicked open. “How is a lawyer here for me when I haven’t been given my phone call yet?”
“I don’t know.” The officer shrugged before snapping, “How about you ask someone who gives a fuck? You coming or not?”
Damn, this guy is definitely not Officer Daniels.
She tried to remember if she had heard of any abuse about the police department in the news but drew a blank.
Concluding they knew she was as poor as a church mouse and must’ve given her a court-appointed attorney, she stepped through the doorway.
She’d take any excuse to get the hell out of that cell, even if it ended in another line of questioning.
Each time they had brought her to be questioned, their pleasant demeanors had changed once she had only responded with “I want a lawyer, asshole.”
Walking past other cells with inmates within, she wished she hadn’t watched Silence of the Lambs so much. They weren’t exactly friendly faces. A few, she wanted to know what they were in for so she could Google them when she got out. She wanted to make sure they lived nowhere near her vicinity.
They went through a steel door, and she was ushered down another hallway than the one she had been taken to before.
Officer Asshole swiped his ID in front of a screen, and when a loud click could be heard, the officer opened the door. Not knowing what to expect, she poked her head inside to see a man sitting at a table.
Before she could straighten herself up to walk through the door, she was shoved from behind.
“I don’t have all day.”
Tripping forward, she somehow managed to save herself from falling straight down on her face.
“Officer Dunbar, that was completely unnecessary.”
The furious voice of the man who had jerked to his feet behind a table made the hair on her neck rise.
Officer Dunbar’s callous expression turned smug. “Kent, you have twenty minutes.”Snapping the door closed, he left her alone in the room with the other man.
“I’m afraid Officer Dunbar’s behavior is my fault.” Apologetically, he frowned, sitting back down on the chair. “He wanted you to be shackled before leaving your cell. I disagreed with him to his supervisor, and he took it out on you. Are you all right?”
“Yes.” Geez Louise, if she knew public attorneys were this hot, she wouldn’t have paid her parking tickets.
Blinking at his smile, she wished she had asked for a hairbrush before she’d left her cell.
Most lawyers on television were old and tired-looking with gray hair.
Even in in their younger years, no one would consider them sexy.
This dude looked to be in his thirties, with bright blue eyes, and to call this one sexy would be an understatement.
Staring at him without embarrassment, she memorized every detail about his face, picturing him as an avatar in another game she planned to design.
“Have a seat.”
Shaking herself out of the sexy stupor, she slid the other chair out and took a seat. “Do you mind me asking who you are?”
Something about him almost seemed familiar, but when her breath hitched in her throat at his grin, she knew there was no way she had ever met him.
There was no forgetting a man like him. And forget the parking tickets; this dude was worth committing a felony for.
He was almost as good-looking as her neighbor …
Remembering what he did last night, she took that assessment back. This dude was better-looking. He seemed like the type to at least help her in with her groceries. She was going to Google his fine ass, too. She could definitely see him as an avatar.
“I’m sorry. I was so angry at Dunbar I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kent Bryant. I’ve been hired to be your attorney.”