Chapter 32
Officer Phillip pushed open the door to the interrogation room with two cups of coffee. Annie rubbed her arms. They'd been here for hours before receiving the news that Jason Stevens was found inside the burnt house, deceased.
He set them gently on the table and slid them toward Leigh and Annie. "I'm sorry we don't have anything stronger, but this might help you warm up."
It was the middle of summer, and the weather was perfect. However, neither of them could stop trembling. Leigh was in shock over what she'd done, and Annie worried that her sister might get arrested for setting her house on fire, which killed her husband.
Leigh's hands trembled as she clutched the cup. Her pale face reflected her shock at the news of her husband burning in the fire. To onlookers, it appeared as if the news had drained the life right out of her.
The department rallied around her—Jason had been one of their own, a brother in uniform. Their sympathy poured out, and Leigh played the part of the grieving widow so well that Annie sniffled in support.
She couldn't help it.
Her mind drifted back to a simpler time. When their mom was alive, Leigh's wedding had been a bright, happy day, and she believed her sister was happy and in love.
And then everything changed.
Her mom's strokes had pulled her back home, into responsibility, into a sheltered existence.
She hadn't wanted to interrupt Leigh's new life with Jason, hadn't wanted to burden her sister with more pain.
But now, sitting here, she wondered if an interruption would've saved her sister from years of abuse.
Maybe they wouldn't be sitting inside a police station, lying through their teeth, and pretending to grieve over a man they both hated.
Phillip leaned forward, his voice steady. "If you like, we can have the Police Chaplain take care of the funeral arrangements for you."
Leigh broke down again, her sobs sharp. "Jason would want to be cremated," she said, her voice shaking.
Annie's mouth fell open, and she closed it quickly. To her, they might as well save the expense. Jason was already half-cooked from the fire. She had no love for her brother-in-law. Her former brother-in-law.
"No, I think we'll have a private family memorial... considering the circumstances. Oh, God, what are people going to think? I should've seen what was happening and gotten him help."
Phillip nodded, understanding. He handed her several cards with phone numbers. "If you need anything, call. Day or night."
Her sister nodded, taking the cards.
Then he added, "I've already arranged a hotel room for you both until the insurance company gets through investigating. Do you want me to drive you?"
Leigh shook her head, wiping at her eyes. "If I could have the address, I'd like to walk. I can still smell the smoke on me. I need fresh air." Leigh's voice cracked, and fresh tears spilled.
Annie rose with her sister, and together they stopped at the desk, got the hotel information, and then walked out of the station, hand in hand. The night air was cool, but Annie felt as if she were moving through a bad dream, every step heavy and unreal.
At the end of the parking lot, Annie stopped, her eyes searching the area. "Do you really want to go to the hotel?"
Leigh frowned. "Where else would we go?"
Inside, her heart whispered her truth—she wanted to return to the Royalla Motorcycle Club clubhouse, back to Hunter.
To the only place that felt safe to her.
But she couldn't risk leading the police to Royalla if they were watching to see what she and Leigh would do.
It was hard to believe they would trust Leigh's story without investigating further.
She walked beside her sister, three blocks through the quiet streets, until the hotel lights glowed ahead.
Every step carried her farther from Hunter. She wondered if she'd ever find her way back to him.
On the third floor of the hotel, in a room facing the street, the hum of the air conditioner filled the silence. Annie sat on the edge of the bed. Leigh was across from her, shoulders slumped, her face still pale.
For the first time since the fire, they stopped pretending. Nobody was listening to or watching them.
Annie inhaled deeply to steady her nerves. "Jason was never suicidal. He'd never hurt himself. He'd hurt someone else first."
Leigh's eyes flickered toward her, hollow and tired.
"We know that, but the suicide rate is higher among law enforcement.
Jason had to attend therapy every time he dealt with a murder or a traumatic situation.
It was required. It's a stressful job. I knew those he worked with would find it believable.
What they wouldn't believe is that I was in an abusive marriage.
They'd protect Jason one hundred percent.
It's some unspoken pledge how they honor a brother who wears a badge.
But if something happens to their brother, they will take care of the spouse and family. "
The air escaped her. It was all starting to make sense. "That's why they're not questioning what happened."
Leigh nodded, taking a shaky breath, her words spilling out.
"I spent three years thinking about leaving him.
But I knew he'd never let me go. I couldn't go to the police department and report him.
I couldn't confide in anyone. When he paraded me around his buddies on the force, then came home and beat me, I eventually stopped crying, and instead, I planned.
I thought about how I could get away." Her voice cracked.
"I should've done that instead of calling you, but I chickened out. "
Annie's chest tightened. "No. You should've come to me the first time he hit you."
Leigh's lips trembled, but she nodded. "I planned the whole thing, Annie. I planned on how to kill him, so he would stop hurting me."
Annie froze, her breath catching.
Leigh's voice dropped to a whisper. "I knew where the gas was.
The shed was always unlocked. I knew Jason couldn't get out of the house because when I arrived, I went through the sliding door and locked the deadbolt on the front door.
I took the key with me when I went outside to get the gas can and dropped it inside.
The backyard is private with no neighbors behind us, just that six-foot fence.
I knew nobody would see me once I was back there. "
Annie's stomach twisted. "How did you get him to stay inside while you started the fire?"
Leigh's eyes filled with tears. "He was asleep. He always takes a nap after a split shift. I knew he'd be out cold."
Annie's hand flew to her mouth, horror and disbelief colliding. Her sister had caused a fire, knowing Jason would have no way out.
Leigh shook her head, her voice breaking. "What I didn't plan was the fire department standing back and letting the house burn. The ammunition... it kept exploding. He had a lot of bullets issued through the department and purchased for his own personal use. They couldn't get close."
The silence between them was heavy, almost suffocating. Annie's heart pounded, her mind racing.
Her sister hadn't just survived Jason.
She ended the abuse. She'd ended him.