Chapter 38 #2
“He did step down,” Nolan said. “The governor himself made sure of it. Quietly, on the outside. But it was a huge deal behind closed doors. Kara Belmont almost went down with Harlow. A few cops too. Then they decided it would be better to bury it all. To protect the so-called integrity of the State.” His mouth twisted slightly.
“In the end, Harlow was the only one taking the blame. He was removed and started his own private law firm. It was shit, of course. When you cross the system, the system won’t take you back.
You know how that works.” He shifted in the seat, the leather creaking, and stared out the window for a moment, like he thought he’d heard something in the woods.
“Harlow tried for years to stay relevant,” he continued.
“Did that interview for that crime show episode on Zach’s murder.
The one that landed him in hot water with the new AG and your big-shot lawyer again.
After that, things really fell apart for him.
Bad job here. Bad job there. He sank low.
Last thing I heard in the office gossip mill was that he had to sell his fancy house and file for bankruptcy.
After that, he dropped off the radar. Quiet for years. ”
“Until now,” I said.
“Until now.” Nolan nodded. “Gotta give the old bastard one thing. He’s stubborn.
Apparently, he went down the rabbit hole with Zach’s case.
Never let it go. Never gave up on his mission to destroy your grandma.
All because she did the right thing with his rapist son.
” He shook his head slowly. In disgust. “People are nuts.”
His words settled heavily in the car. I knew a thing or two about crazy people.
The past pushed its way forward. Images stacked on top of each other.
The hate from the people around us. The whispers.
The bullying that followed us everywhere.
My mom dying alone in jail. Months stolen from us.
Time we never got back. My grandma fighting like hell for her until her body finally gave out and the stroke took her down.
John Myers almost killing her. A broken nose. A shattered leg. Blood on the pavement.
People were nuts indeed.
My hands curled tightly in my lap.
I hated Myers. Just as much as I hated Thomas Harlow.
“So what does this all mean?” I asked. “If Thomas Harlow found John Myers, can’t you force him to tell you where he is? So you can arrest him?”
Nolan let out a long sigh from deep within his chest. “We tried. But Harlow won’t tell us where Myers is.
He says he doesn’t know. He claims that Myers contacted him from a blocked number to make a deal with the State.
Using Harlow. Of course Harlow is lying.
He knows where Myers is. And Myers didn’t reach out to him.
After all these years searching for him, Harlow found him.
Maybe even blackmailed him to come back and reopen the case with him.
To pin this on your mom somehow. Maybe with false testimony from Myers.
A fake murder weapon. Who knows. This man is crazy. He didn’t take his downfall well.”
“False testimony?” My whole body shifted toward him. “To reopen the case?” The words came out hot. Exactly as intended.
“I know,” Nolan said quietly. “The new AG’s losing sleep over this. After the settlement, everyone just wanted all this to disappear. The State already looked like complete morons.”
I opened my mouth, ready to argue.
“Rightfully so,” Nolan added fast. “This case was fucked from the beginning. It’ll always be that one case that sits wrong with me. Always.” His jaw tightened. “But, right now, there’s a real chance another shitstorm is about to hit. And it’ll include your family again.”
His eyes locked on to mine. No sugarcoating.
“If everything gets dug up again,” he went on, “that means new documentaries. Crime shows tearing the case apart. Camera crews parked in front of your lawn and outside the station. Whatever Myers and Harlow are planning, it’s nothing good.
” He exhaled hard. “Honestly, I thought the bastard was dead. Overdosed or stabbed in some bar fight. Who the fuck would’ve cared?
God knows it would’ve been better that way.
But, for some reason, the devil decided to send him back our way. ”
“So why don’t you just put everything you have into finding him?” I demanded. “Finally do your damn job so my family doesn’t have to suffer all over again.”
Nolan let the insult slide. His gaze drifted out the window, toward the dark stretch of trees, as if answers might be waiting out there.
“I tried to find him,” he said. “I really fucking did. But nobody knows where Myers is. And Harlow won’t talk.
Keeps lying.” He rubbed a hand over his face.
“We talked to Billy Dustin and interviewed customers at the Seacoast Inn, where he used to hide out. But it’s not exactly the kind of place where cops are welcome or people feel like ratting.
God. Maybe Myers isn’t back. Maybe Harlow’s full of shit and just wants attention before he dies alone, drunk in some piss-soaked alley muttering about the time he mattered. ”
“You don’t believe that,” I said. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”
Nolan looked back at me and gave a small nod. “You’re as sharp as your grandma.”
“So, what now?”
“Well”—he straightened in his seat—“I want to offer your grandma and Amanda an undercover cop as protection.”
“That’s great,” I said, already dismissive. “But that won’t fix the real problem. How the hell are you actually gonna find Myers and arrest him?”
Something flickered in Nolan’s eyes. “Oh, believe me,” he said, his gaze hardening, “I will find him this time. And I’ll make him pay with everything the justice system legally puts into these hands.
” He lifted his palms, like he was weighing something heavy, then dropped them again.
“But until we have him, I need you to be safe. And also …”
Ah. Here it was. The thing he’d been circling this whole time.
“Also what?”
He scratched the side of his forehead. “And also … call me if Myers or Harlow tries to reach out to you.”
“Reach out to me? You mean like threats or blackmail?”
“Something like that.”
A sarcastic, bitter laugh slipped past my lips. “But that’s not all, is it?”
Our eyes locked.
“I mean, you wouldn’t just follow me out here like this if there wasn’t still icing left to put on this shit cake.”
A thin smile tugged at his mouth. Not amusement. Something closer to admiration.
“You really are a lot like your grandma,” he said.
I crossed my arms with an annoyed sigh.
“All right,” Nolan said. “Let’s just say it’s important that I handle Myers’ arrest myself.”
I furrowed my brow.
“So that … he can be interrogated properly. Statements recorded by me and by men I trust. Men I know who won’t screw this up.”
His eyes drifted forward. Almost ashamed. Then they came back to me.
“As crazy as it sounds,” he said, “Harlow still has friends in the system. Even after all these years. And some of his crazy theories are starting to gain traction at the station.”
My head lifted, and my mouth actually fell open too. Shock hit first. Then disbelief.
“What the actual fuck,” I said, loud and clear. “You have to be kidding me.”
Nolan's fingers tugged at the edge of his suit jacket like he didn’t know what to do with his hands.
“Are you telling me,” I said, my voice rising, “that after everything my mother and my family have already been through …” The words backed up in my throat.
Then they came out angrier. “After the incompetence of your department. After the personal mission of that asshole AG to destroy us. After all the little idiots who followed his illegal orders without once stopping to think for themselves …”
I shook my head in a sharp, disbelieving motion.
“After all that, you’re now telling me that years after my mom died, the State is opening the gates to a new Alderwyn shitshow? And drag my family through hell again?”
I pointed at him. “How could you let all of this happen in the first place? Why the fuck didn’t you arrest Myers when people first started telling you he murdered Zach?
Why did all of you think it made more sense to throw a cancer-sick, traumatized mother in jail instead of going after a known violent man with a criminal record?
Who was covered in blood that night, caught on an actual fucking video!
And, and, and …” The words tripped over one another as I searched for more.
“And now, all these years later, you’re sitting here telling me you still can’t find him.
Still can’t arrest him. That the State might make the same dumbass mistakes all over again.
That some crazy man’s conspiracy theories, fueled by his hate for my grandma, are gaining traction again. ”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Anger sat hot in my chest, mixing with something darker.
Hate. Outrage. Disbelief.
“Oh, we will sue you fuckers to the moon and back,” I announced. “And this time, no mercy, Nolan. No mercy. Not even for you.”
My head shook as I turned toward the window. “Fucking John Myers is back, teaming up with Harlow’s homeless drunk ass to destroy my family all over again.”
A few more curses spilled out. Ugly ones. Then the car went quiet.
“You know,” Nolan said after giving me some time to calm down, “if I were you, I’d do the same thing. Sue the State, I mean. And I hope you get whatever it is that’ll make you feel better.”
I waited for more. A but. A condition. Something.
Nothing came.
Nolan stared out the window. He shifted in his seat. His gaze was fixed on something in the distance. “I don’t know if she ever told you,” he finally said, “and you probably already know this, but your grandma was my teacher when I was a kid.” A sad smile tugged at his lips.