Chapter Three.
Rascal–a day later.
“What do you mean you let her go?” I demanded, speaking to Lio on the phone. “That footage is solid evidence of her harassing me!”
“Small problem, buddy, she has twenty fuckin’ eyewitnesses, one of which is the mayor. She’s now filed a complaint of harassment against you,” Lio said.
I rocked back on my heels. “Lio, that was her!”
“No, it clearly wasn’t. Why would the mayor, a women’s abuse panel, and several criminal justice rights campaigners give her an alibi if she wasn’t there? This time, Rascal, you’re wrong, there’s no doubt about it.”
“Are you fuckin’ with me?” I questioned, wondering if Hallie had got to Lio.
“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t ask that,” Lio snapped.
“And I’m telling you that’s her. Hallie has to have fucked with the footage, and you’re falling for it.”
“Then go tell the mayor and the esteemed people he was meeting with that they’re mistaken in their alibis because my hands are tied.” Lio didn’t bother continuing and hung up.
“God damn it!” I shouted and threw my phone at the wall.
“I’m going to ask you this once, prospect. Are you sure that’s her?” Chance said from behind me.
“Yes! Hallie’s making me out to be crazy; it’s what she does. Five years ago, she drugged and assaulted me, and now she’s gaslighting me. I know what I saw,” I yelled.
“If you say Hallie attacked you, she did. But Rascal, you appear fuckin’ deranged right now. We need proof,” Chance said.
“How? We had evidence, and yet Hallie miraculously has video footage of being elsewhere. I swear she sold her soul to the devil.” I paced back and forth.
Hallie had tried to kill me once and failed.
I still had no idea why. Hallie had never explained herself; all I knew was that she’d constantly denied the attack.
“You’re dead sure there’s no twin or lookalike?” Chance asked.
“Yes! And Sunny checked too. Chance, this bitch is beyond psycho.”
“Then we might have to call in the big guns,” Chance stated.
I frowned. Who were the big guns?
“The only way to beat crazy is by using insanity,” Chance muttered weirdly, and I wondered what the hell he was on about. I soon found out.
Two of the most dangerous women I knew sauntered into the clubhouse. The first, small, red-headed and nicely rounded, looked sane. The second, tall, brunette, slender and gorgeous, appeared remote.
“Oh, fuck, Chance meant business,” Bear muttered.
“Start explaining,” Artemis demanded as she and Simone sat down. Artemis was legendary in this part of the state and a well-known bounty hunter. Simone was as famous. Both of them were mercenaries, and I’d hate to hear their kill count.
“Prospect,” Chance yelled, and I headed over.
Artemis scrutinised me as she took a seat. She was the old lady of Ace from Rage MC, our sister MC. Ace was the VP over there. It was common knowledge that Artemis was a lunatic, and everyone in Rage loved her. Few knew Simone well, though her reputation was terrifying.
The doors banged open again, and a guy entered. The infamous Nigel, the Juno Group’s hacker. No system was safe from him. My stress eased. With these, I’d be able to return Hallie to prison, where she belonged.
“Thanks, prospect; life was growing dull. Now give me everything from the beginning,” Artemis said, placing her phone down and hitting record.
“Begin with the first time you met her and continue from there. When I say everything, Rascal, I mean that. Hold back, and we’re no use to you,” Simone added.
I sat down and started talking. Artemis and Simone jumped in with questions as Nigel made notes. Finally, I brought up the wreath.
“You’ve got a massive problem,” Nigel said.
“What?” Chance demanded.
“I analysed the florist and delivery clips. They’ve not been tampered with,” Nigel stated.
Shock raced through me. “They have to have been. Hallie can’t physically have been in two places at once.”
“No…” Artemis tapped a pen on her notepad. “She might have broken in, adjusted the time/date, turned up, made her purchase, and left. Same with the delivery firm. Then she has a rock-solid alibi. Then she simply puts the system right again.”
“Isn’t that a little complicated?” I asked.
“No. Not for somebody like Hallie. Prison changed her. The woman she was when imprisoned isn’t the one who was released. I bet she’s gained some… skills. That or she knows someone,” Simone said.
“King.” I closed my eyes and breathed. Even in college, King was pretty well-known for his dark side. But Hallie never abandoned him, and vice versa. It was no secret that he hadn’t liked me.
“Possibly, he has the skills. It’s easy enough to hack a feed and loop it while you screw with the system. If they’ve done this, we’ll not prove it. We’d only be able to view evidence of the loop back, nothing else,” Nigel explained.
“But surely the dates would reflect differently,” I pointed out.
“Yep. But if King had any sense, once he’d accomplished his goal, he would erase the loopback and make it look like the cameras crashed and rebooted,” Nigel replied.
“Let me guess, that’s what they do show,” I said.
“Yup. And they were reset again last night, so the timing looks correct.” Simone added.
“Damn it, Hallie’s always one step ahead,” I cussed.
“Yes. But Hallie hasn’t met us. We’ll handle this now and check what the DA can use against her. The quicker we get her off the streets, the safer you are. Hallie is smart,” Artemis stated.
“Yeah. She always had book smarts,” I agreed.
“Now she’s got prison smarts, and that’s a dangerous combination.” Nigel nodded.
“How do we end this?” Bear asked.
“We’ll delve into her life. Learn Hallie inside out. When we understand her, we’ll be able to anticipate her next move. We’ll stop her, but if we put a bullet in her head, cops are gonna take you in. She’s building a narrative, and you’re the villain,” Artemis explained.
“I don’t want Hallie dead, just locked up,” I said quickly.
“Then that’s what we’ll focus on,” Simmone reassured me.
“Go ahead. Please, send her back where she belongs. Hallie doesn’t deserve to be out amongst decent people.” I held Artemis’s eyes as she nodded at my words.
Hallie
“Anything?” I asked King later that afternoon.
“No. I tracked the bitch to the florist’s parking lot, and she headed out of Spearfish. I’ve lost her for now, but I’m still searching,” King said.
“We need to find her, King. She’s either the woman Shane is protecting or can lead us to her. Did Shane really think that we wouldn’t chase her?”
“Shane probably thought you’d flee. That’s what old you would have done.”
“I ain’t old me. Anyway, fancy getting a drink?”
“Where?”
“That bar down the road. Not Hell’s Fury. I’m keeping that in my back pocket for now.”
King looked down at his laptop.
“Nah. I want to run a couple more searches, but fetch me fried chicken,” he ordered.
I laughed, grabbed my jacket, and headed out. We were staying at a hotel in Spearfish. Shane would have people out searching for me, and I wanted him aware I was close. It would fuck with his mind.
I entered the bar, still thinking about yesterday morning.
Whoever it had been, they were a fair lookalike.
Her height, size, and build matched mine, which puzzled me a little.
How had they found someone so quickly? The way she tilted her head was like me, as was her stance.
I grabbed a stool and ordered a beer. The bartender slid it over as I pulled out my phone and reviewed the footage Harry had requested and sent me.
I zoomed in and stared, playing each frame slowly.
Not once did the camera catch her full on. She’d known where the cameras were and had acted to avoid them. I focused on her hand as she paid, but again, there was nothing—no ring or any identifying mark.
Who the hell was she? Why was Shane hiding and covering for her?
I didn’t understand. Had we actually been so bad that Shane had cheated on me?
I thought we’d had it good; I honestly couldn’t grasp how he was protecting someone who tried to kill him.
And worse, the fact he didn’t get with her afterwards meant she wasn’t that important.
“That looks serious,” a guy commented.
“What does?” I asked, jolted from my thoughts. A handsome man sat on the stool next to me, and I’d not even heard him arrive. That would have got my throat cut in prison.
“Whatever put that expression on your face,” he replied. He picked his glass up and swirled an amber liquid inside before taking a sip.
“You really don’t want to know,” I quipped and turned my attention back to the phone.
“Says who?” he challenged.
I looked up. “You wish to hear about a stupid, innocent, na?ve woman who trusted her fiancé only to find he’s a cheating scumbag? And worse, he sent her to prison for someone else’s crimes. No? Didn’t think so.”
The guy appeared completely startled. “Kris,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Hallie.”
“Now that you’ve started with a storyline, I am curious to hear the rest of it.” He grinned. “Because you’re no fool.”
“I was. I believed in love. Makes me the biggest idiot out there,” I replied. I drained my beer and motioned for the bartender to bring me another.
“Sounds as though you’re stewing over it.”
“I am, because the bastard won’t leave me alone. Now that his initial act of framing me failed, he’s searching for other ways.”
“Wow, seems like a real catch.” Kris laughed.
“Oh, the very best,” I replied. I sipped the beer and eyed Kris.
He smirked and shook his head. “Men are often fools.”
“As are the women who love them.”
“So, are you celebrating? Drowning your sorrows? What?”
“I’m having a drink at a bar. My friend might join me later; he’s busy at the moment.”
“Boyfriend?” Kris asked.
I began laughing. “I’d really love to see you ask King that. He’d throw up on your lap.”
“Okay, maybe not. Which means you’re single?”
“Yep, and certainly not ready to mingle.”
“Sure about that?” Kris teased.
“Yup. One hundred and ten per cent certain. I’d rather be in a relationship with my BOB than trust a man right now.”