Chapter Nine.
Hallie
Lieutenant Richards kept his word and met me half an hour later. “This will be a lengthy drive,” he remarked as I slung my case in the back.
“I packed an overnight bag,” I replied, climbing into the passenger seat. “Head for the airport; I booked two flights.”
“I don’t have permission to charge that,” Lieutenant Richards stated.
“Good job I’m not asking for the money. Lieutenant Richards, we can either sit in a car making awkward conversation for hours or fly there and cut that shit out.”
“Fair point,” Lieutenant Richards acknowledged and headed toward the airport. “Miss Milton—”
“Hallie.”
“Hallie, you said this person contacted you out of the blue?”
“Yes. And I don’t trust the cops, and you’re about the closest I do,” I replied.
“Thanks,” he quipped sarcastically.
I smirked. “You’re welcome, Lieutenant Richards.”
“Jonas. If we’re sharing a flight, call me Jonas.”
I laughed, and he smiled briefly.
“Look at us now, bonding!” I teased, and he grunted.
“You should know that Hawthorne will probably be cleared of most of the charges, except prejudice.”
“I expected that. Cops stick together,” I replied.
“No. I want you to understand. He’s paid heavily for his actions, but apart from showing clear bias, he did nothing wrong.”
“Fine. As long as Hawthorne is aware of his wrongdoing.”
“I have to admit, I don’t think I’d have done much different.”
“Despite me being released and not guilty?”
“You were released because evidence was suppressed. Didn’t make you innocent,” Jonas challenged.
“No, but the evidence that’d been hidden did,” I retorted.
“Very true. Hawthorne is going to receive a clear smack on his knuckles, a reprimand, and a chewing out. He’s lost three weeks’ pay, he’ll get a write up and the department will pay hefty compensation to you.”
“Somehow I want more,” I replied, and Jonas laughed.
“You won’t get it. Hawthorne is a hero. He is a decent man, but protective of those he cares about. He is connected to Hellfire MC. Hawthorne looked out for them, and it came back to bite his ass. But if you ask him, he’d do it again.”
“Then that guy is an idiot,” I said, and Jonas nodded.
“Yup, but a loyal one. And that carries weight around here, especially after the war. Hawthorne could easily have cashed in some favours and buried this. Instead, he’s accepted it. Shows what type of man he is.”
“I still don’t trust him,” I stated.
“That’s fine. But if you call him, he’ll come with sirens blaring,” Jonas added.
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen!”
“Yup. But with your tendency to find trouble, it will.”
Well, damn, I couldn’t argue with that!
“It’s that house there,” I said, pointing as we cruised down a street.
Jonas had insisted on driving, which left me free to navigate. My gut was in knots being back home, and I felt sick.
Jonas parked up, and we got out. A woman’s head popped up from next door, gardening shears in her hands.
Jonas nodded at her as she studied us. She recoiled when she saw me and looked confused. We both picked up on her reaction for the wrong reasons.
“I’m innocent and was cleared,” I declared.
“How did you get changed so quickly?” she demanded.
“What?” I replied.
Jonas caught on quicker than me. “Have you seen her before?” he asked, cocking his thumb at me.
“She left Sandie’s house ten minutes ago. I heard banging and arguing, and she ran up the road,” the woman explained. Jonas and I exchanged glances.
“Stay here!” he ordered and raced up the path.
Screw that. I took off after him, but when he tried the lock, the door didn’t open.
“This is Lieutenant Richards from the police department. Miss West, are you in there?” He banged several more times and then stepped back. I stepped aside as he delivered three hard kicks, and the door burst open. With his gun out, Lieutenant Richards moved into the house with me behind him.
“Shit,” he hissed as we saw the body of a woman on the floor. He began clearing the rooms as I rushed forward and checked her for a pulse. There was one, and it was weak.
“Got a pulse,” I yelled.
“Call it in!” Lieutenant Richards said, coming back into the room. He knelt beside Sandie as her eyes fluttered open. They landed on me, and fear etched into her face.
“It wasn’t me. It was my twin sister,” I babbled to ease her fright. “We caught her.”
Sandie sighed, squeezed my hand, and took her last breath.
A tear trickled down my cheek.
“How the hell did Jane find out?” I demanded. “She’s always one step ahead of us.”
“I don’t know. You need to wait outside.”
“Okay.” I could hear sirens in the distance. As I got to my feet, I spotted something shining. “Jonas, over there,” I said
He turned around and pulled a glove from his pocket. He reached down and picked the object up.
“It’s an earring.”
“Oh, God. That’s one of mine!” I exclaimed. “Jane dropped it to set me up. Except the last time I saw it, it was at my parents’. My mother took everything that belonged to me, you know, as compensation.”
“Jane’s been there,” Jonas stated.
“Looks like it.” I was worried, but not devastatingly so. They’d cut me off five years ago, and I’d healed from that.
“Go,” Jonas held the keys out.
“No. If I leave the scene, you’ll be in trouble.
Get the officers to send a car over to them,” I replied.
A black-and-white pulled up, and Jonas presented his identification.
He promptly explained what had happened as the uniforms stared at me.
They realised who I was. I waited in our vehicle as they spoke to Jonas and then the neighbour.
A detective—one I recognised—turned up pretty quickly, which amused me.
Would someone have arrived so speedily if I wasn’t involved?
Jonas went through everything with him again.
“I need your statement,” Detective Grimes announced, approaching.
“Sure. Never let it be said that I don’t cooperate with law enforcement. Oh wait, when I do, you fuckers tend to frame me. I want Jonas present and a lawyer before I speak to anyone.”
Jonas shook his head as Grimes sneered.
“On a first-name basis, are we?”
“Well, you know, you share a flight, after that a drive, it kinda takes off from there, Detective Asshole,” I drawled.
“Hallie, give your statement, and we’ll look in on your parents,” Jonas ordered.
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why check on them? Didn’t someone send a black-and-white?” I asked.
Jonas nodded.
“Then why would I go? They’re nothing to do with me,” I replied.
Jonas looked shocked.
“Wow, you’re a real bitch!” Grimes exclaimed.
“I’m what a department of dirty, bent, asshole cops made me. When you frame an innocent person, they tend to change,” I snapped.
“I wasn’t involved!”
“Yeah, I’ve only got your word for that. Jonas, a lawyer, and I’m not saying anything else.”
“Detective, you might want to see this,” a uniform suggested, approaching. He held up an unlocked phone.
My social media account was on the screen. Only, it wasn’t mine. “Fuck!” I groaned, instantly guessing what had happened.
“That’s not yours, is it?” Jonas reached the same conclusion.
“No. Mine is private. Here,” I pulled my phone out and showed him.
“Shit, Jane opened a profile just for this reason. Sandie had no idea which was real and messaged them both. That’s how Jane got here first,” I replied.
“Actually, she contacted Jane a couple of days ago, then yours. I bet Sandie contacted Jane thinking it was your real profile. Then, when she didn’t get a reply, she found your private one. There’s a three-day gap between messages. Jane was already on her way to kill Sandie,” Jonas guessed.
“Fuck! Why won’t she just drop dead?” I screamed angrily.
Bystanders stared at me, and I glowered at them. “Problem?” I snarled.
“You taking her in? You’ve got a witness that saw her!” a woman yelled.
“Yeah, a witness that I arrived with a cop. So shut the hell up, you judgmental cunt!” I snapped, my temper fraying. “You fuckers already judged me guilty when I was innocent, and here you go again.”
“Hallie!” Jonas grabbed my arm.
“Nah, fuck them all. Look at them. All hanging their noses over a crime scene. Fuckin’ ghouls, all of them!” My hatred was rising.
“Calm down!” Jonas ordered.
“Why? Why should I calm down? They need to keep their lying mouths shut. It’s not enough I’m suing half this town for slander and perjury; they wanna add their two cents—”
“Hallie!” a man yelled, and I spun.
A murderous expression crossed my face as Shane jogged forward.
Without a word, he ducked under the police tape.
A uniform went to stop him, but Jonas waved him through.
Shane grabbed me in a tight hug as I vented into his chest. Curses and threats left me, but were all muffled.
Gossip rose around us as people realised who Shane was.
“What are you doing here?” Grimes demanded.
“King told me where you two were coming, and I wasn’t going to let Hallie face this town alone. I caught the flight after you,” Shane explained as I grabbed his cut and shook it.
I kept uttering death threats and how I’d torture every fucker present as Shane cupped my head and held me still. Grimes didn’t know where to look, although I could see Jonas out of the corner of my eye, and he looked amused. Finally, I wound down, and Shane relaxed his grip.
“Finished?” Shane quipped with a glint in his eyes.
My mouth opened, and I began spewing verbal abuse once more, and I was shoved into his arms again. Shane chuckled, and I felt that deep in his chest. I continued for another minute before I ran out of steam.
“Okay, now?” Shane muttered, and I bit his nipple in retaliation. He let out an ouch and jumped back, rubbing it.
“Someone want to bring me up to date?” Shane asked as people stared in silence. They didn’t know what to make of this. Good. Spiteful assholes.
“We best book into a hotel,” Jonas said. “Jane murdered the witness.”
“Fuck!” Shane growled out.
“Yeah. Not an ideal situation,” Jonas replied. That was a damn understatement, to put it mildly.
Shane
“We need to issue an APB,” Grimes argued with Jonas.