“No,” Julian said.
Stepping inside the room, she stood on the opposite side of the table with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Tell me what happened,” Octavia said.
Julian explained everything from the moment he got the phone call from Priscilla Dumay to the minute handcuffs were slapped on his wrists.
Octavia narrowed her eyes and watched him for a long moment. “I believe you. I will take your case, Mr. Montgomery. I’m sure you are aware of the seriousness of the charges against you. The doctors have confirmed that Priscilla Dumay was stabbed with a syringe that contains a yet unknown poison. She’s in a coma and in critical, but stable condition. You need her to stay that way or--”
“I’ll be charged with murder,” Julian said.
“That’s right. I will inform Detective Francois that you won’t be answering questions. You have nothing to gain and a lot to lose by being questioned by the cops, even with me present. Proving that the victim framed you is a long shot, but there are other ways to prove reasonable doubt, which my team and I will begin working on immediately.”
“What happens next?” Julian asked.
“You spend the weekend in jail and I negotiate to get you a bail hearing first thing Monday morning. This looks really bad, but I need you to maintain a positive outlook and trust that I can get you through this.”
As the door closed behind Octavia, Julian rested his head against the cold, hard table. Staying positive would be easier said than done.
Chapter Thirteen
The door creaked and Julian glanced up.
“Here to take me back to the holding cell?” Julian asked as Kendrick poked his head in the door.
“No, you’ll be going to lock up after you have one more visitor.” Kendrick opened the door wider.
The love of his life peered around the heavy door.
“Get in here,” Julian said, rising from the chair.
Mena pushed the door open and ran into his arms. “Are you ok?”
“I didn’t do it,” Julian whispered.
“Hey, I know you didn’t,” Mena pressed her hands on the sides of his face and looked up at him. Her beautiful dark eyes shone with love. Leaning forward, she kissed him softly on the lips. Julian pressed her close to him, deepening the kiss. He savored the taste of her, desperately trying to memorize what she felt like. He might not get a chance to be with her again for a while.
Breaking the kiss, Julian pulled Mena toward him and sat down. Balancing her on his lap, he went through the same details he’d shared with Octavia.
Julian said, “But there’s one thing I left out of the story when I told it to Octavia.”
Mena frowned. “Julian, you need to tell your lawyer everything. How can she defend you if you’re holding back from her?”
“This I can’t tell her. It’s the reason I went to the room to see Dumay. She knows what I did in Central Sulawesi,” Julian said, rubbing a hand roughly through his hair. “Apparently, she met a woman in prison who worked for El Mago and gave her proof that I committed treason.”
“She’s lying. There is no proof. You told me yourself that you destroyed all the evidence of what you’d done.”
“Dumay claims to have my Naval laptop, which I left behind when I realized that Broman was still alive. From that point on, everything else flew out of my head. All I could think about was getting him to safety. Saving his life. I thought I completed the corruption of the files, but what if I didn’t?” Julian said.
“That’s what Prissy wants you to believe. If she really had that proof, why wouldn’t she use that to get revenge on you instead. I don’t believe it—”
“Maybe because she couldn’t verify if the Navy already knew about it,” Julian guessed, in no mood to figure out how that evil woman’s mind worked. “Or maybe she’s saving it for part two of whatever revenge she has planned for me. Who the fuck knows? All I know is that I need to find out if Dumay has the laptop.”
“How can we do that now that you’ve been arrested?” Mena asked, sliding off his lap. He watched as she paced back and forth across the small room. “If Priscilla has the laptop, she will use it to manipulate you. We can’t let her blackmail you into doing God knows what.”
Julian stood and stepped in front of Mena. He grabbed her hands and lifted them to his lips. Kissing her knuckles slowly, he stared into her eyes. “You will not get involved in any of this. Not this time. I learned my lesson and I will never put you in danger again.”
“Julian—”
