“What about his car?” the ex-wife asked, looking frustrated.
“He can have a friend come pick it up,” Kendra said.
“I need to call my lawyer,” Matson said.
“After they book you in at the jail.” Grayson could never understand why people didn’t just show up for their court dates. He might have gotten six months in jail, but maybe less. And with good behavior, even less than that. They put Matson in the back of his SUV and seat-belted him in.
“Can you move his car out of the way so I can get my own car out of the garage in case it takes a while for someone to come get it?” the ex-wife asked.
“Yeah, sure.” Kendra got the keys out of Maston’s pocket and handed them to the ex-wife.
She moved the car out into the street and parked it at the curb. “Thanks.” She handed the keys back to Kendra.
“You’re welcome.” Then Kendra joined Grayson in the front seat, and they took off for the police station.
“They don’t have any proof that I stole anything,” Matson said.
Grayson and Kendra were quiet. They had nothing to do with determining whether he was telling the truth, but he figured the store wouldn’t charge him unless they had enough video evidence and witnesses of his crimes.
“How did you find me? I haven’t had anything to do with my ex-wife in over a year.”
“Were you really planning on trying to work things out with her?” Kendra asked.
Matson didn’t respond.
“Didn’t think so.”
“What are they going to do with me?” Matson asked.
“It’s up to the judge,” Grayson said. “The original bond is usually forfeited, either cash or collateral that was put up to get you out in the first place. You’ll go to jail. The court can revoke your bail completely, and you’ll remain in jail until the court is concluded. It really pays to just appear in court when you’re supposed to. You can be charged with failure to appear. And if the judge was thinking of being lenient, he might not be now. Of course, skipping your court date meant we would get involved.”
“I’m going to text Rowland and tell him what we’re up to after we drop Matson off at the police station,” Kendra said.
“What if I gave you a thousand dollars each to just let me go?” Matson asked.
12
Kendra couldn’t believe Matson offered to bribe them to let him go. Grayson just shook his head and parked in the police department’s parking lot. He hauled Matson out of the SUV.
“All right, $2,000 apiece,” Matson hurriedly said.
“We have a job to do that we get paid for by turning you in,” Grayson said. “So no, a bribe isn’t going to work.”
Actually, she was only getting $1,000 for Matson, and splitting it with Grayson would leave $500 each. But there was no way she would ever be bribed to let a bond jumper go.
Once they turned Matson over to a police officer, Grayson said, “Have a nice stay.”
Kendra smiled, and they left the police station. “I told Rowland that we’re going to Billy’s mother’s house. He responded that the men watching the place would let us take over surveillance, but they’ll be nearby if Younger shows up.”
“That’s good news. If we have to deal with two of them, the stepfather and Billy, we’ll probably need backup.”
“Yeah, I’m glad for it. He said the deputies will take a bathroom break, get something to eat, and return.”
“Okay, sounds like a good idea.” He entered Billy's home address into his GPS. After a thirty-minute drive, they finally arrived at the house, parking close enough that they could see it from there, but not too close.
They saw the other two men, the undercover cops, and waved. The guys waved back and took off.
“I really want to go to the door and make sure the kid didn’t sneak out of the house, climb his fence, and take off through a neighbor’s backyard.” Grayson tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel.
