Page 112 of Tank’s Weakness

“You’re here.”

I nod. “Always.”

I take a seat next to her, holding her hand as Smoke fills me in.

“The lawyer is talking with the cops now. They want a statement from her. I wanted you here for it so you know what happened. You deserve to know.”

I stare at her. “You’re okay?”

She nods. “I’m good.”

I kiss her hand and nod at Smoke. He steps out for a few minutes, coming back with the club lawyer and the cops.

“Miss Harris, I’m Officer Jenkins, and this is Officer Gomez. We have some questions for you. Maybe it would be best if we had some privacy?”

Delaney clears her throat. “I don’t want to be alone with you. I hope you understand. I went through something traumatic, and I don’t know you. I would prefer my boyfriend and friend stay with me.”

The officer grimaces. “It would be best to give your statement without any influence.”

Our lawyer, Mr. Finnegan, steps up and clears his throat. “She is not a suspect. She was the victim. While I understand you need a statement, she has already said she does not feel comfortable with you. So either get your statement then leave or get us a female officer here. She may be more comfortable with a female.”

The officer looks away, and I hide my smirk.

The female officer that is available is one of ours. They won’t call her.

“We need to know what happened. Start from the beginning.”

Delaney clears her throat. “Blaine is my ex-boyfriend. We broke up months ago when I caught him cheating on me with his boss. He’s a paralegal at Bronson and Gerbal and said he had to sleep with her to make partner once he passes the bar. I didn’t care what the reasoning was. I don’t do cheaters. At first, it seemed like he took it okay. He didn’t bother me too much. He would still call and text, but I didn’t respond. Then he started showing up in public places, but where he didn’t usually go. Then he started getting scary. I think he broke into my house. There’s a police report about that. He called my work and convinced parents to remove their children from my class. I have reports on that as well. He uploaded a pornographic video of me and my boyfriend to the internet and sent it to my job, getting me fired. He also called in false tips to hurt the motorcycle club my boyfriend is part of. He’s been harassing me and those I associate with for months.”

“We will look into all of that, but we need to know what happened today,” Officer Gomez says kindly.

He seems like the nicer of the two officers. I make a mental note to look into him. He might be good for the club.

“Well, I went to my former place of employment to clean out my classroom. When I finished, I found the tires to my car all slashed. I called Warren to have him come pick me up. While I was waiting, Blaine approached me and begged me to give him another chance. When I told him no and attempted to leave, he hit me with something. I don’t know how long I was out for, but I woke up naked in a motel room. He was talking about how we were meant to be together. He had a plan for us. We were going to get married and have kids. He quit his job so we could move to another state. He specifically said Vegas because there was a firm there he liked. He was touching me and telling me the life he wanted us to have. He seemed delusional. Like he had totally lost it. He was unstable. He tried kissing me, but that’s when Acid kicked in the door.”

My eyes fly to hers. She doesn’t look at me but squeezes my hand.

“He told Blaine to stop touching me and get away from me, but Blaine said no. That I was his, and he would rather us both die than to let me go. Acid made the decision to rush him to try and save me. He tackled him, and they were fighting on the ground. Smoke came in and cut me loose, giving me his shirt to cover me. Blaine was fighting back against Acid. He used his fists to stop him from harming me any further.”

It sinks in what she’s saying. Acid took the fall for my actions. I want to speak up, but the way she is squeezing my hand says to keep my mouth shut. It makes sense now. They wanted me to leave and cover my fists so no one would question who was the one to hurt Blaine.

“How did you get blood on you?” Officer Jenkins asks.

“I hugged Acid. I was hugging him when the police arrived. He saved me. If it weren’t for him, I have no doubt that Blaine would have taken me away and kept me captive. He would have sexually assaulted me. Physically too when I fought back.”

“Understood. Do you have anything else to add?”

“It was never anyone’s intention for Blaine to die. Acid was acting in my defense,” she tells the officer, using the calm, firm tone she uses when she means business.

“Noted. Thank you. We will be in touch.”

When they leave the room, she finally looks at me.

“Why?” I whisper.

“He wanted to. He said he has our back. He wants you to take care of me and me to take care of you. He knew what he was doing. He did it for us.”

“Where is he?” I ask Smoke.