Page 13 of Rascal

“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.