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I turned to Kelly who nodded. “Yes,” I said. “I’ll give you a full statement in the morning. But for now, I suggest you arrest Heath and keep him overnight.”
“That’s going to be difficult without a full statement,” the Sheriff said, scratching the back of his head, his eyes darting between me and Jenni. He looked uneasy, and I began to understand what Jenni meant by the force’s incompetence. This man should have been in his car by now, calling in the arrest.
“I don’t see how,” I said, already knowing that I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. And that only made me angrier. Heath could be halfway across the state by now. “If you want a statement no
w, I’ll give you one. But the longer you wait to make that arrest, the more likely you won’t be able to do it. If Heath has a brain in his head, he wouldn’t stick around and wait.”
“How about you pass by the station tomorrow,” the Sheriff said, “and we’ll clear all this up.”
“What the hell is there to clear up?” The anger in my voice was apparent, and the Sheriff took a step back, his hand falling on the holster at his waist.
“Alex, let’s go,” Jenni said.
“The fuck I am,” I said. “I don’t know how you got that badge, but this is ridiculous!”
“Dad,” Kelly said. “I want to go home.”
My eyes locked on the Sheriff’s, and a hint of a smile played at the corner of his lips. He looked at Kelly. “I’m sorry about your grandfather, but we’ll get this all sorted out, I promise.”
My fists shook, and I only calmed down a little when Kelly wrapped a hand around mine and pulled me along. I pulled her to me, staring angrily at the Sheriff.
“I’ll see you in the morning, Sheriff,” I said. “But if Heath’s gone by the time you get your ass off your seat, I’m not going to be this calm.”
“Good night, Mr. Logan,” the Sheriff nodded. “Jenni.”
“Sheriff,” Jenni replied and gently pushed me along.
We walked out, the cool night air failing to calm me down as I led Kelly to the car and opened the door for her to get in. I turned back to the hospital, with half the mind to go back in and give the Sheriff hell, but quickly fought back the urge. I looked at Jenni and shook my head in frustration.
“Can you fucking believe this?”
Jenni wrapped her arms around Kelly’s and looked at the hospital. “Actually, I can,” she said. “I told you before, Baker’s useless.”
“And what do you suggest I do?”
Jenni sighed. “I don’t know,” she said, looking at Kelly. “Go home for starters. In the morning, we’ll pick up where we left off.”
I ran a hand through my hair and clenched my teeth. I wanted to punch someone, badly. If I didn’t I was going to go fucking insane. Jenni rested a hand on my arm and squeezed.
“Fine,” I gave in, my frustration boiling inside me. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
“I’d rather stay with Kelly,” she replied.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said.
“Actually, I do,” she said. “I want to.”
I looked at her for a beat, wanting to take her in my arms and kiss her if it weren’t for how pissed off I was. She rubbed my arm and opened the passenger door.
“Come on,” she said.
I closed the door, took another look at the hospital, then got into the car and drove us home.
Chapter 16: Alex
I woke up the next morning feeling worse than I had when I went to sleep. The image of my father lying in the ICU stayed with me through the night. I had nightmares of him crawling out of his bed, calling out my name and searching for me while a dozen or so Heath’s laughed all around him. It made me sick in the stomach.
I got dressed quickly, eager to get to the police station and really take out my frustration on the Sheriff, and made my way downstairs. The aroma of scrambled eggs and bacon mixed with the gentle giggling coming from the kitchen.
