AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’d have to admit to having fucked Ashley, because Joelle would mention this in her “suicide note,” but while a sexual scandal might look bad, it would soon blow over.
Joelle was the focus now. Then he’d finally be able to focus on his future. He’d gather his donors, throw his hat into the political ring, and his next wife would have to call him “Senator” in bed.
Tulane-Gravier, New Orleans, Louisiana
THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1:30 P.M.
“Mr. Hebert?”
Gabe jerked awake and lifted his head from the table in the interrogation room, blinking at the bright light. He’d fallen asleep. How the hell had he let himself fall asleep in the police station?
Maybe because he was fucking exhausted and had been questioned three times by different detectives, all playing good cop/bad cop until he wanted to scream? Yeah, that was it. He needed to cut himself a little slack because he’d had a really bad evening.
And an equally bad morning. On top of being interrogated for hours, he had no idea where they’d taken Molly. The cops had separated them as soon as they’d arrived at the scene at the bank of the bayou. Was she all right? What had they done to her? How could I have let myself fall asleep?
Then he saw the officer standing in the corner. Officer McCauley was one of André’s and had been standing guard for hours—ever since Gabe had been taken to this room. André said that he trusted him. So did Burke, which was the only reason he would have felt safe enough to sleep. The officer gave him a kind nod, which Gabe returned before twisting toward the door to study the man who’d called his name.
The new arrival was dressed in a snazzy gray suit with a black tie covered in... Gabe squinted. “Saxophones?” he asked blearily.
The man tilted his head in confusion before glancing down at his tie. “Oh, right.” He chuckled. “A gift from my son,” he said. The man placed his briefcase on the table and took the seat across from Gabe. “Your attorney will join us in a moment and then we can get started.”
My attorney? Oh, right.Willa Mae had been at his side during his interrogations. He must have fallen asleep right after she left, because that was the last thing he remembered. He rose when Willa Mae walked in. “Miss Collins.”
She smiled at him. “Mr. Hebert. How y’doing, Gabe?” she added softly.
He rubbed his neck. “I’ve slept better.”
“Then please sit down before you fall down.” She sat beside him and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Molly is fine. You will be, too. Just follow my lead, and only answer what you’re asked, just like before.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The man with the saxophone tie cleared his throat. “I’m Assistant District Attorney Cardozo. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“Fine,” Gabe said wearily. “Then can I leave?”
“Let’s get through the questions first, shall we?” Cardozo said, which would have sounded ominous except that Willa Mae was patting Gabe’s arm encouragingly.
Gabe sighed. “Fine. Go ahead.”
“Can you start at the beginning?”
Gabe wanted to groan. “I’ve told my story three times already. I’m pretty sure they taped it. Can’t you just catch the highlight reel?”
Cardozo’s lips twitched. “I could, but I’d like to hear it from you. I know you’ve had a rough night, so I appreciate it.”
Gabe rubbed his palms over his face, then shoved his hands through his hair, yanking gently to wake himself up. “Well, just because you appreciate it,” he muttered and started from the beginning, leaving out only the part where Xavier shot his intruder before fleeing. “And then we came upon the guy with the hoodie, and he shot Mule right in the chest, then in the head. We approached, Miss Sutton and I, to try to keep him from disposing of any more evidence. He shoved Miss Sutton down, grabbed his gun, then ran for Mule’s Range Rover. He drove away.”
“With several bullet holes in the Range Rover, as I understand,” Cardozo said mildly. He was a nice-looking man with nearly black hair, a tanned complexion that spoke of a lot of time in the sun, and dark brown eyes. Those eyes seemed kind, but Gabe couldn’t trust him.
“Miss Sutton tried to stop him from leaving the scene. She shot his tires first, but he kept driving.”
“And what were you doing while all of this was happening?” Cardozo asked.
“Recording the entire thing, from when we approached through the trees to right after the man in the hoodie charged into Miss Sutton.” His heart stuttered a little, just remembering how terrified he’d been when Molly went down. And how proud he’d been when she got back up and started shooting.
She blamed herself for the man’s escape, but she wasn’t to blame at all. She’d been brave and he couldn’t wait to tell her so again so that maybe she’d start believing it.
“And where might we find the video?” Cardozo asked.
