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“Well, if you’re interested, I have a friend in Virginia Beach that owns a dealership,” he offers.
“That would be great, thanks.”
“Give me a minute and I’ll get you his card.”
Julian disappears inside, and I follow him, stopping in a room with a reception desk, a water cooler and a small coffee table laden with car magazines. A crash behind me has me spinning round to see a guy bending to pick up whatever he dropped. As he straightens, I see it’s Everly’s boyfriend, Darryl. I watch as he dumps the tools back in the toolbox and pulls his phone free from his pocket.
He smiles as he reads the message he just received, then types out a reply. He better hope that’s Everly for it to have put that look on his face. Julian strides back into the room, handing me a card.
“Just give him a call when you’re ready and tell him I sent you.”
“Great, thanks, Julian.” I turn to leave, then look back and say, “Do you work late any nights?” He frowns, so I add, “I want to organize a dinner with Everly and Darryl, but I wasn’t sure if he works late at all.”
“Nah, we’ve been quiet lately. He’s usually done around six, sometimes earlier.”
“That’s perfect, thanks. And thanks for this too,” I say, holding up the card he gave me. I silently thank him for the information on Darryl. It seems not only is he a complete sleaze but a liar too. If he wasn’t working the other night, what the hell was he doing?
I shove the card in my back pocket and walk toward town. There doesn’t seem a lot of point in trying to hide now as I need to go to the station to get my phone and purse back.
I receive several dirty looks from a few of the residents when I pass by, but I get more hello’s and good to see you’s than daggers. While I count that as a win, it still pisses me off that these people have known me and my family for years yet chose not to believe me when I called Titan Industries out.
At the police precinct, I duck inside quickly hoping to avoid being seen by Asher if he happens to be on shift. I hope even more that Deputy Peters isn’t here, and I can grab my purse and phone and avoid him for the rest of the day. Although, he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to let things slide. More like once he gets his teeth into something, he hangs on to it to the death.
The lady behind the desk reminds me of Janine Melnitz, the secretary inGhostbusters II. I almost expect her to talk with that nasally high-pitched voice, but when she greets me, it’s the complete opposite, deep and husky like she smokes twenty a day.
“Hi, I’ve come to collect my—”
“I know who you are and why you’re here. Take a seat,” she says dryly and with an air of boredom.
Wow! Okay then. I spin on my heels to take a seat across the room and come face to face with Deputy Peters.
“Miss. Scott, you’re a hard lady to find.” His eyes narrow to tiny slits and he has a tic just beneath his right eye that looks like it could jump right out of his skin any moment.
“Really?” I say disbelievingly. “I was at home and now I’m here, so…” I leave my accusation wide open to interpretation. His nostrils flare and the tic gets faster, if that’s even possible, and he heads for the door to the left, holding it open for me.
“This way, Miss. Scott.”
I pass by him into the corridor beyond, pausing as I wait for him to lead the way. He shows me to a room, then disappears for several minutes and returns with a folder and a bag containing my purse and phone.
He sets everything down and takes a seat. There’s a moment’s delay before he begins with the questions.
“Miss Scott, can you tell me what happened last night, July 29th?”
“There’s really not much to tell. I was driving home from Tungsten Bay, around 1.30 a.m. when—”
“What were you doing in Tungsten Bay at that time of night, Miss Scott?” he asks accusingly.
Letting out a deep sigh, I say, “I’d been at work. The Boulevard before you ask where. May I continue now?” He gives a nod of his head, but I see the little spark at the idea he’s pisses me off. “As I was saying, I was on my way home when an animal jumped out in front of me, and I lost control.”
“Miss Scott, we found a second set of tire marks at the scene, can you explain that?”
I frown in confusion; genuine confusion because I don’t remember the other car skidding. “No, I wasn’t aware. Why would I be as there were no other cars on the road at that time of night?”
“According to you,” he states, glaring at me as though that would be enough to make me crack and change my story.
“Yes, according to me. I was there,deputy. I don’t believe you were. Clearly, they are from a different incident.”
“The investigation team will be able to determine if that’s the case. Did you hit the animal, Miss. Scott,” he asks, changing the subject.
