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Nicole probably had the information leaked for maximum impact. Payback is an uptight bitch in Prada and Pearls.
Her plan is going to fail though. Public scrutiny and a slap on the wrist won’t be enough to keep Ivy and I apart. Even if I have to do time like Rebel… I can survive that as long as she’s waiting for me.
“Sit,” the officer orders, and then cuffs me to the table.
He exits the room and I do my best to get comfortable. This isn’t the first time I’ve been in this windowless room or at least one similar. And I suspect they plan to let me stew for a while before they question me.
Mark Anders ended up in the hospital after I punched him. I roll my shoulders to ease the tension. Something about the situation doesn’t sit right. It’s been four weeks. Shouldn’t the cops have caught up with me before now? Asked questions?
The cuffs rattle as I try to lean back and stretch out my legs. My ass and the back of my thighs are going numb.
How long until Jason arrives? I glance at my wrist and wish I were wearing a watch. My phone is at the house because I’d left it on the bedside table when I was getting dressed and there’s no clock on any wall in this interview room.
Even though it’s probably only been a half hour, it feels much longer than that. The only thing cluing me into the fact that I haven’t been here for hours is my missing lawyer.
The detective who arrested me enters the room and tosses a file on the desk. He flicks the sides of his leather jacket back as he sits across from me. “Rogue Maddox, huh? You’re a pretty big celebrity, aren’t you?”
“Sure.” If he wants to play games, I’ll play games. I know better than to talk without Jason present, but identifying myself is not going to give him anything he doesn’t already have.
“Are you comfortable? Do you need anything? The coffee tastes like shit and the water is room temp.”
“No thanks.” I clasp my hands together on the table. “I want my lawyer. Any sign of him yet?”
“Can’t imagine that he’ll be far away.” The cop begins to record our chat that will soon become an interrogation. “I’m Detective Brody Declan, but you can call me Brody.”
“Great.” I run my thumb along the side of my nose as we stare off across the table.
He stretches out and cups his hands behind his neck like we’re best buds and he has all the time in the world to listen to my side of the story. Just waiting for me to start at my leisure.
When I don’t, he asks, “Want to tell me about your run in with Mark Anders?”
“Nope.” I study him the same way he does me. I suspect he’s waiting for me to give him something to pounce on. Sure, there’s no denying the video evidence of the altercation I had with the man, but the best defense is built on the things that I don’t say while I wait for Jason.
I think about Ivy. She must be freaking out. It makes my jaw clench because there is nothing I can do to comfort her. She needs me and I’m here with this guy looking at me like I’m the devil while she’s worrying about me. On top of that he and his partner totally ruined our ceremony.
I rub my thumb over the back of one wrist where the cuff has started to bite then swap to the other. Mostly it’s so I don’t tense up and show him how on edge I truly am.
So I think about the first time I got an inkling that I would fall in love with Ivy. That night in the park when she was wearing bunny ears and being so cute. I wanted to spend every moment with this amazing and mysterious woman. I wanted to learn everything about her.
Brody finally gets sick of observing and clasps his hands over the file on the table in front of him. “Do you think the fact that a man is lying in a hospital bed because of you is funny?”
“No.” The corners of my lips sink as Ivy melts into the background.
“We have witnesses,” the detective says, “that saw you assault Mr. Anders. Video that shows you two in an altercation. Would you like to tell me what that was about?”
I force myself not to clench my hands. “I’m not speaking until my lawyer arrives.”
Brody pulls several pictures out of the file and places them in front of me. “This is Mr. Anders.”
The man in the photos is unrecognizable. I certainly wouldn’t have placed him without the detective’s insistence that this is the same person.
He jabs at the bruised and battered face in the pictures. “This is what you did to him.”
“No, I…” I shake my head. Yes, I hit the guy. I hit him a couple times. I’ll own up to that when Jason gets here. I was prepared to plead guilty to my part. But these pictures… this guy… looks like roadkill. “I didn’t do that. That wasn’t me.”
"You were so angry after your altercation that you went back to finish the job. You beat Mark Anders so severely that he is unrecognizable, despite public interest in your earlier altercation plastering his face everywhere.”
“No.” This is… This is Nicole Hawthorne setting me up to prove her point to Ivy. The only reason Mark Anders is probably still alive is because Nicole still needs him as a bargaining chip. Cold-hearted and evil bitch.
