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I just pulled into the parking lot. I’ll probably see you when I get out
Malcolm’s attorney sent a message moments after Malcolm’s.
Don’t tell them I’m representing you. Let that be my little surprise.
Something told me this was going to be a shitshow.
Thirty minutes later, I walked into the station after finishing my third cup of coffee for the day in the car. My headache was better, yet I still felt two steps behind.
The waiting room was empty, but Malcolm’s motorcycle was in the parking lot, so I knew he was in the building somewhere. I told the receptionist I was there to see the chief, then took a seat in one of the rickety chairs in the waiting area.
Ten minutes later, I heard voices in the hall, namely the chief’s and the voice of the man Malcolm had been with the previous day.
“You better watch yourself, Malcolm,” the chief growled as they rounded the corner to the waiting room. “One day you’re gonna slip up, and I’m gonna be there to get you.”
Malcolm ignored me as he headed for the door, once again giving the chief the bird as he exited the building.
Chief Larson’s face turned beet red, so when he turned to me, he looked ready to tar and feather me in the public square.
“Get your ass in my interrogation room,” the chief shouted at me. “Now.”
“I don’t like how you’re talking to my client,” my new attorney told the chief. “She’s shown up on her own accord, eager to help with whatever you need from her. Perhaps show her a little respect.”
Chief Larson’s mouth dropped open, and he gaped at me and then the attorney. “What the fuck?”
Yep, bad idea.
I stood and walked toward him. “I figured if you were going to keep calling me in for groundless reasons, perhaps I should cover all my bases.” I turned to my new attorney and held out my hand. “Mr. Hale. Thank you for coming on such short notice.”
He shook my hand, a mischievous grin lighting up his face. “I just happened to be in the neighborhood, so it was really no trouble at all.” He turned to the chief. “Shall we? My client has a busy day, so we need to wrap this up.”
“A busy day doing what?” the chief barked.
“Now, now,” Mr. Hale chided. “You haven’t read my client her rights yet, so no questioning until you do.”
Chief Larson fumed as he stomped down the hall into a typical, inhospitable interrogation room with a table in the middle and bare walls. The prerequisite glass window filled up a good portion of the wall across from me.
Mr. Hale and I sat on one side of the table, while the chief dropped his large frame onto the chair on the opposite. The chief didn’t have a notebook, nor did he start any kind of recording before he launched into questioning. He didn’t read me my rights either.
“What’s your interest in Eddie Johnson?” he barked before his ass even hit his seat.
I opened my mouth to answer, but Mr. Hale held up a hand to stop me. “You’ll need to be more specific, Chief Larson.”
The chief released a low growl. “Why did you want Eddie Johnson’s address?”
I glanced over at Mr. Hale, and he leaned into my ear and whispered, “Tell him but keep Malcolm out of it.”
I wasn’t stupid. I had no intention of letting his name fall out of my mouth a single time during this questioning, but I supposed that was why Malcolm was paying Hale to sit with me. I had no delusions it was an altruistic attempt to save my skin.
I turned to the chief. “I talked to Ava’s best friend yesterday afternoon, and she told me that she and Ava had been meeting with Mr. Johnson after lunch. Apparently, the girls were close to him, so I thought he might have some insight on where Ava might have run away to.” My tone made it clear what I thought about his official take on her disappearance.
His eyes narrowed into slits. “When did you confront Eddie?”
“I didn’t. I meant to talk to him this morning before he left for work, but I overslept until around nine. When I woke up, I learned that he was already missing.”
“You got an alibi to prove that?” he bit out.
“My mother has security cameras all around her house. They can prove I came home right before midnight and didn’t leave until I left this morning, eager to see your bright and shiny face.” I gave him a cheesy smile to punctuate it.
