AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He looked away. “Damn it, O’Sullivan. You’re putting me in a tight spot here.”
“I didn’t shoot him.”
He swung his gaze back to hers. “Tell me you can prove it.”
“Can Graves prove I did?”
Houser shook his head. “He wants to, but he can’t. Not unless something more comes back on forensics.”
“It won’t.” She hoped. The memory of Brant falling against her and slipping to the floor made her gut clench.
“All right, so you didn’t shoot him. Tell me what happened?”
“Brant had a girlfriend, Whitney Lemm. She spotted me watching him. Saw him watching me. She thought I was trying to steal him away from her.” She made a sound that wasn’t a laugh. “I didn’t know her. I saw her with him a few times, but I didn’t bother figuring out who she was because she wasn’t relevant to my goal.”
Houser held up a hand. “Are you sure you want to tell me this?”
“Off the record, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ve gone this far.” He exhaled a big breath. “What happened?”
Finley explained how Lemm had called her to a meeting, supposedly about Derrick. Then the rest.
“Son of a bitch,” Houser bit off. “If Hughes was the one who killed your husband, then ...”
Finley took a breath and said what had to be said. “Brant is the one who raped me. He passed along a message during that attack.You take something from me; I take something from you.At the time, I didn’t know those bastards, and the only person I had taken something from was Dempsey. That’s how I know it was him.”
“As much as I agree with your theory, it is just a theory.” Houser looked away a moment, shook his head. “Damn.” He blew out a breath. Met Finley’s gaze once more. “But I’m willing to go with it. So where is Lemm now?”
Relief rushed through Finley. “Someplace safe.” She set her empty can aside. “She may know things that can help build a case against Dempsey. She said Brant told her things. But even if she doesn’t, she may be able to lure in Flock.Hewill know things.”
“You want me to help her. To ...?”
“Get her to the right people who can do what needs to be done.”
He nodded, lips in a tight, thin line. “Okay. I know a guy. We went to Auburn together. He’s actually in the DEA. He’s part of the reason I decided to become a cop.”
“Instead of a doctor the way you were supposed to,” Finley offered.
“Yeah. I made a lot of people unhappy with that decision, but it was the right one.”
“You trust him? This DEA guy?”
“Unconditionally.”
“Call him. Lemm won’t survive long without a way out.”
“I’ll call him,” Houser promised. “For now, we need to be sure she’s somewhere they can’t get to her.”
“Can you move her to a safe house?”
He nodded. “I’ve worked a couple of times with an agent assigned to Nashville’s FBI field office. He might be able to assist with that, off the record for now.”
Finley stood. “I’ll take you to her.”
Houser pushed to his feet. “No. Sorry, but this is where your involvement ends. You said yourself they watch you. You could lead them right to her. I’ll take it from here.”
Finley gave him the location. She called Lemm and described the detective coming to take her to a safe house. Lemm sounded nervous, but she agreed to cooperate. What other choice did she have?
