AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Benton Warwick had been the Bullocks’ family lawyer for thirty-five years and was nearing retirement when he got the call. He arrived at the police station a few minutes shy of an hour after receiving the message and came in bristling, throwing their good name and weight around like a peacock fanning its tail. But like the peacock, it was all for show. The moment he found out about the accusations that had been made, he had a clear moment of panic.
“I’m sorry, Detective Giraud, but I feel I must recuse myself.”
“And your reason would be?” Louis asked.
“That I may have prior knowledge that could incriminate me.”
Louis blinked.Son of a bitch! Outen’s story was true.“Then I advise you not to leave town. If you want to give a statement regarding this now, we’ll take it. Otherwise, we’ll be asking you back at a later date.”
“We’ll make it later. I think I’d like my lawyer here when I make it.”
“Fine. You’re excused for now,” Louis said, and went back to the interrogation room where Carter Bullock had been placed.
He walked in on a very angry man and delivered a message that turned the old man pale.
“I’m afraid Mr. Warwick has had to recuse himself from being your representative, since he claims he has prior knowledge of why you’re being held. Do you have another lawyer we might call?” Louis asked.
Carter grunted like he’d been punched. “Lash Faraday. But what the hell’s going on here? I have a right to know! I demand to know why we’ve been dragged in here like common criminals!”
“Because accusations have been made against you by Wolfgang Outen that put you in that context. He has accused you of kidnapping his daughter, trafficking her, and abandoning her in an alley to die, and he has the daughter and the paperwork to prove it.”
“We did no such thing.”
Louis stared. “Sit tight. I’m going to call Faraday.”
“I want to talk to my wife! I demand to talk to Leigh.”
“You’re not in charge here, Mr. Bullock. I am,” Louis said and walked out.
Carter sat staring at the door, unable to believe that this was happening.
Another hour passed before Lash Faraday’s arrival. Then when he came, Louis decided to keep Carter on ice. He wanted to speak to Leigh Bullock first.
When they entered the interrogation room where she’d been placed, she was sitting with her head down, her hands motionless on the table before her.
She saw Faraday and frowned. “Where’s Mr. Warwick? I need to speak to Carter! I demand to know what’s happening!”
“Mr. Faraday has been informed of the accusationsagainst you. You have thirty minutes to discuss your options, and then I’ll be in to take your statement.”
Her eyes narrowed in anger. “Accusations! Who made accusations against us?”
“Wolfgang Outen,” Louis said, and walked out. When he went back in, he brought his partner, Amos Cox, with him, wasted no time setting up the interview, and informed her it was being taped. After identifying everyone in the room for the tape, Louis opened up the file Outen had given him and began to question her.
The first picture on top of the file was the wedding photo.
“Leigh… You don’t mind if I call you Leigh?” Louis asked.
“It’s fine,” she muttered.
“I’m sorry. You have to speak up for the recording,” he said.
“It’s fine,” Leigh snapped.
He laid the picture face up in front of her.
“Can you identify these two people in this photo?”
“My daughter, Cassandra, and the man she married.”
