I look around for any cameras but don’t see any. And there’s also no two-way mirrors, letting me know that no one is looking in on me. We’ll be completely alone.
They think I killed Celeste and shot Austin, and I can see how they came to that conclusion. But things aren’t always what they seem. And they’re about to find that out.
The door opens, and Detective Monroe enters with a file in his hand and a bag in his other. “Cole Reynolds. It’s been a while.”
I show indifference although I want to knock his head off. I should be at the hospital waiting to see Austin, not here with this dipshit.
He pulls the only other chair out and sits down in it across from me, slapping the file on the metal table along with the clear bag marked evidence with red tape. It’s my gun. It’s covered in her blood as well. The one I left behind in Bruce’s house after the paramedics took Austin. I wasn’t thinking clearly.
Obviously.
When they loaded her into the ambulance, I noticed my car was still in her father’s driveway, so I called Deke to find out where in the hell he took Kellan. When he told me the cemetery, I just turned and ran around the house to the back and up the hill.
Monroe crosses his arms over his chest and sits back, staring at me. Waiting for me to speak. He’s trying to intimidate me into a confession he’ll never get. I have something better to give him, and it will be here shortly.
“Why were you at the Lowes’ residence to begin with?” he asks. “Were you there to fuck your girlfriend or her stepmom?”
My eyes narrow on him at the mention of fucking Austin. I pull on the cuffs and feel my skin scrape more than it already has.
He glares at me in return, waiting for an answer. When he doesn’t get one, he continues. “I called Bruce Lowes to inform him of his wife’s death and daughter’s condition. He proceeded to tell me that he caught you fucking his wife months ago.”
That motherfucker! I clamp my mouth shut so I don’t tell this guy to go to fucking hell! It doesn’t matter if he thinks I’ve slept with Celeste or not. I have proof of my innocence coming. And nothing else matters.
He picks up the clear evidence bag and looks at the gun in it. “Word is Austin isn’t doing well. Spoke to the hospital about ten minutes ago and got an update on her condition. She’s coded twice while in surgery.”
My breathing picks up at his words, and my heart pounds. A lump forms in my throat that I can’t seem to swallow. I can’t lose her. Not now. Not after all I put her through. She will survive. She has to. For me!
He smirks as his gray eyes look over at the bag in his hand. “I always thought I’d get you for murder. Just never thought it’d be a woman who you offed.”
I jump to my feet at his words. Not sure why. There’s nowhere for me to go. He jumps to his as well. I open my mouth to speak, but the door flies open. We both turn our heads to look at the young rent-a-cop who enters. He graduated a couple of years before me from Collins High. He was on the varsity football team. He hated me. I fucked his girlfriend. Well, her mouth anyway. Not sure if he still feels that way, though. It’s not like he married her.
He had big dreams to play college ball, but he blew his knee out, then never left this good-for-nothing town. His father is also Liam’s friend. My father has all the law in his pocket, but all wealthy criminals do.
“This was just delivered, sir.” He holds out the laptop.
Right on time. Just like Bennett promised.
Monroe ignores it. “Bag it for evidence, Daniels. I’ll look at it later. I’m in the middle of an investigation!”
“This is part of the investigation,” he grinds out.
The detective yanks it from his grasp, places it on the table, and opens it up. “What am I looking for?” he orders.
Trenten silently pushes a few buttons on the computer, and they both read over the information on Jerrold’s laptop. Bennett wiped it clean. Well, he wiped anything that could get any of us in trouble.
“Is this … is this true?” Monroe whispers while his eyes scan it quickly.
“Yes, sir.” Trenten nods and then presses a few more buttons. “Here are the bank statements …” he trails off.
I remain standing, my hands still cuffed and fisted. When I really want to jump across this table and headbutt him. But Deke was right, that fucking bastard. I need to be with her. And I can’t do that from prison.
“Son of a bitch.” Monroe hisses and looks at me. “How long have you known this?” he demands.
I remain silent. That’s all the information right there that he needs to prove that Bruce paid Jeff to tamper with the brakes on my car, causing the wreck that killed three of my friends. And I’ve got copies just in case something happens to these. And if I have to, I’ll go to the press with my information.
Obviously, when this shit shows up the moment I’m wanted for murdering the wife of the man who murdered my best friends, it isn’t a coincidence.
“So this was about revenge on Bruce?” he fishes. “This had nothing to do with his wife or daughter.”
We figured they would think this. That’s why the laptop isn’t the only thing that Bennett handed over to the police. Well, he planted it. Can’t make it look too obvious. If only he knew how little Bruce loved his wife and daughter, they wouldn’t come to that conclusion. He probably has a big life insurance policy on Celeste. And he would have paid someone to take Austin off his hands.
“And I have this.” Trenten hands him a phone in a bag.
“What is it?” Monroe asks.
“This is Kellan Grove’s cell phone. We found it outside the house when doing our final sweep.”
Monroe looks up at me. “You couldn’t kill them both yourself?” he snaps, thinking I called in the sharks for help. That Austin really meant that little to me. “Put an APB out on Mr. Grove’s car. Find him!”
“It’s already been issued, sir. But I think you need to hear this first,” he says with a nod.
Monroe presses a few buttons on the phone. He takes his seat and looks up at me. “Sit down.”
I do as he orders and try to roll my shoulders, but I can’t. My right one aches. I need these cuffs off.
Trenten looks down at me and then at the phone. “Maybe we should listen to it in private.”
“No,” Monroe snaps.
So Trenten’s already listened to it. That’s obvious. But he doesn’t think I know what’s on it. I smile on the inside. I’m the motherfucker who found it. I did your job. You’re fucking welcome!
Hours earlier
I stand over Kellan’s dead body as Bennett joins us on top of the hill. He has his flashlight, which makes it easier for us to see.
“What the fuck?” Bennett asks, looking down at Kellan wide-eyed. Then his eyes run over me, taking in my bloodstained clothes, busted knuckles, and sweaty skin. It’s a hot and muggy May night. “What the hell happened?”
Austin’s blood is starting to dry, causing my clothes to stick to my skin. And the overwhelming smell is making me lightheaded. I want to rip it off. Claw at my own skin. Just to get her off me. But I refrain because I gotta finish this first.
“Kellan killed Celeste and shot Austin,” Deke answers.