“What’s going on?” My first thought was that something happened to Kennedy, but she was safe. She was asleep in my bed. My mind went to Emma next, but if it was her, someone would have called me first.
Remy nodded to Dom, silently telling him to go on without us. I crossed my arms, which was difficult around my duffel bag, and waited for him to tell me what the hell was going on.
“Mallory Mitchells was found dead late last night.”
His words took the wind out of my sails.
“Royal.” It wasn’t a question. We knew exactly who’d done it. Hell, Amie and I had been the ones to respond to the call when Royal beat her.
“Yeah.” He stepped a little closer, lowering his voice. “Dom caught the call last night. Here’s the thing, though. Royal wasn’t there. He has five people as his alibi. He says he was drinking away his heartbreak over the fact that he caught her cheating… with you.”
My stomach dropped out. “What? That’s bullshit.”
Remy turned and started walking toward the building. “Let’s go. Chief’s gonna want us there for this.”
Bile, sick and acidic, rose in my throat, making it impossible to breathe, let alone think. Never mind the fact that I’d never cheat on Kennedy, even with a gun against my head. But the idea that I’d cheat with the woman that constantly worked with Royal to hurt her, the woman who took her place as Royal’s punching bag, that was even worse.
“You know I’d never do that to Kennedy.” My words were practically shouted across the parking lot at that point, and I had to rush to catch up as he walked up the stairs and through the glass doors.
“I know you wouldn’t. You’re not a fuckin’ idiot. Plus, it’s not like your alibi is gonna be hard to confirm. You’ve got the same cameras at your house that I have at mine. I think Royal’s just trying to buy himself time.”
“Time for what?” We walked by dispatch, nodding to Teri, who smiled sadly at me. “Does everyone know?”
“By now?” Remy raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’d say it’s safe to assume everyone in Birch knows.”
“I gotta text Kennedy.”
“You can’t.” Remy crammed my hand before I could send the text. “She can’t know. It’s not public information yet that Mallory is dead.”
“I’m not a fuckin idiot, Remy.” I snarled at him, but didn’t really care at the moment. “I have to tell her that people think I fucked Mallory. She’s gonna be pissed if she goes into work at noon and gets hit with that broadside.”
He let go, and I shot off a text to make sure Kennedy didn’t walk into that shit blind.
L: Hey. You gotta know. Royal’s accusing me of sleeping with Mallory. It never happened.
K: …
K: Is this a joke?
K: A bad one?
L: Not in the slightest. There’s more. You’ll hear at work I’m sure. Just didn’t want you to think I’d ever fuck her.
K: Not even a worry in my mind. Love you. Kick some ass.
I handed Remy my phone, just to make sure that someone else saw the conversation. He shook his head and rolled his eyes at my raised brow.
“What?” I asked. “I gotta make sure you know I’m not being a dick.” Then I took a screenshot and sent it to the Chief’s phone. Just to cover my ass.
“Let’s go.” Remy walked into the bullpen, and I followed. We were probably the last two to arrive, and I was greeted to varying levels of pity and confusion.
Sheriff Jake Findlay stood at the front of the room with the chief, and I knew shit was serious. They were both staring at me with matching expressions.
“You didn’t do it,” Chief Townsend said immediately. “I know that. You know that. We all do.” He nodded to Jake. “But because of the accusation, we can’t investigate Mallory’s murder. We’re handing it off to the Birch County sheriff.”
I fought the urge to say something like a smart-ass. Instead, I nodded and looked over at Amie, who had her arms crossed over her chest, looking as pissed as I felt.
“Bullshit,” she called out unashamedly. “We all know that Royal Prince did this. Linc and I responded to a domestic at his house. Mallory was the victim, but he wasn’t anywhere to be found. And when I did track him down, he had an airtight alibi. There’s no doubt in my mind he did it.”
“And that,” Jake interrupted her. “Is why your department isn’t going to investigate. To us, anyone in law enforcement, your assumption is the right one to make. But we can’t have a defense attorney beating a murder charge on a technicality. Especially with his history.”
Chief nodded, tapping his fingers on the podium in front of him. “There’s a reason this meeting isn’t happening behind closed doors. I want him to hear through the grapevine that we’re not going to play his game. That he’s not going to win that easily.” There was more to it than that, and I knew it. I saw the twitch in his jaw, the rage in his eyes. Chief Townsend knew that Royal hurt his daughter. And if he didn’t pass this off, Royal would end up dead.
“Turn over your reports, any reports that the SO doesn’t already have access to.” He swore under his breath. “Including your body cam footage and field notes,” he added after the fact. “Hayes, Townsend, Lee, Ortiz… Report to my office. Now.”
Everyone dispersed, deputies and officers alike. Logan Pierce, one of the deputies, stopped in front of me. “I’m sorry this shit is happening, Linc. If you need anything, let me know.” His eyes weren’t on me, though. They were looking over my shoulder, where Teri sat in dispatch, currently on the phone. Her voice filtered out into the bullpen, but I couldn’t quite make out what she was saying.
“You know,” Remy said from my side. “She won’t talk about you.”
I looked at him, trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. But he was staring at Logan.
“Teri,” he went on quietly. “I tried asking her about it. How did you fuck it up so badly with her that she won’t even talk about you in any capacity?”
“I lied to her,” Logan said simply. “Killed the love she had for me. It was easier than you’d think.” He walked away without another word, and like a high school drama queen, I wanted more information.
“Later.” Remy nodded toward his retreating back. “That man’s story is a fucked-up one, to say the least. Let’s get this shit over with.”
We were the last two in the chief’s office, and I tried to stand in the back of the room next to the closed door, but he wasn’t having that. He stared at me and then at the empty space next to his desk.
“What is he going to find?” Chief Townsend didn’t beat around the bush. “Have any of you, anyone, done anything that can be seen as intimidation?”
“Yup,” I admitted without guilt. “I threatened him in the bathroom of the courthouse. Benton Mays, another attorney, was there and watched me do it. I told him to stay the fuck away from your daughter.”
Chief made notes on a piece of paper on his desk. “Do you remember the date?”
“Nope. But I had court that day. And Benton will confirm it. I wasn’t exactly hiding it.”