I need to pack up and hit the road, but it’s impossible to think or move with my heart racing, worried about Nash as a herd of footsteps move around above my head, searching Nash’s things, trying to find evidence to prove he’s a murderer.
Chapter Fifteen
Nash
* * *
“What the hell is going on?” I ask Malcolm when he finally strolls up on the pier thirty minutes after Dev, Wirth, Fiasco, Silas and I arrived.
“Sorry it took so long. I had to make sure there were no bugs or trackers on my bike or phone.”
“Bugs?” Fiasco asks.
“The ones police use as fucking listening devices,” Malcolm mutters. “Right before I reached out to you all I got a call from Daisy in the clerk’s office, criminal division. We hooked up on the regular back before Naomi and I got together; and, thankfully, she’s still loyal. She wanted to give me a heads up that she had just seen some warrants come across her desk with Nash’s name on them.”
“I fucking knew it!” I mutter. I’ve had a bad feeling for weeks. Not just the guilt, but the paranoia that eventually we would get caught and thrown in prison for life. This is another reason why I held back with Lucy. “Let me guess – murder?”
“They’re only search warrants right now. But apparently, you’ve been named as a suspect. They want you to come in for questioning,” Malcolm says, making everyone curse.
“Just Nash?” Dev asks in surprise, his face paling. “Not all of us?”
“Just Nash for now.”
“Maybe they want to try and set him up to rat,” Wirth grumbles.
“That will never fucking happen,” I assure them.
“We know that, dickhead,” Malcolm replies with a shake of his head. “Anyway, as soon as I called you all, I reached out to Jay Hughes, the criminal attorney we keep on retainer. He says he needs a few days to find out what the district attorney has on you as far as evidence, how strong the case is and all that shit before you go in to answer their questions. He doesn’t think he’ll get anywhere until Monday or Tuesday. He was able to confirm that the sheriff does have a warrant to search your apartment and vehicles, but no one else’s yet.”
“Fuck! What the hell am I supposed to do now? If I go in for questioning, I may spend the rest of my life locked up,” I mutter.
“That’s why you’re not going to do anything just yet,” Malcolm says. “If you go in today and they arrest you, you’re done, locked up until the trial; and Jay won’t be able to tell us what they have or sit down and figure out a defense with us as a group. He wants you to try to lay low and stay out of sight until he knows more details, rather than have you sit in an interrogation room for days without knowing their hand.”
“How the hell is he supposed to do that?” Wirth asks. “The sheriff’s department will be watching his place, all of ours, the pool hall, and every other joint in town!”
“That’s why Nash needs to get the fuck out of town for a few days,” Malcolm says. “Jay said that if you do decide to leave, don’t go out of the country or the police could think you’re trying to bolt. He said to stay just a few towns away, but you can’t take any vehicles registered in your name or one of ours. That’s too easy to track, and other law enforcement agencies may be looking for them. You also can’t use any public transportation, credit cards or bank cards. And you need to throw your phone in the ocean right fucking now.”
“That doesn’t leave me with a whole hell of a lot of options!” I exclaim. “Where am I supposed to go without a ride, money, or any of my shit?”
“It’s just for a few days, at least until Monday to give Jay time to wrap his head around everything. And you’re not wanted. Not yet at least,” Malcolm grumbles.
“I would tell you to take Jetta’s car, but they may already be watching my place and tail her if she leaves,” Dev offers.
“No, I don’t want to drag Jetta’s name into this any more than necessary after what she’s been through,” I say as I try and think fast. “Oh fuck! Lucy’s leaving today, going down to Charleston for a wedding this weekend. Maybe I could ask her to come by here and pick me up on the way.”
“You really think dragging Lucy into this is a good idea but not Jetta?” Malcolm asks, acting all protective of her yet again, for some unknown reason.
“Lucy won’t have to know anything. I would keep her in the dark, and the police would have no reason to go after her, unlike Jetta, who could be badgered into talking. Her cousin’s wedding would make it easy to hide and not spend money.”
“Why would you want to go to this fucking wedding of all places this weekend?” Malcolm grunts.
“What other choice do I have? Any of you got a better idea?” I seethe. “I bet none of us have enough cash on us to get me to the South Carolina border.”
“I’m still trying to figure out what kind of bug can track people. That’s super sick, bro!” Fiasco says, never any help when we need him.
“The Lucy girl may be your best bet, man,” Silas agrees. “You can hitch a ride with her, stay out of the public eye, and then come back to town next week once the attorney knows what’s going on.”
“I bet it was that goddamn bodyguard!” Dev grumbles. “We should’ve killed him.”
“I agree,” Malcolm grits out. “It’s not too late to correct that error in judgement. I’ll see if my PI can track that motherfucker down. But, Nash, you need to get the fuck out of here now,” he says, pointing his finger at me.
“Yeah,” I agree. “Let me borrow your phone so I can call Lucy. Hopefully she hasn’t left yet,” I say as I pull out my phone and memorize her number before launching the device into the waves below us.
“You may regret this more than prison,” it sounds like Malcolm mutters as he hands over the phone.
“What?” I ask him after punching in the numbers and putting the phone to my ear.
“Nothing,” he says before he looks out into the ocean and pops a stick of gum into his mouth.
I take a few steps away from the guys, who are still talking among themselves, just as Lucy answers.
“Malcolm! I’m about to walk out the door. Can I call you when I’m on the road?”
Jesus, she has his contact info in her phone? What the fuck is up with that? I know it’s nothing sexual, because Malcolm would never stray from Naomi, so it must mean they’ve been talking to each other frequently – about me. I’ll worry about that later.
“Lucy, it’s Nash,” I tell her, and there’s silence on the other end of the line for so long that I have to look at the screen to see if we got disconnected. “You there?”
“Yeah, sorry. What’s up?” she asks, her voice sounding off. Maybe it’s because of how we left shit, me shoving my tongue down her throat, ready to rip our clothes off. It could’ve been too much too soon even though I made it clear I wanted her. We can hash that shit out later, though.
“Well, this is going to sound sort of crazy, but do you think I could crash your cousin’s wedding?”