“You ready?”
“No. But let’s go anyway.”
“There’s my tough girl.”
I open her door and help her out of the truck. Hand in hand, we walk up the steps to the double doors. Holding the door open for her, I let her lead the way inside. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust from the bright sunlight outside to the darkened interior. I spot a tall lanky gentleman heading our way. The man practically screams, I’m a lawyer.
“Ms. Stephens, Mr. Livingston,” he says as he shakes our hands.”I’m Charles Vickers. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I just wish it was under different circumstances.”
“Believe me, we do too.” Drawing Mallory under my arm, I hug her to me.
“I have asked for us to be taken to a room so we can talk in private before we speak with the detective.”
A uniformed officer appears, leading us down the hall to a room. Mr. Vickers checks over the room before sitting at the table with us.
“I needed to make sure we had total confidentiality in here. Now, from what I understand, this is total bullshit. Just a daddy trying to throw his weight around.”
“Where does that leave me?” she asks nervously.
“Unfortunately, it leaves you as the scapegoat for his political gain.”
“Political gain?”
“My sources are telling me he is planning to run for senator in the next election. What better way to win the sympathy vote than to have a murdered son? The poor, grieving parents who want to make changes in the world to make a better place for other children.”
“You have got to be kidding me! All this because he wants to win fucking votes,” I explode.
“You’ve got it.”
“What’s the gameplan? How do we get her out of this?” Reaching over, I clasp Mallory’s hand in mine. It’s trembling, causing the protective instincts in me to rise.
“When I was retained after the initial incident, I had my private investigator looking into Josh Anderson Buchanan. It seems daddy’s heir has a troubled side. Your friend wasn’t the first girl he stalked, or the second. Every time he was called out on his behavior, Daddy had it swept under the rug either by bribery, coercion, or force.”
“Jesus, those poor women.” Pity colors Mallory’s voice.
“How does this help Mallory?”
Mr. Vickers steeples his hands as his elbows rest on the metal table. “Since Mr. Buchanan wants to push this issue, we’re going to push back. We have enough information on his son that it could blow his whole campaign. If this issue is dropped by the Buchanans, I will not release the information we have gathered. Pretty cut and dry.” The grin that crosses his face makes me glad he’s on our side.
“Is the information you have that damning, they’ll just give up this vendetta and leave her alone?” Gently, I squeeze her hand reassuringly. “I just want her to be left the hell alone.”
“Trust me, they will drop all of this once Mr. Buchanan sees what we have. If I turn it over, their son could be accused of murder with his father as an accomplice.”
“M-M-Murder?” Mallory stutters out, paling.
“There is no concrete evidence for that, but there is enough of a trail to two missing girls that may lead to that conclusion.” He directs his next question to Mallory.
“Ms. Stephens, do you have any questions before we meet with the detectives and the district attorney?”
“Do you want to ask about that night?”
“I’ve read the transcripts from your previous statements. Do you recall what was said?”
“I relive it nearly every night in my dreams. I know what happened,” she murmurs.
“Once I present what I have, I believe that will be the end of it. But just in case they do start to question you, stick to the original story. Try not to vary. They will have you repeat it over and over to get you to trip up. Keep calm, cool, and collected. If you are unsure of anything, defer to me.”
“I’m ready. Can Jason come in with us?”
“No, they won’t let him.”
As we head out of the room, Detective Reinhard and another man are standing outside the door. This man looks like a typical lawyer. Slicked back black hair, sharp brown eyes that miss nothing, and a gray suit that probably costs more that some people’s mortgages
“Ms. Stephens, Mr. Vickers, are you ready to answer our questions?”
“Yes, we are. Is Mr. Buchanan here in the building?”
“Yes, he is. When he heard we were bringing her in for questioning, he wanted to be present.”
“That’s unusual isn’t it, Mr. Johnson? For a parent to be allowed to be present when a person is brought in for questioning? Must be nice to have that kind of power over the DA. Oh, excuse me, Ms. Stephens, Mr. Livingston, this is District Attorney Philip Johnson. I believe you have already meet Detective Reinhard.”
“We met him this morning.” I nod in the detective’s direction.
“Enough, Vickers, lets get this show on the road,” Johnson replies impatiently.
“For a DA, you’re awfully short tempered, Johnson. Guilty conscious, perhaps?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Johnson reaches up and adjusts his tie as if the lie is hard to swallow.
“Of course you don’t. Wouldn’t be seemly for you to admit Buchanan has you in his pocket. What did he promise you? A district court judgeship?”
“I’ll sue you for slander,” Johnson retorts, face reddening.
“It’s not slander when it’s the truth. And I believe I have some information Mr. Buchanan may want to know about before we go in there for questioning.”
“And what might that be?” a booming voice asks from behind us. Turning, I glare at the man trying to make my woman’s life hell. Tall, with a receding hairline, ruddy complexion and a big pot belly that hangs over the top of his pants, he stares at us with beady little eyes. Beside him is a petite blonde with perfectly coiffed hair and a pressed blue suit.
“Mr. Buchanan, I’m Charles Vickers. I believe I have some information you need to review before this goes any further.”
“You have nothing I want. This young lady needs to pay for her crime,” he says, slashing his arm through the air.
“What crime? It was already ruled self-defense. What I don’t understand it why this is brought up now? Just when you decided to run for office? What a coincidence.”
At Mr. Buchanan’s indrawn breath, I’m guessing it’s not out that he’s running. Score one for Vickers.
“Johnson, maybe I better have a word with Mr. Vickers.”
“If that’s what you want, Mr. Buchanan. The room right behind you is free. I will have Ms. Stephens taken to an interrogation room in the meantime.”
“You will not question my client without me present, counselor,” Vickers reminds him.
“Of course not. She will remain in the room alone. Her friend can wait in the lobby.”
I pull Mallory to me and give her a quick kiss. Leaning in, I whisper, “It’s going to be okay. I can feel it. I’ll be waiting right here when you get through. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Catching movement out the corner of my eye, I watch Detective Reinhard walk up to us.
“Ms. Stephens, if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to the room.”
With a nod, he leads her away, and the knot in my stomach tightens with every step she takes away.
Blowing out a long breath, I wait until he has her in the room before I go to the lobby, impatient for her to return to me.
Pacing the floor, the lady behind the glass watches me, bracing like I’m about to go crazy. It’s been over two hours since Mallory was taken to the interrogation room and there has been no word from anyone.
Maybe she has cause to watch me. If I don’t hear anything soon, I will tear this place apart to get to her.
At my turn to face the hallway she went down, I see her walking toward the lobby with Vickers, but the girl walking toward me is
not the Mallory I’ve been with lately. This is more like the Mallory from a few months ago. Head down, shoulders rounded, no eye contact with anyone.
I hurry toward her and she looks up with tears in her eyes. Wrapping her small frame in my arm seems to shake her loose, and big wrenching sobs tear free.
“What the fuck happened in there? I thought you said this would go way.”
“It has. There are no charges being presses against Ms. Stephens. On the other hand, someone is being charged with a crime against Ms. Davidson.”
“Against Kristen? Who? And for what? Josh is dead,” I ask, confused.
“His accomplice and the one who stabbed her in the parking lot. Stephanie Mitchell.”
“Derek’s ex-girlfriend? What does she have to do with any of this?”
“Maybe we should all gather at Brian’s house and discuss this since it involves more than just the two of you.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me. I’ll start making calls after I talk with Mallory.”
“I’ll head to Brian’s. He’s expecting everyone to meet there. You two have a good rest of the day. And, Mallory, you did a wonderful job in there. I’m proud of you.”
Her muffled, “Thanks,” against my chest has me loosening my grip. Gazing down into her beautiful eyes, I ask, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, I think. It was just a lot of questions. And it brought all of these emotions to the surface. I didn't break in there, but as soon as I walked out the door, it was like I couldn’t hold it in anymore.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”
“I thought I was going to faint when the DA came back in and said there would be no charges filed. I guess what Charles had on Mr. Buchanan was rather important.”
“Then why the hell did they have to question you?”
“To keep up pretenses, more than likely. He couldn’t very well drop the charges since Buchanan said so.”
“I still don’t like that bastard.”
“I don’t either.”
Leaning down, I softly kiss her lips, then the top of her head.
“Let’s go home.”
“Lead the way.”
“Wait, wait, wait. You’re telling me my ex-girlfriend stabbed Kristen in the Walmart parking lot?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m telling you,” Vickers bites out. I’m not sure how many times Derek can ask the question. It won’t change the answer.
“I don’t think he ever fully believed it when I told him it was her. If I hadn’t seen her with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have either.” Kristen leans over and lays her head on Derek’s shoulder.
“How the hell did Stephanie become involved in all of this? She and Derek have been broken up for years. Way before he and Kristen got together.”
“From what the PI could ascertain, they had a previous relationship a few years ago. He was able to obtain phone records for both Josh and Stephanie. When Kristen dumped Josh…”
“It was one freaking date!” Kristen cries out.
“One date or not, Josh considered you his. Then you got involved in a relationship with Derek. I assume at this point Josh has been off of his meds for a while.”
“His meds?” Mallory asks.
“Yes, his psychiatrist had him on a complex regimen to keep his mind intact for lack of a better word. When he stopped taking his medications was when this happened. Not just with Ms. Daniels, but all the other woman he stalked.”
“In his mind, if he could take Derek out of the equation, you would only be with him. He wasn’t counting on Stephanie’s amount of crazy.”
“Stephanie wasn’t crazy. A cheating bitch? Yes, but not crazy”
“Crazy or not, she decided it would be easier to get Kristen out of the picture so she could get back with you, Derek. That was the plan, at least. You and Kristen would break up, see the light, and fall back in love with your exes. Derek, she had what amounted to a shrine in her apartment.”
“What are they charging Stephanie with?” I ask.
“Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.”
“Wait, wait, wait. You are telling me,” Derek points to Vickers, then himself, “my ex-girlfriend and Josh had a relationship at some point, and when Kristen and I got together, they teamed up to break us up? But Stephanie decided it wasn’t enough and tried to kill Kristen?”
“Basically, yes.”
“Who tried to break into Kris’ apartment?” Mallory asks.
“They believe it was a team effort. When the video was reviewed from the complex, there were two individuals seen. No positive ID was made on either as they had the entirety of their faces covered. Stephanie admitted she was there during questioning. One of the head coverings was also found in Josh’s truck when it was impounded.”
“What was their plan? Do they know?” Brett asks from behind us. He’s been so quiet, I almost forgot he was there.
“From what my sources tell me, Stephanie admitted they were going to break in and kidnap Kristen.” I look sharply at Derek when I hear him growl. “They were not aware the other girls were present.”
“That was stupid of them. What kind of friends would Cam and I be to leave our friend, who had just been discharged from the hospital, by herself?”
“I believe, at this point, neither party had their full faculties or they would have realized someone else was there.
“How did they get the electricity off?” Mallory asks.
“The maintenance man had left the utility room unlocked. All he had to do was go in a flip the main breaker.”
“Geez, one freaking mistake from one man. Because as soon as the electricity was cut off, so was the alarm.”
“Yes. Stephanie was unsure what happened after that. After they entered the apartment and found it empty, Josh left her there. She went out the back door, walked to a store, called a friend, and had her pick her up.”
“And with that bastard dead, we’ll never know what his end game was when he crashed into the girls.”
“At this point, we can only surmise his true intentions.”
“At least now we have some answers. That makes me feel better.” Derek wraps his arm around Kristen’s shoulder and hugs her close.
Jason
We’ve all been breathing a sigh of relief since the charges were dropped with Mallory and Stephanie’s trial begins next month. I guess the holidays are a busy time or the DA is just putting it off since he doesn’t want his plans disrupted. Stephanie wasn’t able to make bail and has been sitting in a cell since she was arrested for stabbing Kris.
To celebrate, we’ve all decided to go to Bora Bora for the holidays. Me, Mal, Cam, Kris, Derek, Isaac, Brett, and Brian, along with our families. It’s costing us a pretty penny, but it’s worth it to all be together. In the sunshine. They’re calling for snow this week, and Texas people were not born to drive in snow. We shut everything down because of the idiot drivers.
And Derek has been sneaky about this trip. He and Kristen planned it all. From our flights to the hotels. The rest of us were told to sit back and relax. Of course, since they’re using a travel agent, it may have made things easier on their end too.
Derek and I are sitting around in his living room while the girls are making cookies inside the main house with his mother. As soon as he gets up to get us another beer, his phone rings from where it’s sitting on the table in front out me. Of course, I can’t help but glance at the screen.
“Dude, who the hell is Melody?”
“Oh shit, answer it! We’ve been playing phone tag!”
Swiping my thumb across to accept the call, I answer, “Derek’s phone. Jason speaking.”
“Oh, hello. This is Melody with Bucket List Travel Agency. I’m trying to reach Derek. Is he available?”
“Yes, he is. Let me hand him the phone.” The phone is practically jerked out of my hand when Derek reaches me.
“Melody? Hey, it’s Derek.” After a series of “uh huh”, “okay,” and other
grunted out replies, I tune him out. “Everything is in place? No problems? Great. Thank you so much for pulling all of this together for us so quickly.”
After a few more seconds of one-sided conversation, he says, “I’ll check my email as soon as we hang up. Thank you again,” then ends the call with the goofiest look on his face.
“I’m guessing Melody is the one planning our trip?”
“Yes. It’s going to be epic. I’m happy she was able to accomplish all we asked.”
“No offense, but how hard is it to book us some flights and hotel rooms? I’m just ready to get on a beach with my girl in a hot ass bikini and some fruity drinks.”
“I hear ya. We had some special things planned, and that’s what we’re trying to make happen. It was a little short notice for some of them.
“What things?”
“Paddle boarding, kayaking, group dinners, that sort of thing. It’s a rather large group of us going, and it took a little longer to arrange everything.”
“What time is our flight out?”
“Wednesday at ten a.m. We need to be there by eight at the latest. That’ll put us in Bora Bora around six Thursday morning.
“Sounds good. I know Mallory has been packed since yesterday. She’s been chomping at the bit to leave.” I chuckle.
“Kristen, too. I think this is the first vacation in a long time for all of us.”
“I hope y'all didn’t plan out the entire thing. I want to spend some alone time with my girl, if ya feel me.”
“Don’t worry. I have my girl to spend time with. The only big thing is Friday night. Otherwise, it’s just a few hours a day we will spend as a group doing fun stuff.”
“What’s special about Friday night?”
“It’s a surprise.” His eyes dart from mine when he says it, and he takes a drink of his beer.
“Dude, you're awfully cagey about this. What the hell is going on?”
“If I tell you, I’d have to kill you.”
“Derek.”
He huffs an exasperated sigh. “If I tell you, then you’ll tell Mallory. No way will you be able to keep it to yourself.”
“I never let it slip when you and Kristen first hooked up.”
Break Me Down: Silver Tongued Devils Series Book 2 Page 20
