by Brook Wilder
A prickling sensation tickled at the back of his neck, like the teasing touch of a feather, and Joel slowly, laboriously lifted his head and looked back behind him. A shockwave hit him as his eyes collided with hers, silver against the bluest blue he’d ever seen. Carla stared at him, her expression still panicked and fearful but tinged now with a wariness that made him wonder what had happened to her on the short ride to the station. All his protective instincts roared to life inside him for an instant before he remembered that she was the one who was probably behind all this. That this charade was probably just another act to get him to say something to incriminate himself or someone else in the Dirty Cruisers.
Well, he would die before that fucking happened. Joel could practically feel all of his features harden as he stared at her, this woman he’d come to care so much about, this person who had ripped his heart to shreds after he was sure he didn’t even have one. Joel saw those deep blue eyes widen in shock and confusion, but the worst was the hurt.
He couldn’t let it get to him. He had to make sure he kept his crew safe, above all else. He couldn’t let his own bruised emotions make him slip up. With a snarl of disgust, he turned away, and followed the officers in their crisply pressed suits into the small, dirty interrogation room.
*
Carla watched, horror and confusion filling her as Joel was led into the room and the door slammed firmly after them. She could still see the look on his face as he stared at her. The way it had transformed, morphing even as she watched from blank to something so much worse. Anger. Pain. Almost…hatred.
She shook her head. She needed to be strong. For him. For Hot Wheels. For Tucker and Honey, and yes, even Viper. Anything she said, anything she let slip could get them all in trouble, or worse, and she wouldn’t let that happen. She would make Joel proud of her.
The look in his silver eyes flashed into her mind again, and she faltered for a moment, wondering at that look, but Carla shook it off again as one of the officers grabbed her by the wrist, jerking painfully against the hard metal restraints of the cuffs and causing her to wince before shoving her forward.
She glared over her shoulder at him, but it was like glaring at a wall for all the response she got. All through the drive there they had grilled her. Throwing question after question at her, but she had stoically maintained her silence, feeling like something was off the whole time but was unable to put her finger on it.
Carla was surprised when instead of taking her to another interrogation room they brought her to another area well away from the desks and offices and into what looked like a hospital waiting room. There were two old and uncomfortably lumpy looking beige couches pushed up against one peeling wall and a scratched coffee table in between them. There was a small television mounted up in the corner of the ceiling that showed a constant video feed of that area and she realized there must be a camera hidden in the cramped room as well.
The officer released her suddenly, unlocking her cuffs and gesturing for her to take a seat on one of the couches.
“Wait a minute. What’s going on? I thought I was under arrest. What about Joel–?” she pleaded for answers as he turned away.
“You are not under arrest, Miss Jensen. We thought it best to take you both in as…collateral to maintain Mr. Lasseter’s cooperation. You were questioned on the ride over and it was determined that while you may have a relationship with the accused, you don’t have any other vital information to add to the case at this time.” With that, the monotone voiced man began to turn away again, but Carla shot out another question.
“Why am I still here, then? What’s going on?”
“You can’t leave. Not until you’ve been cleared of all suspicion. Remain here, ma’am,” was all he said before he finally exited the small room and left her to stare around blankly, alone and more confused than ever.
Carla took a seat, shifting on the couch that felt as uncomfortable as it looked, and finally settled back with a sigh as she closed her eyes tight against the tears that threatened to fall. The events of the past few hours, hell the past few weeks, were all catching up with her and she prayed she could keep it together until Joel was released. She had a feeling the cop wasn’t telling her everything, she just didn’t know what.
“Hello, Carla,” the familiar voice drawled and her eyes shot open on a sharp gasp. She stared across the coffee table at the man who had taken a seat on the couch facing her, his beady eyes glowing in triumph as they returned her gaze.
“Maurice!” she said, the word breaking as it fell from her mouth in shock and disgust. “What are you…what is this…what the hell is going on here?” she finally forced out, starting to rise to call for help, to be moved. To be locked in a cell. Anything would be better than being alone in the room with him.
“Now, now. I wouldn’t do that just yet,” he said, and his expression pulled into a parody of a concerned smile as he continued to leer at her. “Remember, I was the one who led the police straight to your cozy little hideaway. I was the one who convinced them to take in both of you. And I am the only person standing between you and a jail cell. I convinced them that you don’t know anything, that you’re just an innocent bystander,” Maurice sneered at the word innocent and it made her skin crawl, “but we both know that’s just a lie, isn’t it?”
“I am innocent,” Carla said, her voice low and hard as she forced herself to speak, even knowing it wasn’t the truth.
“Of course you are, sweetheart. Aren’t we all innocent?” he said, leaning back and placing one pudgy arm across the back rest of the couch. It creaked ominously under his girth.
“Just tell me, Maurice. What’s going on here? What do you want?”
“What do I want?” he asked with feigned casualty, “What I’ve always wanted, Carla. You,” his expression twisted into a sick grin as he paused, “safe of course, and out of this whole mess that you dragged yourself into the middle of. It’s no place for simple, naive people like you.”
Maurice made a show of examining his fingernails as if he had no worries in the world, and Carla supposed he didn’t, now. He’d finally gotten what he was after. But there were still questions that nagged at her. Questions that were finally answered as Maurice continued bragging to her.
“You know, I actually should thank you.” His grin twisted even further then and as he leaned forward, the scent of sweat and body odor overwhelmed her she had to lean back, fighting the urge to gag at the emotion shining in his dark, beady eyes. Pure malice, hatred, lust and desire and, underneath that, something bright and gleaming that she would have almost called love if she didn’t already know he wasn’t capable of the feeling. It sent her reeling backwards even farther just to get away from it.
“W–why’s that?” Carla finally stuttered out, more terrified now than she’d ever been of him.
“Because, without even realizing it, you were the one who led us straight to you.”
“No, I didn’t. I know I didn’t. You’re lying,” she denied, her whole body rejecting the idea.
“Oh, you think so?” Maurice smiled again, mischievous and gloating as he pulled out his phone, hit a few keys and then turned it to show her the screen. Her heart started to beat rapidly even as she tried to understand what she was looking at.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered breathily and he cast her a mocking, pitying look.
“I know you don’t. I’ll explain it slowly so you can grasp it.” He pointed with one meaty finger to what looked like a satellite image of the police station. There was a flashing red dot in the middle of it.
“Do you see that? The red point?” Maurice grinned again and she shuddered. He sounded like he was explaining something to a child and that’s what she felt like as he continued, “That’s you. It’s a GPS signal that picks up from your phone and shows me exactly where you are, anytime of the day…or night.” That grin twisted then into something truly terrifying, “You’ve been spending a lot of nights with that scum biker boyfrie
nd of yours but that will stop now. He’ll be thrown in jail and he’ll never see the light of day again, let alone your sweet flesh.”
Maurice reached out a hand towards her as if he meant to caress her face, but Carla jumped up from her seat before he could touch her.
“That’s illegal. That can’t be…that can’t be legal. I’ll just tell them. I’ll tell them that you’ve been–”
“What, Carla?” he sneered, “That I’ve been tracking your every move? That I have proof that you were there for every take down, every step of their illegal moving of the weed? My weed?” His voice hardened on the last, but then softened once more as he shook his head, “No, Carla, you’re not going to tell them anything. And neither am I. Believe me,” Maurice said, leering at her once more as she stood with her arms wrapped around her to ward off the sudden chill that settled over her, “It’s better this way.”
Chapter 26
“…Alright, Miss Jensen,” the officer said placidly as he handed her the purse that they had confiscated at the safe house, “Just sign here stating that you received all of your personal possessions and then you’re free to go.”
“But I…I don’t understand,” Carla said, shaking her head but at the same time taking the clipboard the man handed to her, “I thought I was supposed to be questioned.”
“Mr. Maurice Montero has vouched for your whereabouts and, as it is his property that was taken, and he’s not pressing charges or furthering the investigation, we are letting you go.” He looked up at her then, his cold brown eyes meeting hers and there was a hint of fatherly concern in them, “I suggest you just sign the papers and leave, Ma’am. Go back to your life and pretend this never happened.”
“But what about Joel? I mean…Mr. Lasseter?” Carla said, the pen clutched in one hand and poised above the dotted line that required her signature, “Is he still being held?”
The officer sighed, long and drawn out, obviously at the edge of his patience with her, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t about to leave until she knew he was getting released as well and she had a feeling it wouldn’t be nearly as easy for him as it was for her.
“Mr. Lasseter has been placed under arrest and–”
“I want to see him,” Carla said as firmly as she could, interrupting the officer and he just shook his head slowly.
“He is still under questioning. No one is allowed in there.”
“Well, what about a lawyer? He has the right to an attorney.”
“He does, and he has requested one, but it will unfortunately take…some time for Mr. Lasseter’s attorney to arrive. Until that time, we are free to continue to question him and anything he says will be held against him, if he so chooses to say anything, of course.” There was a hint of a smug smile that passed across his face and that’s when she knew. Whatever was happening in there, it wasn’t good for Joel and there was nothing she could do to help him. Nothing she could do to make it easier for him.
Despair threatened for a moment but then she remembered. All of the times he was there for her, all the times Joel had held her and protected her and stood up for her. All the times he had loved her. And all the times he’d made her say that, no matter what life threw at them, they would face it. Together. Always together. She wasn’t about to just give up on him.
“His lawyer…what’s his name?” Carla asked but the officer just shook his head, unwilling to answer the question.
“That’s none of your concern,” he sighed again, pointing to the clip board still clutched in her hands, “Just sign the form and return home, ma’am.”
Carla took her time signing the form, wracking her brain for something, anything she might be able to do or say that would help. She scoured the top of the officer’s desk with a fervent gaze, her eyes just alighting on a piece of paper with a scrawled name and phone number, but before she could memorize it, Maurice was there. He grabbed the clipboard with her signed name and handed it back to the officer before scooping up her purse from the edge of the desk and turning towards the exit.
“Thank you so much for your help in this matter, Officer. I’ll just make sure my employee gets home safely.”
“That’s real good of you, sir,” the cop basically preened as he nodded towards Maurice and Carla could only look on in confused horror as he continued, “And don’t worry, we’ll make sure we find out where your property is and do everything in our power to get it back for you.”
Something sneaky shifted behind Maurice’s smile and Carla couldn’t put her finger on it, but a moment later, he wrapped a hand around her upper arm and lead her forcefully from the police station and her thought was lost. She struggled against his grip, trying to free her arm but he didn’t let her go until they were through the doors, into the parking lot, and stopped before a tan four door sedan that she recognized all too well.
“What the hell do you think you’re–”
“I would think really hard and really deep about what you say next if I were you.” He stared at her, his beady eyes harsh in the bright sunlight. He pulled out his phone and waved it back and forth in his grasp as he moved towards the driver side. “Get in,” he ordered, “I’m driving you home.”
“No, you’re not,” Carla shot back, her gut clenching at just the thought of climbing into the car with him.
He turned, his dark gaze meeting hers once more and she saw the honest sincerity in his voice as he spoke.
“Carla, I’m tired of your games. Get in the car or I’ll go back in there and give them everything that I have on you, and your precious boyfriend. Right now, all they have is circumstantial evidence but I can give them hard proof of what you were doing and both of you will be locked away for a long, long time. Now, do you really want me to do that?”
He didn’t even wait for an answer, he just jerked open the door and slid his bulk into the driver’s seat, making the car dip lightly as he did. Carla didn’t even try to provide an answer. Instead, she too opened her door and tentatively slid inside, hugging the passenger’s side door to put as much space between them as she could.
Maurice started the car and the tension in the air between them was enough to choke on as he started the drive back towards her home.
“My address is–”
“I know,” he said simply, with a leering grin towards her, “I know where you live, I know everywhere you go. Remember that.”
That silenced her, making the uncomfortable prickling of her skin double as her whole body screamed for her to get away from him, but there was nothing she could do. Not for herself, and sure as hell not for Joel. The thought broke her heart and the miles sped by in a unseen blur, mountains and blue skies on either side but she didn’t see those either. It was only Joel. Just him. She held his image in her mind like a talisman, using it to give herself strength because, just then, she felt like she didn’t have any at all.
“I want to thank you for something else, Carla,” Maurice said, his face still pointed forwards but his eyes kept shifting over towards her. She ignored him but that didn’t stop him, “I wanted to thank you for getting my merchandise back.” That finally caught her attention and she whipped her head towards him.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if it weren’t for you I would be out hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of marijuana. Because of you, I got it all back. I know it was completely unintentional on your part but still,” he paused, leering at her as they pulled into the driveway of her home, “I can be a very generous man when I’m feeling grateful.”
His hand moved, as fast as a snake, to brush across her thigh as he pulled the car to a stop and she jumped out while it was still moving, uncaring of anything else except for the need to get away from him. Disgust made her heart beat race and her breath gasp from her lungs as she turned to slam the door shut, but his next words stopped her, shocking the hell out of her.
“I’ll see you tomorrow at work, Carla.” It wasn’t a question as he stared at her, his voice nonchalant as if
nothing had just happened.
“Excuse me?” she spat out, some of her shock and anger leeching out in her words and he just shrugged again, uncaring.
“I said I’ll see you at work tomorrow. And I will, Carla, I will see you, otherwise I’ll take everything I have and take it back to the police and you can kiss your freedom, and whatever slim chance your boyfriend has goodbye. Do you understand me?”
Carla stood there for a long moment, unable to force out even a single word in answer, but that was enough for him. Maurice nodded his head.
“That’s what I thought,” he said, smirking at her before reaching over, slamming the passenger door shut and backing out of the drive. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, his words echoing over and over in her mind like landmines exploding. Finally she forced herself to turn around and walk inside.
It felt like years since she’d been home, so much had happened, so much had changed in so short a time that she could barely even process it, but two things kept running over and over in her mind. The first was what Maurice had said about getting all the weed back, but she knew that when Hot Wheels had been detained, she’d only had a small portion of it. And the other was the name and phone number she’d seen scrawled on the desk of that police officer. The name had been a Mr. Smithe, John or James, she hadn’t been able to make out the first name, but it was the phone number that she tried to recall and couldn’t.
