My grin faded.
That’s why I’m here.
I thanked her and sat down in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs lining the room.
***
“So here I am.” I shrugged at him.
“Here you are.” He pulled out a notepad and a pen. “I’m assuming you have something you need to tell me.”
We sat opposite one another in a room entirely empty other than the chairs we sat on, and the table between us. I’d been in rooms like this, possibly even this very room, but always as a representative for a criminal or a victim – being the one in the firing line was new to me.
“Aren’t you supposed to tell me I have the right to a lawyer?” I tried to joke.
He chuckled. “Would you like a lawyer, Mr. Hunt?”
“Harrison,” I corrected him.
“Harrison. Would you like a lawyer?”
I shook my head and took a deep breath. “I’ve come to tell you a story, detective.”
“Anthony,” he corrected me.
I nodded once, grateful for the informality.
“Anthony.”
He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “Well then. Let’s hear it.”
***
“So, you’re telling me, that you’re here to confess not only to regular assault, buying and selling drugs, breaking and entering, stalking and misuse of resources... but that you also were involved in the death of one of this city’s biggest criminal masterminds? And to top it all off, you’ve been in some type of illegal partnership with former officer Max Barceló?”
He listed off the offences on his fingers, a slight smirk playing on his lips. “Am I missing anything?”
“I think that about covers it.”
I’d told him everything, every last detail. It was enough to put me away for a very long time – I was well aware of that. But having all of this off my chest – it was worth it. One day, when I got out, I could look Quinn in the eye and know I’d finally been completely honest.
“Well. That’s one hell of a story.” He didn’t seem shocked, which I was confused about, but since he also wasn’t handcuffing me and throwing me in a cell, I’d take it.
“What are you going to charge me with?” I asked him. I wanted to know how many years I was facing. He could throw the whole book at me if he wanted to. And he probably would, the guy didn’t seem to like me very much.
He ignored my question. “You know, we had three undercover cops working on the Berkley case, trying to infiltrate their gang.” He rubbed at the stubble on his chin in contemplation. “Three. And they couldn’t even get close. You believe that?”
I looked at him in confusion.
“And yet, you just walked on in there and got to him.”
I shrugged. “Like you pointed out, I had connections.”
“Barceló,” he stated.
“Yeah. He knew all of their hangouts.”
He looked me in the eyes. “Do you know why that is, Harrison?”
“I dunno. I guess he runs in those circles now.”
He shook his head. “Not just now. He always has. That man was the dirtiest cop I’ve ever encountered. And those guys you were picking off one by one?”
I nodded.
“You were doing him a favor... eliminating the competition, if you will.”
My heart pounded in my chest.
“No,” I growled. “That’s not right.”
“Jimmy Jones, Chaz Lincoln, Sonny Redwick, Gunner Dent... they’re all locked up and out of the business now, thanks to you.”
He uncrossed and re-crossed his arms. “But has there been a decrease in the crimes?”
I’d never thought about it like that. But he was right. I’d got a lot of men put behind bars, but crime rates were still just as high.
Motherfucker.
“He’s been picking up the slack,” I stated dumbly.
Anthony nodded. “He’s got more power now than you’d believe.”
I took a minute to process what he was telling me.
I glanced at the pad of paper in front of him. There wasn’t a single word on it. Yet he’d recited dates, names, details... almost like he was familiar with them.
The light bulb in my brain flickered to life.
When I looked up at him, he was watching me carefully.
“You knew,” I stated.
He nodded, and my fist came down hard on the table in front of me.
“I’ve been watching you, Harrison.”
I couldn’t believe it.
“How long?” I ground out.
He shifted in his seat. “Since before you started getting... shall we say... creative.”
My jaw dropped. “You knew everything, and you did nothing? Why? Why not say something?”
“I need your word, Hunt, this stays in this room. I’ve waited a long time for you to come clean.”
I nodded stiffly. This was getting way above my head. I was in this thing deeper than I’d ever even realized. “Fine with me,” I mumbled.
“That officer that was with me when we visited you in the hospital?”
I nodded, remembering the younger man’s face.
“He and I are the only ones that know what has really been happening around here. We’ve tracked you for a while now. We were intrigued by the man putting all these lowlifes behind bars.” He chuckled. “I gotta say, I’m impressed with some of the beatings you took just to get a conviction.”
He was right to be impressed. I’d taken some serious bashings.
“But we weren’t too worried about it, so we let you be.”
“If a guy wants to get his ass whooped you let him, right?” I interjected.
“Exactly.” He smirked. “But then once we saw Barceló was involved, I knew we had an in with you. We already knew your patterns, your movements, so we used you, to track him.”
“Did you follow me everywhere?” I asked.
“We were there that night.”
I couldn’t think of anything to say. I just stared at him, dumbfounded, and waited for an explanation.
“We couldn’t step in. We were outnumbered seven to two. We wouldn’t have had a hope,” he explained.
“There were so many.” I shuddered as I thought about it.
“I thought they’d beat up on you and leave you there.”
I could almost hear their yelling, their taunting, in my mind.
“But they were gonna kill you, son.”
I hung my head. He was confirming what I already knew. The only piece of the puzzle I had missing was what caused them to stop.
“I fired a shot into the air. They scampered like a bunch of wild cats.”
“You called the ambulance.”
It was all falling into place now.
He nodded. “My partner did. We waited with you until we heard the sirens, and then we left you lying there alone.”
I was dumbfounded. Coming in here, this was the last thing I’d expected to hear him say.
“I killed a man,” I stated. “You can’t just ignore that.”
“You pushed a man,” he corrected. “You didn’t kill him, Harrison.”
I laughed humorlessly. “So, you’re just going to let me walk out of here?”
“No.” He shook his head. “You’re going to agree to do me a favor... then I’ll let you walk out of here.”
“She’s strong, but she’s exhausted.”
- R. H. Sin
47. Quinn
“I brought Stella to see you,” El insisted after I’d failed to get up and talk to her.
“I’m not feeling well. I might have a bug. Better keep her away,” I lied. Truth was, I just didn’t want to get up and face the world. Not today.
“Get out of that bed and come and see her, Quinn, or I swear to God I’m admitting you to some type of facility. Jesus Christ. She misses you.” El’s voice was pissed off now.
A tear rolled down my cheek and onto my pillow.
“She does?
” I asked timidly.
“Of course she does,” El replied, her voice softer now. “We all do, Quinn.”
Another tear rolled down my cheek.
“Wanty Coo?” Stella’s voice called down the hallway. “Wheeere arrre wuuuu?”
“Please, Q,” El pleaded. “Please get up. It’ll be good for you.”
***
El was right, seeing Stella was the best thing for me. She was the only one that didn’t look at me like I’d lost my mind anymore.
“What are we going to do about work, Quinn? I really could use you back.”
I’d been on leave for six weeks. I knew I wasn’t being fair on El, or the company, but I couldn’t work like this. I couldn’t focus, hell, I could barely stay awake.
“I don’t think I’m up to it, El. Maybe you should just replace me.”
I avoided looking at her as I answered, fiddling with Stella’s cup instead.
Ellerslie didn’t say a word, but I could feel her eyes boring holes into me.
I finally plucked up the courage to face her. I looked at my best friend, my sister-in-law and saw the disappointment in her eyes.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I pleaded, disappointed in myself for letting her down.
She sighed. “I don’t know what to do with you, Quinn. I’ve tried to be here for you, when that didn’t work, I gave you space... I make you food, talk to you...” She shook her head. “But nothing is working. I don’t know what more I can do.” Her voice cracked.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “I’ll try and do better for you.”
“It’s not about me,” she snapped. “It’s about you. What the hell happened to you, Q? You’re the strongest person I know. You’re the sassy, fierce one... you ripped Baxter a new asshole when he hurt me. What happened to you?”
“Love happened to me,” I snapped back at her. I could feel the tears threatening to spill. “He happened to me. I know we weren’t married, or even engaged. But I thought he was it. He is it.”
“Quinn—” El had an apologetic look on her face.
I didn’t give her a chance to apologize.
“How would you be coping if it were Lawson? If he’d given you no choice but to leave? If he was out there risking his life and there wasn’t a damn thing you could do about it?”
I realized I was yelling at this point and I took a deep, ragged breath.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, gaining control of my emotions again. El looked like she was going to cry.
Shit... I’m such a bitch.
Stella peeped around the corner. “Momma cwying.”
Her heartbroken little voice cut me deep to my core.
“I’m sorry El.” I whispered.
She shook her head and pulled me in for a hug.
“Momma’s fine, Stella girl. She just got an ouch,” I tried to reassure Stella over El’s shoulder.
“Bwand waid!” She hollered as she ran off in the direction of the bathroom and box of Mickey Mouse band-aids.
El burst out laughing.
“She’s so sweet, El.”
“She really misses you.” She sniffed.
“I know. I’m so sorry I’m not handling this better.”
“Oh god, Q, no. I get it... He’s your Lawson. I’m sorry, I just feel so helpless.”
I hugged her tight; I knew there was nothing she could do except for be there for me. The only thing that was going to fix this was him.
He’s my Lawson.
***
Hours after El left I got a text message from her.
“Who You Are – Jessie J.”
I searched for the song on Spotify and cried my way through the whole thing.
“It’s okay not to be okay...”
48. Harrison
This was without a doubt the most intimidating thing I’d ever done. It was one hundred times more terrifying than the conversation I’d had with the detective yesterday and undoubtedly induced more fear than the favor he’d asked of me.
I rang the bell and fought the urge to run back to my car and get the hell out of here while I still had both my kneecaps intact.
The door opened, and I gulped.
Lawson was shirtless... and huge. I’d talked myself into thinking he wasn’t as massive as I knew him to be. It was like he knew my thoughts, and whipped his top off just to taunt me.
“Oh c’mon, man, what the fuck do you want?” He reached up and held onto the top of the doorframe, his huge body filling the entire space.
This is gonna fucking hurt.
“Who is it?” I heard Ellerslie call from somewhere inside the house.
“You don’t even want to know, pretty girl,” he called back over his shoulder.
He turned back to me. “You better hope like hell that she doesn’t come out here.”
I almost cracked a smile, thinking he was kidding. But the utter seriousness in his expression told me he wasn’t joking.
“I just need to talk to you, I—”
“Well, well, well. What the hell do we have here?” Ellerslie interrupted me, sliding around Lawson’s body.
Ellerslie was Quinn’s best friend, sister even, and I knew that by hurting Quinn, I’d hurt Ellerslie too. I also was well aware that the combination of hurting those two women would put me right at the top of the man in front of me’s shit list.
“I needed to come here, to apologize and try to explain.” I told them.
“You came to the wrong place,” Lawson stated as he wrapped an arm around his wife. I almost flinched at the sight of his bicep bulging.
“I’m going to see Quinn right after, I just needed to say—”
“Don’t you go there. You’ll just hurt her more.” Ellerslie stepped towards me as she spoke.
“I’m different now, I’ve been—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” she interrupted me. “You’ve been nothing but bad news for her.”
“You don’t understand,” I pleaded with her. “I’m—”
“I don’t understand?” she yelled. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
She looked back at Lawson. “Is he fucking kidding me?”
Lawson shrugged, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
“You’re the one that doesn’t understand, Harrison.” She jabbed a finger into my chest, and I had to give her credit. The girl had balls. “You have no idea what it’s been like to try and pick that poor girl back up after you—”
“I love her,” I interrupted her. I couldn’t stand here and hear what a mess Quinn was. I was getting desperate, I needed to fix her.
“You love her?” Ellerslie shrieked the words back at me. “I just... I can’t... you make me so...” She was so angry she couldn’t speak.
I never even saw it coming.
She socked me right in the face. She had a killer right hook, I’d give her that. My head snapped around and I knew that was going to come up in one hell of a bruise tomorrow.
Jesus.
It was a good shot; I could almost feel my brain rattling around in my head as I tried to focus on the pair in front of me.
Lawson grabbed Ellerslie and tucked her into his huge frame. Shushing and comforting her like she was the one who had just been punched in the face.
“Oh my God,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry.”
She was crying now.
Shit.
“Are you okay?” I asked her, I reached out for her, but pulled my hand back at the last minute, thinking better of it.
Dammit!
The last thing I needed on my conscience was her having a broken hand. I lightly pressed the spot she’d hit.
Ow fuck.
She peeked out at me. “I am so sorry,” she choked out quietly.
I gave her a small smile. “Don’t be. I deserve a lot worse than that.”
She grimaced.
“I’m serious,” I told her. “I knew coming here that I was going to get smacked in the head. I just figured it’d be from this guy.” I pointed
at Lawson, who was looking at his wife with a mixture of concern, amusement, and pride.
“I’m not allowed to hit you.” Lawson chuckled. “Quinn’s orders.”
I knew it was ridiculous of me to feel thrilled at the thought of Quinn still wanting to protect me, but I couldn’t deny it was a good feeling.
“She should have extended that rule to me,” Ellerslie murmured, clearly horrified with herself.
She looked at me again. “I’m so sorry. I’ve never got angry and hit anyone like that before, and I shouldn’t have done it now.”
“Forget it.” I waved away her concern. “It’s the least of my worries at the moment.”
Ellerslie nodded and gave Lawson a shove inside.
“Come in. I’ll get you some ice and we’ll hear what you have to say.”
If taking a punch in the face got them to listen to me, it was a pretty good deal in my book.
***
I knocked on the door and stepped back. She was bound to know I was here, and I wanted to give her some space... just in case she decided to throw something at me.
I held back a groan as the door opened and Logan stepped outside.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve turning up here now, man.”
I looked him in the eye. He was a good man, an honest man. He was the kind of man that Quinn should be with. I felt bile rise in my throat – just the thought of Quinn choosing another guy made me sick.
“What did she tell you?” I finally asked him.
“Enough,” he stated. He was calm, too calm. It was like the airy kind of feeling right before a huge storm hit. I had not accounted for Logan in my plans.
“Can I talk to her?” I pleaded with him. “I just need to talk to her.”
Logan stepped further out of the door and pulled it shut behind him. “I’m guessing, from the look of that shiner, that there’s nothing you could say to her that would make a difference right now.”
“This?” I lightly touched the left side of my face. “That’s bruising already?” I asked in disbelief. “I went to Lawson and Ellerslie’s before I came here.”
That made him smile. “Lawson smacked you a good one, huh?”
“Lawson?” I snorted. “All he did was hold his wife back. Ellerslie was the one who punched me.”
Logan barked out a laugh. “El punched you?”
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