Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  He left his office and headed up to the roof when he heard the engines of the helicopter. Kyle, Mark, and Emily were already waiting for him in the Blackhawk, and Alexis was sitting on Mark’s lap, playing with the Equites symbol on his cape.

  “I called the lawyers. They will be waiting for us at their office when we get in,” Kyle told him.

  Chevalier nodded.

  “They want to meet with us again first, before bringing Emily in.”

  “Why?” Emily asked, yelling to be heard above the noise of the helicopter.

  “We’re still working out alibis. You don’t need to be there for that,” Kyle explained.

  Emily sat back and watched the terrain fly by. She knew in her heart that within 24 hours, she would be in prison for killing her abusive ex-husband. She hoped the damage done to his body could exclude her as a suspect. It took immense strength to do that to him, strength she didn’t even remotely possess.

  Emily sighed as she again looked down on Council City. No matter how hard she tried, she didn’t seem to be able to fully leave. She jumped out of the helicopter when the engines were cut and ignored the guards that gathered. Taking Alexis, she went inside and headed down for the Durango.

  “Wait, Em,” Chevalier called. “You can’t take the Durango, they’ll be watching for it. Take the Humvee and I’ll drive the McLaren.”

  Emily nodded, “Sure.”

  “Come in about an hour, ok?” He kissed her forehead softly.

  “Sure,” she said again, and turned around, deciding to head out to the stables. She saw the McLaren pull out of the garage as she watched the colt playing in the corral.

  Kyle and Chevalier talked about their options on the way to the lawyers in the city. A mile outside of the lawyer’s office, Chevalier saw four patrol cars surround him and turn on their lights.

  “What’s this?” Kyle asked, worried.

  “I don’t know, guess we’ll find out.”

  Chevalier rolled his window down, “Yes?”

  “Step out of the car,” the officer said, and then looked over at Kyle. “You, too.”

  Both of the heku got out of the car and were immediately pushed against the side of it. They allowed it to happen so as not to draw unneeded attention.

  “What’s the problem?” Chevalier asked as Kyle was handcuffed.

  “You have the right to remain silent,” the Officer told Kyle. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…”

  Kyle smiled slightly at Chevalier.

  “Well, do you?” the officer asked when he finished.

  “Oh, yes I do,” Kyle said, amused.

  “Keep him until we get the girl,” the lead officer said

  Chevalier frowned, “What girl?”

  “We know she’s here. We got a good tip that Emily Russo was flown in today and will be driving past here in a black Humvee within the hour.” He grinned.

  Chevalier glanced at Kyle, and he shrugged. He watched as Kyle was put into the back of a patrol car and whisked away to the city.

  Chevalier growled when he heard over the police radio that Emily was in custody and was en route to the police station.

  “Ok, you can go,” the officer said to him with a grin, and headed for the patrol car. Chevalier glared at him, fighting the desire to rip his head from his body and stop that smirk.

  Chevalier got back into his car and sped toward the lawyer’s office.

  ***

  Emily looked around the small room. She was sitting at a table with her hands cuffed behind her. There were two other chairs in the room and mirrors lining the walls. She looked at the door when two detectives entered.

  “Good afternoon, Ms. Russo,” one of them said, and sat down.

  Emily nodded at him.

  “I’m Detective Kirk, and this is Detective Billings.” He sat down in the seat beside her.

  “We’d like to ask you a few questions, and have a warrant that gives us approval to do so.”

  “You don’t need a warrant to get information from me,” Emily said softly.

  “Good.” Detective Kirk smiled, “Is there anything we can get you?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Let’s start then. How long did you live at the ranch in Cascade, Montana?”

  “I was there from birth. I sold the ranch about 10 years ago.”

  “Why did you sell it?”

  “My Dad died, and when Keith left, I couldn’t take care of it by myself, even with Kyle and Sam helping,” Emily said.

  “Who is Sam?”

  “He was the ranch’s overseer.”

  “Do you know where he is now?” the detective asked.

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Ok, when’s the last time you saw Keith?”

  “Just before I left for Colorado, a few days after my dad died.”

  “I’m going to come right out and ask this. I hate to bring up any unnecessary feelings, but we need to know… your hospital records show quite the injury list, and more than one doctor suggested domestic assault. Was Keith abusive?” Detective Billings asked.

  Emily’s body tensed. It wasn’t something she liked to admit to, let alone talk about to strangers.

  The Detective picked up the change in her posture and smiled softly, “We already know. We just need you to confirm it. It could really help your case.”

  Emily nodded slightly.

  “How did you break your hand?”

  “I fell off of a horse.”

  “That seems to be a common excuse for you,” Detective Billings said.

  “I break horses. It can get dangerous,” Emily explained.

  “And the bruise on your side?”

  “Horse,” Emily said again.

  “Ok, that’s all we needed with that. We have the medical records for the rest.”

  Detective Kirk opened a notebook, “You said you had been in Colorado, who were you there with?”

  “Chevalier,” Emily told them.

  “What’s his last name?”

  Emily grinned slightly, “I don’t know.”

  “What were you doing for two months while the entire state of Montana looked for you?”

  “It was… personal,” Emily said.

  “Was Kyle with you?”

  “No, I hadn’t met Kyle yet. He was hired to help with the ranch while I was gone.”

  “Who hired him?”

  “Sam, I guess, I wasn’t there… could have been Keith.”

  Detective Kirk took a moment to write, “Ok then. When you got back to Montana, did you see Keith?”

  “No, he was already gone.”

  “And Kyle was there?”

  “Yes”

  “Then what did you do?”

  “I talked to Sam, and we decided to sell the ranch. So I left with Chevalier while Kyle and Sam stayed to handle the arrangements.”

  “So your relationship with Chevalier was romantic?”

  Emily frowned at the personal question, “Not at that time, that was later.”

  “Did you kill your husband before you ran off with Chevalier?” Detective Kirk decided to ask outright.

  Emily shook her head, “No.”

  “Do you know who did?”

  “No, I thought he ran off with his girlfriend,” Emily said.

  “Girlfriend?”

  Emily nodded, “Yes, he was sleeping with my father’s nurse.”

  “You were ok with that?” Detective Kirk asked.

  Emily sighed, “Things were different back then. I was afraid of Keith.”

  “Do you know anyone who would have liked to cause harm to Keith?”

  Emily suddenly had a thought, “When… when we would fight, I would go to Sam for help. He was my father’s friend, and when my Dad had his stroke, Sam took care of me. He didn’t like Keith, and threatened to hurt him sometimes.”

  “But you’ve not seen Sam lately?”

  “No”

  “Can you explain then, if you haven’t s
een Keith in 10 years, how he was arrested for domestic violence a few years ago, and then checked you into a hospital two years ago?” the Detective asked.

  They all looked over at the door when someone walked in. A tall, elderly man entered. He wore an expensive suit and had a briefcase. He sat down beside Emily.

  “I’m Ms. Russo’s counsel, and I’m putting a stop to this questioning until I’ve had a chance to read what was said up until now,” he said.

  “Sure, Kent,” Detective Kirk said.

  “We’re going to hold her though. We have enough probable cause for that,” Detective Billings told him.

  Kent nodded, “Fine but let’s get bail set. She has a small child that still depends on her.”

  “Unless we start getting answers, the Judge isn’t going to want to set a bail.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Kent said.

  Two officers came and escorted Emily out to the jail. They took the handcuffs off of her and she went over and laid down on the hard bed. She thought hard on how to explain the incidents when Kyle had impersonated Keith over the last few years.

  “Come on, Russo, your lawyers want to talk to you,” a warden said. Emily walked over and slipped her hands through an opening in the bars, so the warden could put handcuffs back on her. She followed the warden to a small room and sat down inside to wait. She pushed the sleeves of the orange jumpsuit up higher, it was way too big on her and they kept slipping down.

  Soon, the lawyer came in and sat down, “Emily, I’m Kent Pentos. I’m the attorney for your husband.”

  Emily nodded, “Ok.”

  “This room is private, so we can speak freely. We’ll just get it out in the open that I know what your husband is, and I know about Council City.”

  Emily felt relieved. It would be easier to talk to him.

  “Mr. Jones is in custody also…” Kent looked through some piles of papers.

  “Mr. Jones?” Emily asked, confused.

  “Kyle”

  “Damn.” Emily didn’t know that Kyle had also been arrested.

  “Here’s the deal. Kyle was arrested a few years ago for domestic assault and was posing as Keith. We have pictures to prove that it was Kyle, and that doesn’t look very good for you. They have the body pinned down to a date of death between 3 and 12 years ago. They also have the cause of death listed as blunt-force trauma to the entire body.”

  Emily cringed and nodded.

  “From what I’ve seen from the prosecutor’s files, they are going to try to prove that you and Kyle killed Keith because of a love-triangle type arrangement. Obviously, they will pin the actual death on Kyle because of the extent of damage to the body, but they will try to label you as a conspirator.” Kent was still looking through photographs and papers.

  “Kyle didn’t do it,” Emily whispered, looking at her hands.

  “I know who did it,” Kent said. “Now, you mentioned something we may be able to use. This… Sam… if we can get the suspicion turned to him, we may be able to set both you and Kyle free.”

  “How do we do that then?”

  “The first thing we do is clear up the air about you and Kyle. You need to come out as a couple,” Kent said.

  Emily frowned, “Why?”

  “Any jury is going to be convinced that you two are together. If we fight that, they could immediately deem anything you say as false. If we play into the relationship, then you aren’t hiding anything from them.”

  “I… don’t…” Emily started, but Kent touched her hand.

  “Chevalier knows, and he agrees with it. You just need to play up to it. Can you do that?”

  Emily nodded.

  “So now that we’re no longer hiding that you and Kyle are together, we just need to push the suspicion onto Sam.” Kent sighed and looked up at Emily, “They are going to seek the death penalty for this.”

  Emily gasped, “They are?”

  Kent nodded, “It won’t be for you as just a conspirator, but they’ll try to hit Kyle with it, just for the amount of damage done to the body. We obviously can’t let Kyle be executed, for numerous reasons.”

  “So let me take the fall. Don’t risk exposing them over this,” Emily said.

  “You can be executed, so we’re not going to do that. If Kyle gets put on death row, we’ll deal with that then,” Kent said.

  “Will I be going back to Montana then?”

  “Not right now. We’re fighting the extradition and trying to get the venue moved here,” Kent told her.

  “What am I supposed to say about when Kyle checked me into the hospital as Keith?” That’s the one question Emily was most afraid of.

  “According to medical records, both incidents you were unconscious, so we’re going to say you didn’t know. Kyle has already confessed to identity theft and said you didn’t know.”

  Emily whispered, “He’s just digging his hole deeper and deeper.”

  Kent smiled, “His species can take the heat, you, my dear, need to stay out of the fire.”

  “Where is Chevalier in all of this?”

  “Because of his rank, we’re trying to keep him as far out of this as possible. We’re putting him more in a father roll for you.”

  “Father?” Emily frowned.

  Kent smiled slightly, “You could easily pass as his daughter, and that will keep him out of the spotlight. Your trip to Colorado for 2 months was how he protected you from Keith’s abuse.”

  There was a knock on the door, “5 minutes,” someone yelled.

  Kent whispered softly, “Everything they throw at you, just plead not guilty, and let me do the rest.”

  Emily nodded and she was suddenly struck with fear. The warden came in and fastened cuffs to her ankles and then put a chain connecting her handcuffs and ankle cuffs. Emily walked as best as she could and followed them into a courtroom that was packed with news reporters and photographers. She saw Chevalier in the crowd, and he smiled at her briefly. She also saw Maleth and Zohn beside him, and several members of the Cavalry all dressed in civilian clothing.

  Emily walked over and stood beside Kyle, who was in a matching orange jumpsuit and was also cuffed. Emily was in a daze. She found it hard to concentrate as the Judge came in and was seated. The Judge spoke quickly, and Emily found it hard to concentrate.

  Emily felt Kent pull her arm and she stood up.

  “Emily Russo, you are being charged with the following crimes. Please give your plea after each one is listed,” the Judge said, and thumbed through some papers. “First is a charge of Second-Degree Murder in the death of Keith Russo.”

  “Not guilty,” Emily said, and glanced at Kent. He nodded at her.

  “You are also being charged with conspiracy to commit murder with Kyle Jones in the death of Keith Russo.”

  “Not guilty,” she said again, and felt Kyle nudge her gently.

  “Charges of failure to report a death in the case of Keith Russo.”

  “Not guilty.” Emily wondered how long this would go on, how many charges she would get hit with. She thought briefly how much joy this would have brought Keith.

  “Charges of unlawfully disposing of a body,” the Judge continued coldly.

  Emily frowned. She suddenly found it hard to breathe, “Not guilty.”

  “Charges of desecration of a corpse.”

  “Not guilty.” Her words came out barely above a whisper.

  “Em, it’s ok… calm down,” Kyle whispered to her. She looked down at him nervously and he smiled.

  “Very well,” the Judge said, and looked at Kent. “Bail is set at $1.5 million.”

  Emily cringed.

  “You may sit down, Ms. Russo.” When the Judge said it, Emily swore to herself that she would change her last name as soon as she could.

  Emily watched as Kyle was sworn in. She was frustrated at how calm he was.

  “Kyle Jones, you are being charged with the following crimes. Please give your plea after each one is listed,” the Judge said. “First is a ch
arge of First Degree Murder in the death of Keith Russo.”

  “Not guilty,” Kyle said calmly.

  “Charges of failure to report a death in the case of Keith Russo.”

  “Not guilty,” Kyle said again, and smiled reassuringly at Emily.

  “Charges of unlawfully disposing of a body.”

  “Not guilty.”

  The Judge adjusted her glasses, “Charges of desecration of a corpse?”

  “Not guilty.”

  “Charges of identity theft in the case of Keith Russo.”

  “Guilty,” Kyle said. Emily gasped and looked up at him. She didn’t like that he had to take all of the heat for this.

  “In lieu of the heinousness of this crime, I’m holding you without bail,” the Judge said.

  “I object,” Kent said, standing up.

  “No bail… we’ll see you two at the trial,” the Judge said, and everyone stood up when she left.

  Emily turned to Kyle, “I don’t understand.”

  “Means I’m not coming back until after the trial,” Kyle said, amused.

  Emily gasped, “You have to stay here?”

  Kyle nodded and put his hands on her face and kissed her softly, and then whispered to her, “Keep up appearances, it’s important.”

  Emily nodded and left with the female warden. She was in her cell for only a few hours before Chevalier posted her bail, and she was given her clothes so she could leave.

  “I don’t like leaving him there,” Emily said as she crawled into the Humvee with Chevalier.

  “We don’t have a choice, he’s ok. Looked to me like he was having fun,” Chevalier said, and smiled at Emily.

  “Aren’t you mad that he kissed me?”

  “No, it wasn’t very convincing though. He better start acting in love or he’ll blow it,” Chevalier told her, and pulled out into traffic.

  Emily frowned and rubbed her wrists, “I hate this.”

  “It’ll be over soon. We just need to give the lawyers time to pin this on Sam.”

  “Damn I wish he was alive. I’d order him to confess,” Emily said.

  Chevalier chuckled.

  Emily turned to him, “How much has gotten out about Keith and I?”

  “Right now, not much,” Chevalier said, and turned onto the road for Council City. “It’s going to come out about the abuse though, that’s part of your defense.”