AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Whatever. Consider yourself warned. The party is over.”
Sighing, he curled his fingers around hers. “Beau never mentioned you were such a buzzkill.”
Chapter Twenty
“Save us all time and effort and, for once in your life, do the right thing.” Campbell glared down at Beau with disgust on his face. “Confess to your crimes. Admit the truth about what you’ve been doing.”
Oh, sure, he could confess to some things. “I admit?—”
The door flew open. Ophelia filled the doorway. Lane stood just behind her.
I admit that you’re an asshole. Aw, he hadn’t gotten the chance to share those heartfelt words with the detective. Too bad. Maybe next time.
There would always be a next time.
“What is happening here?” Ophelia demanded, voice dramatically accusing. “Surely it is not two detectives, interrogating a suspect, without the suspect’s lawyer present?”
“The man never asked for a lawyer,” Campbell snapped back. “And you should not be here. Why the hell is everyone always busting in like this is some free-for-all? It’s a closed interrogation room.”
Beau cleared his throat. “I actually did ask for a lawyer. An important point, I believe, to note.”
Campbell blinked at him. “What?”
“It was the first thing I did when the uniforms pulled me over. Told them that I really wanted to chat with my friend Ophelia.” He shrugged. His cuffed hands scraped over the top of the table. “I believe I even told them that I didn’t want to chat without my very ‘good buddy’ with me. Yet here we are. Chatting away.”
“I’m his good buddy Ophelia Raine,” she clarified sweetly. “His lawyer.”
“You’re the PI.” Campbell’s face had scrunched up. An even worse look than normal for him.
“I’m a PI and a lawyer.” A little smirk came and went on her face. “Go ask some of your detective buddies. They know exactly who I am. A woman who adores wearing many hats because they all make me look stylish.” She waved a hand behind her. “And this is my partner, Lane.”
Lane wasn’t a lawyer. He was a PI. So, yes, technically her partner. But she’d worded things ambiguously with the cops. Beau had learned that trick from her and now used it to his advantage at every opportunity.
“If you had my client talking after he specifically asked to speak with his lawyer…” A sad shake of her head. She even made a tut-tut click with her tongue. “That is going to prove highly problematic for you.”
“He was just about to admit his crimes!” Campbell’s breath heaved in and out as a vein bulged near his forehead.
“Really? Why would an innocent man confess anything?” She hauled a chair away from the wall and put it right next to Beau. “By the way.” Her nails tapped across his arm as she settled into her chair. “Colton Ross used to be a firefighter in New Orleans.”
Beau lunged up.
But Lane had sidled behind him, and Lane’s hard grip on his shoulders pushed him right back down.
“Thought you’d like to know that,” Ophelia murmured as both Lynn and Campbell frowned at her. “And also know that Avalon has left the station. She’s in good hands. But she really, really wants you to hurry home to her.” Her fingers came together in a little steeple in front of her as she faced off with the detectives. “Now, how about we speed this situation along? I’ve got an innocent client. You’ve got a misunderstanding with a man who may or may not be tied to this whole twisted mess that stretches back for years…and I want to know what needs to happen so that Beau walks out of here. Preferably in the next thirty minutes.”
“How does it go back for years with Colton?” Lynn asked as her head cocked. She craned forward a bit.
“Beau isn’t walking out of here. Over my dead body does this killer walk,” Campbell snarled.
“That could be arranged,” Beau offered.
Lane’s grip tightened on his shoulders. “My friend, you are not helping things.”
No, he probably wasn’t. His bad. But playing nicely with Detective Cuntingham? So hard.
“You should get some sleep,” Royal advised Avalon. “It’s nearing midnight.”
And Beau still wasn’t home. She’d been pacing for hours. Glancing out of the front windows far too many times.
