Fifth Regret (Heaven Sent Book 5) Page 13

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Emily steered the Jeep into the parking lot of the police station. She noticed vacant spaces in the second row and sped to claim one. After she pulled into the spot, she shoved the gear into place. Grabbing the keys and her purse, she pushed open the door.

  Her shoes smacked the pavement with each step she took. She wiped the perspiration from her forehead with her bandaged wrist. The heat fueled her temper. She’d spent the last couple of hours searching for Andrew. First, she’d called the police station to see if Andrew had been arrested. She’d been told they had no record of him. Fearing he’d been hurt, she’d visited each of the three hospitals. None of them had seen or heard of him. She even checked on a John Doe who had been admitted. Thankfully, it hadn’t been Andrew. He had to be somewhere. Since the man likely responsible for his disappearance was a cop, she’d decided to go to the best place to find him. Lucky for her, only one station existed in the city.

  Emily yanked open the door and then strode into a large waiting area with chairs. Four people were sitting in the room, two of which were a couple. An older man who looked at least seventy sat alone while a woman with stringy blonde hair and bags under her eyes stared at a television on one of the walls. A uniformed woman with dark hair pinned behind her head sat behind a counter. Walls on both sides of her prevented Emily from viewing the office. Papers and bulletins had been posted on one side of the wall. A single door on the side had a sign saying Employees Only. The woman monitoring the room watched Emily approach.

  “Can I help you?” the uniformed lady asked.

  Emily gripped the keys in her hand. “Yes, I’m looking for a Spencer Reynolds.” Determination accelerated her pulse. She refused to leave until she received answers. She didn’t want to confront the demon, but if she had to at least other people were around. In a public setting, he wouldn’t be able to hurt her.

  The woman stared at her screen. “Do you know his date of birth?”

  “Uh, no but I know he’s twenty-six and from Chicago.” She couldn’t recall the address Troy had used when he’d created Andrew’s license, but she remembered it had said Chicago.

  The officer blinked before meeting Emily’s gaze. “He’s in lock up.”

  Her pulse shot up. “Can I see him?”

  “People in lock up are not allowed to have visitors. After the charges are filed with the court, he’ll go in front of judge within twenty-four hours. Bond will be set or the charges will get dismissed. You can go to the hearing.”

  “When is it?”

  “Five this evening.”

  The Lafayette justice system moved faster than New York City’s. When Emily had gotten arrested on a Friday night, she had to wait in jail until Monday for her bond hearing.

  “What are the charges against him?” Emily asked.

  The officer tapped the screen a few times. “Resisting arrest. Harassment of an officer, attempted assault, driving without insurance, driving without registration, and a correctable violation for a broken taillight.”

  Emily’s jaw hung lower than normal. Realizing it, she promptly closed her mouth. The charges against him sounded phony. Andrew would not have initiated a quarrel with the demon in public. She suspected Deon had noticed Andrew stalking him at some point. The cop needed motive to arrest Andrew, so he busted the light on Andrew’s sedan. To keep Andrew off the streets, Deon made up other charges. Deon was the worst kind of dirty cop.

  “How long has Spencer been in lock up?” Emily asked, curious since she’d called earlier and he hadn’t been in their system.

  The officer tapped a key on the keyboard. “Looks like almost two hours.”

  “How long does it take to process someone?”

  “We usually have them in the system within a half hour.”

  Emily bit her tongue to refrain herself from complaining. Andrew had left her well over five hours ago. She’d waited to look for him at Walmart, then had called the station three hours ago. He should’ve been processed by the time she’d called. The timing didn’t add up. Either he hadn’t been processed, or someone had delayed entering him into the database. What kind of game was the demon playing?

  On the bright side, she’d found Andrew. Now, she needed to get him out of jail.

  She ambled away from the officer behind the counter while she debated what to do. If she waited until the hearing, she could bail Andrew out of jail. But then he’d have charges listed under his name and have to appear at another court date. She needed to get the bogus case against him thrown out and preferably before the charges got filed at five. With the clock ticking, she could think of one way to make that happen.

  Emily returned to the counter. “Is the arresting officer a Deon Franklin?”

  The officer shifted her attention to the monitor. “Yes.” Her brows came together. “How did you know?”

  “Lucky guess. Is Officer Franklin here?”

  “I can check. Can I ask your name?”

  “I’m a friend of Spencer’s. That should be enough.”

  The officer lifted the receiver from her phone and dialed a number. Seconds later, she said, “This is Officer Boumont at the front desk. I have a young woman here who says she’s a friend of Spencer Reynolds who is…” There was a pause. “Yes sir.” She lowered the phone and then met Emily’s gaze. “He said he’ll be with you shortly.”

  “Thanks.”

  Emily dropped her keys into her purse before she sat in one of the seats. She needed a plan for getting Andrew out of jail and the charges withdrawn. The demon had to have delayed Andrew’s processing. But why? Deon would’ve questioned Andrew and received no answers. The only way to get results for this tricky demon was to make threats. But what kind would motivate Andrew to talk? What leverage could Deon have?

  The answer came fast to Emily. Deon either suspected Andrew wasn’t alone and someone would look for him, or he knew about her. Emily couldn’t be sure about the latter. Andrew wouldn’t have mentioned her. Even if he had tortured Andrew, her lover wouldn’t have spoken her name. So Deon couldn’t know much about Emily, which benefited her.

  Emily dug out her phone from her purse. She tapped the screen to view the last messages she’d sent to Andrew. All three of them occurred within an hour after she’d last talked to him and each had asked where he was and if he were okay. Perhaps Deon had seen them pop up on the screen. And if he had, then he knew Emily would come looking for him.

  As she stared at the screen, she recalled an important detail. Andrew had his old phone with him. The cell in her hand was his iPhone Matt had given him when they were security guards for Annie. Since Andrew had the prepaid one, Emily’s name would’ve appeared on the screen as Carrie and not Emily. As a safety measure, he didn’t enter her real name into the contacts. Deon would think Carrie might search for Andrew.

  The differences in names helped. If Deon acquired her true identity, he might look it up. And if he did, he’d find a warrant for her arrest in Chicago. Although she had different credentials now showing Penny Reed and her hair color was different, he’d probably recognize her from whatever photo Chicago police had in the system. Thank goodness Andrew had entered Carrie instead of Emily into his phone.

  She took a deep breath as she slid the cell back into her bag. The demon was too sneaky. He would try to get Emily to talk to get his answers. She suspected he would use their relationship, threaten to put him in prison for a long time. Deon liked to intimidate women to get his way. Fortunately, he had no idea she knew about his history with women. She could easily play the innocent sister wanting to spare her brother from time in jail.

  The idea sounded good, but it had a flaw. He might want to check her identification. If he did, he’d discover her name is Penny Reed. She couldn’t play the sister role.

  A click from behind made her heart jump. She rose and turned. A large African American man with no hair and dressed in a uniform stood in the open door. The demon looked bigger than his pictures with his family on Fa
cebook.

  “Are you looking for Spencer Reynolds?” he asked.

  She approached him. “Yes.”

  “And you are?”

  “A friend of Spencer’s,” Emily said. “Are you Deon Franklin?”

  “I wouldn’t be standing here if I wasn’t. Do you have a name?”

  Irritation began to rise within her from his smartass response. For another matter, she’d hoped to avoid sharing her name, but now she had to. “Penny Reed.”

  He stared at her with cold lifeless eyes as if he were debating what to do.

  “I’m his girlfriend,” she said, hoping he’d take the bait and speak with her.

  He stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come with me.”

  Hook, line, and sinker, she’d played him. Now, she hoped she could continue to act in a way that would lead him to believe she would do anything to get her boyfriend out of jail. The role would come easy for her.

  The big man led the way to an open area. Tall vertical file cabinets lined up against the walls. Stacks of files lay on top and on workstations. Male and female cops stole glances at her as she followed Deon to a hall with offices on both sides. The rooms had multiple desks, suggesting two people shared the space. They passed by a few rooms with officers working. He stopped at the fourth room on the left.

  “Have a seat.” He gestured to the chair on the side of the workstation, near the door.

  She sat in the seat and kept her purse close to her, hoping he might see it as a sign of fear. “Thank you for taking time to speak with me.”

  He walked by her and then scooted his seat back. His desk faced the wall. A lamp in the corner shined on several stacks of manila folders. The computer screen showed a Louisiana map. Besides the usual office supplies, he had one picture of him and his family near the monitor.

  “Your boyfriend has some serious charges against him. I’m not sure what I can help you with. His bail hearing is at five.”

  “Yes, the officer at the front desk told me the same thing. I don’t understand how he could have charges against him. He’s a good man. An angel.” She smiled, pun intended.

  “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “The claim of harassment and resisting arrest are not in his character.”

  “How long have you two known each other?”

  “A couple years.”

  “What happened to your face and your hand?”

  “Jogging accident. I fell and hurt three fingers trying to stop from hitting my face. As you can see, my efforts didn’t work.”

  “Do you know someone named Carrie?” His gaze never faltered from her, leading her to think he was trying to catch her in a lie.

  Without blinking, she said, “She’s his sister. How do you know about her?”

  “He mentioned her. Is she in town?

  “No. He was supposed to pick her up at the airport in Lake Charles early this morning. They had plans to spend time together before she had to fly out to Texas. She travels a lot so they don’t see each other much.”

  “I see.” He leaned back in his chair.

  “The officer up front told me he had a busted taillight as one of his charges. That’s so strange because when he left me this morning, the car looked fine.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell ya. Do you know why he’s here, in Lafayette?”

  She swallowed hard. “The usual business. He doesn’t tell me specifics.”

  “Are you two staying at a hotel in town?”

  “Of course.”

  “Which hotel?”

  Her alarm bells went off in her head. “Why does it matter?”

  He straightened in his seat. “Ms. Reed, I don’t know what to tell you other than he has a hearing set later.”

  She sensed he was losing interest in her. She needed to reel him back in. “What are the chances he could face real time behind bars?”

  “I’d say the chances are very high. He resisted arrest, harassed me, and attempted to assault me.”

  She lowered her gaze. “He’s such an honest man. I don’t understand all these charges. He’s never been to jail before.”

  “People make mistakes,” he said as he gathered several folders. He tapped them vertically on his desk before setting them aside in a neat pile.

  “Is there any way he can get the charges dismissed? If he apologized or something?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m sorry, Ms. Reed.”

  Her pulse sped, fearing she wasn’t going to be able to set up a deal to free Andrew. She leaned closer to the desk. “Please, if there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it. These charges will destroy him and his career. Please, I’ll do anything to get him out and the charges dropped,” she pleaded with sad eyes.

  He scrubbed his hand over his mouth and then scratched his face. “Well, there might be something…”

  “Tell me,” she said excitedly. “I’ll do anything.”

  “You must really love him.”

  “I do.”

  He stared at her. “And you’ll do anything?”

  She swallowed hard as she nodded.

  “Tell me what he’s been working on.”

  She brought her brows together. “What do you mean?”

  “What’s he doing here? What does he work on at the hotel you’re staying at?”

  Crap, she didn’t know what to say because she had no idea what Andrew had told him. “I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. He works on a laptop a lot.”

  “You’re his girlfriend and you don’t know what he’s doing on his computer?”

  “I assume research.”

  He glared at her in a way that suggested he didn’t believe her.

  “I don’t bother him,” she added. “He lets me travel with him as long as I don’t bother him while he’s working or ask questions.”

  “What hotel are you staying at?”

  Frustration began to elevate her temperature. Her gut told her he was testing her. He wanted to know so he could check to see if she were lying. And if he caught her, the negotiations for Andrew’s release would end.

  “I think it’s called the Discovery Inn,” she said. “Why does it matter?”

  He began typing on his computer. Emily watched him pull the Internet on his screen. He entered the name of the hotel. As soon as the page loaded, he lifted the receiver on his phone. Under her purse, she clenched her hand. He stared until someone on the other end of the line gathered his attention.

  “Yes, can you tell me if there is a Spencer Reynolds staying there,” he said into the phone. Following a short pause, he said, “Thank you.”

  She hated telling him the truth, but on the good side, she had a reason to switch hotels now.

  “Room one-zero-nine, thank you.” Deon returned the receiver.

  “Now you know where we’re staying.”

  “That’s right. And now I want you to bring me his laptop, notes, and whatever else he’s been working on. Get them back here before four and I’ll drop the charges.”

  She shook her head to make it appear she was confused. “That’s it? You want me to bring his laptop and any notes he has?” she asked in a naïve tone. She hid the excitement coursing through her.

  “That’s part of it.”

  He grabbed a small notepad from his desk. With a pen, he wrote on the paper. When he finished, he tore off the note and then set it in front of her. The slopping writing showed Cajun Pit, the name of the town, and a time.

  “What is this?” she asked.

  “Meet me there and come alone.”

  Her heart thudded as she stared at the note. He’d set up a time to kill her. Andrew would not be happy. Of course, she wouldn’t meet Deon alone, but she’d let him think she’d show up by herself. All she needed was for him to free Andrew, then he could go with her and take a shot at destroying the demon.

  “You’ll have his computer. Why do you need to see me again?”

  “Do you want to save him from jail time or not?”


  “Of course. But you’re going to release him before five.”

  “I will, but I also have a few hidden charges I haven’t filed yet. I did some of my own research on your boyfriend. He’s an interesting person. If you want to keep him out of a federal prison for life, then you’ll meet me. I’ll give you the case file I have on him. But if you don’t show up, I’ll file my case with the court in the morning. He’ll be brought up on federal charges and arrested.”

  She swallowed hard while her pulse raced. As far as she knew, Spencer didn’t have any kind of criminal history. Troy had created the identity for Andrew. But since she’d parted ways with Troy, she wondered if he had changed something in an effort to keep Andrew apart from her. It seemed like a cruel thing to do, but he had swayed Andrew to leave her while she’d been injured.

  There was another possibility. Deon could’ve been feeding her bullshit. The cop liked to intimidate women to get what he wanted.

  “What kind of federal charges do you have?” she asked.

  He gave her a devious grin. “I’ll hand everything over later.”

  His answer led her to believe he had nothing at all against Spencer. Deon simply wanted to lure her out to kill her. What a sneaky evil bastard.

  She folded the note before she dropped it into her purse. “So I bring back his laptop and anything else I can find and you’ll release Spencer before five? Then we’ll meet later and you’ll give me this case you have against him.”

  “That’s the deal.”

  The tricky demon’s words didn’t fool her. “Can you send me proof the charges are dropped? If he has to go to the bond hearing, then there’s no point in me meeting you.”

  He rubbed his hand over his mouth again.

  “If I give you my number, can you send me copies of the withdrawal papers and tell me when he gets released?” she asked, trying to sway him.

  He studied her for a long moment.

  “Please, Officer Franklin, I’ll do what you ask. I’ll leave now and get everything. Just send me the documents showing the charges are withdrawn and tell me when he’s getting out. When he sees his stuff gone, I’ll tell him someone robbed the hotel. Then later, I’ll tell him I have to run to the store for feminine hygiene products and drive to meet you. He’ll never know anything. I promise,” she said.