Keeper of the Peace (Graveyard Guardians #2) (19 page)

Fuck.

He pushed back the anger and frustration so
she would stay calm. “I didn’t turn you in because I love you,
Hannah. I don’t think you’re capable of killing someone just to
kill. If you did this, there has to be a reason and I wanted to
find out from you first.”

She looked away again. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, stop being sorry and tell me what
happened, dammit.”

“I … I …”

“Start at the beginning.” He forced a gentle
voice.

She drew in a deep breath and then exhaled
long and steady. “Okay. That morning, I wanted to drop off Mrs.
Bradley’s casserole dish that she’d left at Lucy’s after the
funeral. I knew she was at the center for bingo that day, so I went
there to drop it off.

“After I did that, I went out to the car and
the storm had just hit, so when I opened the door my mortgage check
flew out and caught the wind. I ran all the way over to the corrals
to get it. After I was finally able to catch it, I started back
when I noticed a man in the woods. At first I didn’t think anything
of it, people walk around over there all the time. But then I got a
good look at him. It was Jeff, this guy I went on a date with a few
months ago.”

So she knew the name from the guys fake ID,
but then again, she’d also done the autopsy and it was in the
report. “Keep going,” he urged.

She still wouldn’t look at him. He hoped to
God that was just because they were driving, since not looking at
the person you’re talking to is a sign of dishonesty.

“After we went out, I decided I didn’t want
to see him again … he creeped me out. So I told him I didn’t want
to see him anymore. But, he wouldn’t stop coming by the house and a
few times he showed up at the hospital when my shift was over.”

“And you never told anyone this guy was
bothering you?”

“My family knows. They are the only ones I
told.”

David nodded in acknowledgement. That made
sense because he knew that family well enough to know that if
someone hurt Hannah, they were going to have to deal with the
entire Estmond Clan, and they were all scrappers when it came down
to it. “All right, go on.”

“So when I saw him that day, I got pissed. I
just wanted him to leave me alone, so I went over there to tell him
exactly that. I yelled that I wanted him to stay away from me and a
whole bunch of stuff about how crazy he was acting … and then he
grabbed me.” At this last part her voice wavered and faded off.

“What happened next?” He knew it was hard
for her to talk about, but he had to know the whole story.

“He … he attacked me. Threw me to the ground
and pulled a knife, telling me something about how he would make me
do what he wanted or he would kill me. I … I fought back, that’s
really all I remember about it. I fought back and ended up stabbing
him. It, I … when I realized what I’d done, I ran.”

It was a good story, he’d give her that
much, but he knew she was still holding back. His senses told him
there was more to it than she was saying. But he also knew that
Hannah would never kill just for the thrill of killing.

“Jesus, Hannah.” He shook his head. “Stop
hiding whatever it is you’re hiding. Tell me all of it.”

“I am!” she cried out. “Dammit, if I hadn’t
fought back, he would have killed me.”

Inside, David wanted to shake the truth out
of her, but instincts and experience told him to continue to be
gentle.

“Hannah. I need to know everything before we
get to the station.”

She sat back and crossed her arms defiantly
over her chest. “I am telling you everything. That is exactly how
it went down.”

“Fine! Fuck.
Fine
, just make sure it
doesn’t fucking change.” God dammit! She was fucking lying. All he
could hope for was that the only reason he could tell was because
of their connection. Yeah, he’d been away for a long time, but he
still knew her.

“You don’t believe me?” she asked in a small
voice.

“I believe you had to fight for your life
and the murder was an accident. I believe that much, but I know
that there is something there that you aren’t telling me.”

When she didn’t respond, that only confirmed
his suspicions. “We’re here,” he told her, turning into the parking
lot. After he found a spot, he killed the engine and turned to her.
“Now, I am going to have to put the cuffs on you to go inside. This
has to be legit. Okay?”

She sniffed and nodded then turned to the
side and put her hands behind her back. Hating every moment of it,
he slipped the cool metal cuffs onto her slim wrists and clicked
them tight. When she turned back to him, he stared her straight in
the eye and said, “Do not talk to anyone yet. You tell them you
want a lawyer and you won’t talk until your lawyer comes. Got
it?”

She choked back a sob and nodded. “Got
it.”

“Hannah.”

“What?”

“I love you.”

Her face was wet with tears and at his
words, even more of them spilled from the corners of her eyes. “I
love you too.”

With a heavy heart, David led her into the
station and sat her down at a booking desk.

“Hey McMillon, book her in, will ya? I’ll be
back in a minute.”

The young, dark haired officer nodded his
head. “Sure thing, Foster.”

He didn’t want to leave her, but he had shit
to do. He threw Hannah one last look before he headed over to the
chiefs office.

“Chief,” he rapped on the frame of the open
office door.

“What do you want, Foster.” The older man
looked up from the paperwork on his desk. “Can’t you see I’m
busy?”

“I just wanted to check in and let you know
I brought in a suspect for the murder in Summer Hollow.”

The chief raised his eyebrows. “Good. We’ll
get her into questioning.”

“She’s not talking without her lawyer.”
David shook his head, hoping she would take his advice and tell
them that.

“Well isn’t that a fucking surprise.”

“Not really. I’m going to help finish up her
booking and get her in a pod.”

The chief went back to his paperwork and
waved him away. “You do that, but bring me the paperwork and get
started on your report too.”

“Yes sir.”

Right a fucking way
.

He hated watching Hannah go through the
humiliating shit the inmates had to do when they came in. After
booking, there was the search, the shower, and then putting on the
blue jailhouse clothes that looked almost exactly like the scrubs
she wore at work.

After she’d finished all of that she was put
into a cell, what they called pods, with four other women. When he
walked her into the pod, he leaned in and told her, “I have to get
started on the paperwork now. This is going to be a long
process.”

“I’ll be fine,” she told him, but he could
see in her eyes that she was far from fine.

“You want your phone call right now?”

She shook her head. “No, I’ll wait. I need
to think for a little bit first.”

David wondered if he should give the family
a heads up before Hannah called, but quickly decided that was a bad
idea. “All right. Remember what I told you about your lawyer. I’ll
be back soon.”

“I know you will.” She nodded and walked
away from him, her red hair was down, and still a bit damp from the
shower, but it was also dull from the crappy medicated shampoo they
made all the new inmates use when they came in.

Good god, he hated this shit so much.

He left her in the pod and went to his desk.
He’d only been working on the report for about ten minutes when the
chief showed up, looming over his desk like a uniformed Sasquatch.
“Foster!”

“Yes sir?” He turned away from his paperwork
and looked up at his boss.

“Please tell me it’s not true that this
suspect is your ex-girlfriend.”

Aw fuck. “She is,” he answered.

The Chief put his hand to his forehead and
shook his head. “You have got to be fucking kidding me. You know I
have to pull you from this case now.”

Even though he knew that was procedure, he
sat back and stared at his boss. “Why, I haven’t seen her for
twelve years.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Foster, you know as well
as I do that you are too close to the case now. As of right this
minute, you’re done with it.”

“Come on chief,” he plead

“Don’t …” the older man held up his hand.
“Just don’t.” He turned and stalked away from David’s desk.

“Well, I’m going to watch the questioning,”
David called after him.

“I didn’t fucking hear that,” the chief
hollered back at him.

David ignored that last comment and went
back to his paperwork, which was a total bitch to concentrate on
since all he could think about was Hannah locked up in one of their
cells.

After a few minutes, he realized he’d
forgotten the file with the report on the victim and the photos in
his car. “Shit. He rolled his chair away from the desk, got up and
headed out.

Once he reached the Chevelle, he yanked open
the door and leaned over to grab the folder of the seat. His
fingers had just brushed across the edge of the folder when a sharp
pain flared in his neck like he’d been bitten by a big ass
spider.

“What the fu …” he turned his head to the
right, searching for the source of the pain. His muscles weakened
and his vision began to blur. Aw fuck, he’d been tranqued.

Just before he faded away into
unconsciousness, he heard a voice that sounded familiar … a voice
he’d hoped he would never have to hear again, for the rest of his
life.

CHAPTER

18

HANNAH

She could feel the eyes of the other women
on her.

She sat on the bunk they had given her and
scooted back into the corner of it so that it felt like she was
hiding in a cave. None of the others had spoken to her since she’d
come in and she sure as hell wasn’t going to talk to them either.
She felt like a dead piece of meat being circled by buzzards.

This was it, she was a criminal. Her record
was going to be marred for the rest of her life and she would
probably never be able to do her job again either. All those years
of college down the drain.

Dammit.

“So …” a pale woman with hair so blonde it
was almost white, plopped down onto the edge of the bunk and turned
to face Hannah. “Not to sound cliché or anything, but what are you
in for?”

Hannah so did not want to make friends with
any of these women, but she also wasn’t stupid. She knew that she
might be here for a while and her best bet would be not to get on
anyone’s bad side, so she responded with a clipped, “Murder.”

There was totally a reason that Hannah
didn’t say, ‘suspected for murder’ or add ‘I didn’t do it’ to the
sentence. Let them think she was capable of murder and maybe they
would leave her alone.

The blonde shook her head. “Damn. Who’d you
kill?”

“I can’t talk about it,” Hannah told her, in
hopes that would be the end of it. Luckily, the woman did drop the
subject, but she didn’t go away. She reached out, extending her
hand to Hannah, “I’m Sophie, what’s your name?”

Accepting her hand, Hannah gave it a brief
shake. “I’m Hannah.”

“Nice to meet you Hannah.” She pointed
toward the other women. “That there is Nicole, the tall one is
Shanna, and the one on the bunk over there is Brandy.”

She managed a weak wave and a soft “Hello,”
but none of them returned the greeting. It looked like Sophie was
the social one out of the bunch.

“Soooo,” Sophie leaned back on Hannah’s bunk
and examined one of her fingernails. “I’m in for drugs. Not meth or
anything like that, just weed.”

Looked like she wasn’t going to get rid of
her, so she may as well talk it up too. “You’re in jail cause you
smoke weed?”

“Smoke some, grow some, sell some. I did a
little of everything. They busted my place and confiscated
everything … including my kids.”

“Shit …” No matter how hard she tried, she
couldn’t find anything appropriate to respond with. “Sorry.”

“Ah, it happens. I’ll get my kids back when
I get out. They’re with my mother now.”

“That still sucks though.”

She nodded. “It sure does, but whatcha gonna
do, ya know?”

Hannah nodded as if she did, when in fact
she did not know even the slightest bit about that.

Suddenly the door opened and a deputy
stepped inside. “Estmond, you ready to make that phone call
yet?”

“Yes.” She nodded and scooted off the bunk.
“Yes, I am.”

“Come on, then.” The male officer waved her
over.

She wasn’t looking forward to the phone call
at all, but at least she could be thankful that the family would
know what was coming. Once they got to the phones, the deputy
stepped back, giving her only the slightest bit of room while she
made her call.

She dialed the numbers to the family home
and waited for someone to pick up the phone. After three rings Jack
answered. “Hello?”

“Jack?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Hannah?”

“I’m in jail.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, I don’t know anything yet. I haven’t
been in any kind of questioning and I probably have to see a judge
before I can get a bond.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.” Hannah knew why Jack wasn’t saying
much. He couldn’t give away that he knew anything about why she was
in there.

“Ok. Hannah, I’m going to tell everyone and
we will come up there. But, listen, it’s going to be a little while
before we can get there.”

“It’s all right. Like I said, it will
probably be at least tomorrow before I can see a judge.”

“Lucy’s going to climbing the fucking walls
until you get out of there. They all are.

Hannah almost smiled, yeah, she certainly
didn’t envy Jack right about now. The poor Reaper was going to have
to deal with the whole Estmond Clan, plus Ethan, and they were all
going to be moody until she was free again.”