record as a bounty is outstanding. Never any incidents. Always clear cut and by the book. You don’t get that often. You guys like to play cowboys since you don’t have to follow the rules,” he says as he looks at me and my defiant stance.
I nearly flip him the bird. I don’t have time for this shit, but I keep my mouth shut. The sooner this is over with, the sooner I can help clear Nellie’s name and then get the fuck out of here to save my relationship with my girl.
“Is there going to be a point here?”
“Tell me, John. If your girlfriend slit her wrists in your kitchen, why would you get on a plane two days later as if you could care less?” he says, leaning forward in his seat as if he’s got me by the balls.
“Your first mistake. Missy isn’t and hasn’t been my girlfriend in over two years. Actually, she was never really my girlfriend to begin with. She was someone I was fucking.
“My brother’s wedding was already in the plans. I wasn’t going to miss it because Missy decided to show up at my place unannounced to try to fuck up my life,” I bite out.
He tilts his head to the side, the beaming smile on his face telling me he thinks he’s found something. “You feel like Ms. Hollis is fucking up your life. So, you’re angry with her then? She caught you cheating, and you wanted to handle the problem? Knowing her history, a fake suicide would solve all your problems, wouldn’t it?”
I go to open my mouth, but my father’s voice comes booming through the house. “This bullshit comes to an end here. My son placed the call that saved Ms. Hollis’s life. He also accompanied her to the hospital to ensure she received the proper care, both physically and mentally before he left.
“The lass is unstable in the head. You’re wasting all of our time with this. As John said, we had plans to attend his brother’s wedding. He fulfilled all his obligations and had every right to go on with his own personal life. I’ve talked to your captain; I think you best be calling in,” Dad says as he stops beside me and folds his arms across his chest.
Detective Louis frowns and stands. He takes his phone out and his face turns white as a sheet. I instantly know the calls and questions I’ve been getting over the last two weeks since I’ve been back from Africa are going to stop.
“You have a good day,” I call out as the pissed off detective storms out of my house.
I don’t even bother seeing him out. My father places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. Turning to look at him, I sigh.
“How did you find out?”
“One, you’ve been missing Sunday breakfast. That’s not like you. Second, your mother has an emotional GPS on the lot of you. She knew something was going on and asked me to look into it. I stumbled across the investigation after a few calls.
“Do you want to talk about what’s going on? I called to check in on your friend. Nate says she’s working for the Donatis, but she refuses to even mention your name,” Dad says.
“Fuck,” I growl. “It’s this shit with Missy. Not only is she trying to frame me for her fucking suicide attempt, she said something or did something to Roni while she was here to see me. I haven’t been able to go after Roni with everything that’s going on and she won’t take my calls,” I grumble in frustration.
“We’ll handle things here. Why don’t you take off to see if you can fix things?” He suggests.
“I can’t. I promised Wyatt I’d help him get to the bottom of this bullshit with Nellie.”
Dad releases a heavy breath. “Sometimes I think we put too much pressure on you to be there for everyone else. Your brothers are big lads. They can take care of themselves. I’m sure Wyatt would understand if you took off.”
“He might, but I wouldn’t feel right. There’s the baby and this bullshit with Nellie. The cops may be backing off, but we still need to know where this came from. I think the last thing I should do at this point is separate from the family.
“Something doesn’t feel right. Trust me, I would go if this feeling wasn’t so strong. It’s like the storm has just begun to brew,” I say