go to the police station,” I told Missy.
But the cop had other ideas. “You can’t leave. Ma’am.” This time, the “ma’am” was a definite afterthought.
Great. I went back to Emmy. “The police say we can’t.”
“Are you under arrest?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then they can’t keep you there. Let me speak to the cop.”
I passed the phone over, and his face went from a delicate shade of pink, through tomato, and all the way to beetroot at whatever Emmy said to him. Just as I thought steam would start coming out of his ears, he handed the phone back.
“I need your names and addresses as witnesses, and then you’re free to go.”
Ouch. I bet it hurt him to say that. I sent a silent thank you to Emmy as Missy and I scribbled down our contact details in his notepad, then waited as Missy rooted through her purse for the car keys.
“You want me to drive?” she offered.
“Better not after that cocktail.”
She eyed up the gaggle of cops watching us. “I guess you’re right. It was awful, by the way.”
Just like the entire evening.
We’d only been at the police station for a few minutes when two men walked in, one in a suit, the other in jeans.
The suit ignored the desk sergeant and held out his hand to me. “Conrad. I’m part of Nick’s legal team.” He gestured to his companion. “This is Dominic.”
Nick had a legal team? What for? His investment deals? I only hoped Conrad knew his way around assault and battery laws as well as corporate jargon. Still, he’d come to help, and goodness knows we needed it.
“Thank you for coming.”
“What happened?”
We snagged a group of chairs in the corner of the room, as far away from the desk sergeant’s ears as possible, then I explained what had happened. When I got to the parts about Billy and how he came to be there, Missy had to take over while I fought down the bile rising in my throat.
Conrad asked the occasional question while Dominic simply listened, expressionless. Why was he there? He didn’t look like a lawyer. Once we’d finished, Conrad nodded to himself.
“Seems straightforward. Let’s get this sorted out.”
I wished I shared his confidence.
Dominic stepped outside, and through the glass doors, I saw him put his phone to his ear. I didn’t know what he was doing, and to be honest, I was glad he’d gone elsewhere to do it. He scared me a little. Conrad, meanwhile, strode up to the desk sergeant and demanded access to his client. The cop obviously realised Conrad wasn’t a man to be messed with and led him off into the bowels of the building.
Left alone with Missy, my imagination ran wild. I had Nick eating his last meal on death row by the time Conrad came back and told us not to worry.
“Everything’s in hand. It just takes a while.”
“How long?”
He shrugged. “Hard to say with this lot. They don’t seem to possess a brain between them.”
Waiting became unbearable. I alternated between sitting on the hard plastic seat, fidgeting, and pacing up and down as one hour passed, then two. Dominic came back inside and sat opposite me, barely moving a muscle.
Then things got worse.
A shadow fell like dawn in the freaking underworld as Billy’s father loomed over me, sneering as he looked down.
“Well, you’ve really gone and done it this time, haven’t you?”
I’d never gotten on with the man, mainly because he thought I wasn’t good enough for his son and I found him rude, arrogant, and condescending. Now we could add angry into the mix.
“I didn’t do anything. Billy turned up and started a fight.”
“You know as well as I do that Billy would never do that. You’re a bitter woman, trying to ruin his good name because he finally came to his senses and realised he could do better than you. My son’s suffered enough from your lies.”
“I haven’t told any lies.”
“You almost ruined his reputation at college. People were actually suggesting that he had something to do with you falling down the stairs.”
“That’s because he did. He pushed me.”
“You’re nothing but a vindictive little bitch. I’m going to make sure your boyfriend gets the book thrown at him. Did you hear Billy’s got a fractured neck? He could’ve been paralysed. You’ll both be sorry this ever happened.”
Dominic stepped in front of me and stared Mr. Cooper down. “Sir, that sounded like a threat to me, and should anything happen to Mr. Goldman or Miss Reynolds, I’ll