was preparing to take his fingerprints.
“Woah. Woah. Wait a minute. I’m the victim here, and I’m the only one being fingerprinted. That’s not right.”
Rolly met his eyes. “You’re under arrest for stealing his car, remember?”
“He loaned me that car!”
Rolly shrugged. “He says he didn’t. You can take it up with the attorneys and the judge. It’s above my pay grade.”
Kix looked between me and Rolly. “He’s playing favorites. The sheriff is sleeping with him, and he’s giving him the cushy attorney and the special meeting room. I’m going to sue your asses for preferential treatment of the man who assaulted me.”
I held up my hands. “All I did was drive him here. Deputy Kepplow arrested him. Deputy, do you have any prior relationship with Finn Heller?”
“No, sir. I do not. And I placed him under arrest the exact same way I did Mr. Rowe here. The only difference as far as I see it was allowing Mr. Heller to meet with his attorney at his own request. We’re not legally allowed to prohibit that at this juncture. The man has rights. You’re welcome to do the same. If you have an attorney, that is.”
I was going to have to reconsider Rolly’s termination. He was impressing me with his cheek.
Kix’s nostrils flared. “Get him out here. I want to talk to him.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea until we take your statements.”
Before he could argue with me, Julian came out of the interrogation room and joined us at the counter. “I think we can clear this up easily without any charges being made. Is this Mr. Rowe?”
Kix narrowed his eyes at the hot attorney. “I am. Did the film send you? If so, that’s not fair.”
“No, a personal friend of Mr. Heller’s sent me from Denver. I’d like to propose you both drop the charges against each other. You drop the assault charge, and in return, Mr. Heller will drop the first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft charge, the class three menacing charge, the defamation charge, the perjury charge for bearing false witness, and the—”
Kix couldn’t take it anymore. “Fine! Fucking fine! Jesus. I get it. Finn has more money than I do and can afford a fancy lawyer to pound me into the ground. Typical fucking Finn Heller maneuver. I’ll bet his fucking mother sent you here, didn’t she?”
Julian leveled him with a professional stare. “Do you agree to drop the charges?”
Kix looked suddenly deflated. “Yes. Fine. But that means there’s nothing in the record about this for me either, right?” He looked at me, but Janine was the one who answered.
“No record, sweetie.” She made a few loud clicks on her keyboard that probably did absolutely nothing to the data she’d entered.
Julian dropped his business face and replaced it with a kind smile. “Would you mind handing me the keys to the McLaren, please?” Then he held out his hand to the younger man. Kix looked like he wanted to shank the man, but he handed them over.
“Are you at least going to give me a ride back to the lodge?”
Julian’s eyebrow raised. “You’re staying at Rockley Lodge? That’s where I’m headed. I’ll give you a ride. No problem.”
After they were gone, I thanked Janine and Rolly and made my way to the interrogation room which was still closed. When I opened the door, I saw Finn asleep with his head on his crossed arms on the table.
I closed the door quietly behind me and approached him, squatting down and running my hand through his hair.
“Hey, tough guy. You’ve been sprung from the clink,” I said softly.
Finn blinked his eyes open. His makeup had worn off enough for me to see the dark scrape still healing on his cheek from the rock face incident the other day and a new bruise forming around one of his eyes from a punch Kix had obviously landed before I got there.
“Are you mad at me?” he asked in a whisper. His worried green eyes were a knife to my heart.
My heart flooded with affection. “No, sweetheart. I’m so fucking proud of you. When I showed up on set, it looked like you were standing up for yourself. And then with Kix… I don’t know what he said to you, but I could tell it upset you. I don’t agree with punching the guy, but again, it looks like you were defending yourself. I wouldn’t have wanted you to sit there and take it. I only wish I’d come