Mason (Carter Brothers #2) - Lisa Helen Gray Page 0,47
Make sure you have something to eat, if Max says anything tell him you’ll tell his niece he made you starve when you were pregnant,’’ he grins wickedly and I laugh.
In the kitchen Harlow’s lawyer Richard Cole is sitting down on a stool at the small breakfast bar. In the room Harlow’s Gram’s, Mark, Harlow and the all of the Carter brothers stand waiting for Mason and I to enter the room.
Maverick sends me a cheeky wink smirking, and I blush at him like a school girl. Mason tenses beside me and pulls me into him as we stand waiting for the lawyer to tell us whatever he interrupted our day for.
“I’m sure you’re all guessing why I called you here today,’’ Richard says, looking at me, to Harlow, and then over to Malik.
We nod our heads wondering what is so important that he would turn up out of the blue and not wait until our next meeting in a few days.
“Well, a new witness has come forward with what could be vital evidence.’’
“Who?’’ Harlow and I interrupt gasping. We both take a step forward wondering the same thing. Who else did he rape?
“I’m not at liberty to say. The witness has been held in protective custody until the trial. From what the police have informed us Hannah Gittens case has now been moved up to a murder investigation. From the picture Denny had posted in her house the police are almost certain she is dead and that whoever killed her is targeting the witnesses. After the break-in at Denny’s brother’s house it seems that way too.’’
My stomach turns and I feel like I’m going to be sick. I’ve tried so hard over the past few weeks to forget about that picture, most of the time it works, but then there are times when it’s all I can think about. I wish it could be unseen, but I know it’s never going to happen which kills me more inside.
The break-in itself is something that hasn’t gotten to me as much as I originally thought it would. Yes I have nightmares over it occasionally, but that’s mostly because of the baby. In my nightmares I wasn’t able to keep him out and he hurt my baby girl. Something about the nightmare feels so real it scares me to death. It’s why I’ve been sleeping a lot during the day. During the night when I need to sleep is the worst. The darkness consumes everything around me, and the deafening silence pierces my ears and that’s when the nightmares creep in and takeover.
“So why can’t we know? What is the evidence she has on him? When did this happen?’’ Harlow asks panicked.
“Babe, calm down,’’ Malik soothes her. His arms go around her waist, pulling her back to his front.
“No, I can’t. If he raped someone else then I need to know. It’s my fault, don’t you see that? If I had gone to the police sooner about him instead of worrying about making the situation worse, then we wouldn’t be standing here right now.’’
“I disagree,’’ the lawyer speaks up. “They wouldn’t have charged him by hearsay; they would need solid proof to arrest him, Harlow. I’m not saying you getting attacked is a good thing, but you’re taking a stand now, and that will put him in prison for a long time.’’
“What if it doesn’t though?’’ I speak up. “He’s claiming a pretty good alibi, everything he’s saying adds up even if we know none of it is true. You can see by how protective Malik is he’d never touch Harlow and you know from meeting her for a few minutes she isn’t one to cheat or lie. Someone needs to be able to put our minds at rest, so we can sleep at night. So please tell us something,’’ I plead.
“Alright,’’ he sighs running his hands through his hair. “I’m not allowed to mention names, but the witness stepped forward a few days ago by going to the police station and handing in the clothes she had been wearing the night of the rape. We also have a hospital report claiming her story to be true. It happened years ago, but she’s finally stepped forward claiming she was too scared to press charges at the time. I guess she found out he did it again and heard of his alibi and decided to step forward.’’
“So will this help our case?’’ Harlow asks, tears in her eyes.