Lily's Protector - Wolves MC

Chapter 2

Lawman

I fumbled for my cell in the dark as the ringing woke me from a dead sleep. Looking at the front of my cell, panic immediately hit me when I saw the picture of Lily's smiling face from the last time I saw her, staring back at me. She doesn't call me at night, even when she can't sleep.

Her calling like this was even more worrisome, because I hadn't heard from her in weeks and have barely seen her in almost six months. She's been detaching from me, my best friend Taz and her friends since she's been involved with this asshole, Steven. So, for her to call, this wasn't good. 

When I answered, I couldn't hide my panic and when I heard her voice, I knew something was definitely wrong. When she said she had witnessed a murder, my heart stopped, and my fucking stomach tied in knots. Fuck, this was so bad. 

She witnessed her mother's murder when she was only eight years old and it was still a great source of pain and anger for her now, at the age of twenty-six. Fuck, this is going to bring up some fucked-up memories for her. Memories she's been trying to deal with for eighteen years. Depending on what she saw, this could send her over the edge.

Hanging up, I got dressed quickly and ran out of the house to my truck as fast as I could. Five minutes later, I pulled onto her street to the sight of five police cars with their blue lights flashing bright against the large brick buildings. Fuck, this isn't good. My heart sinks wondering just how bad this is, and exactly what she has seen.

I pull as close to the front of her apartment building as I can and run inside. The security guard, Juan, recognizes me and allows me in without buzzing for Lily. He obviously knows something is up, or Lily's told him I'm on the way.

"Thanks, Juan." I reply before running to the elevator. I press the button and wait impatiently as the shiny silver doors open in front of me. I punch the number three on the pad to my right a few times as my impatience becomes unbearable.

When the elevator comes to a stop on her floor, I push out of it as soon as the doors open. Rushing to her apartment, I unlock the door letting myself in with the key Lily gave me when she moved in. Even though the apartment belongs to Steven, she's never been comfortable living anywhere without me having access to her place. Even Taz, my best friend and the man that helped me raise her, has a key. If Steven knew that, he'd probably be pissed.

"Lily?" she's sitting frozen on the white leather couch, her head resting on the back of it with her eyes closed. She has a bright red pillow in her lap and her knuckles are white with the death grip she has on it. I hear her humming to herself softly and she's oblivious to my presence. Fuck, this isn't good. This is how I found her the night her mother died, clutching the stuffed bear that Taz had bought her for her sixth birthday.

"Lily?" I ask again and she jerks her eyes open to stare at me. Her black hair hangs around her shoulders falling onto the pillow on her lap and her blue eyes stare up at me. The pain is so obvious in them. The same pain I saw there when she was a little girl.

Closing the door, I make my way to her and sit down beside her pulling her into my arms. As soon as my arms wrap around her, she begins to cry.

"It's okay, sweetheart. I'm here." I say softly into her hair. I feel her shoulders rise and fall with her sobs. After a few minutes, she gains control of her tears and leans back to wipe her face.

"What happened?" I grab a Kleenex from the table, handing it to her. I don't want to push for her to talk, but the sooner I know everything, the better.

"I was out on the balcony, trying to relax when I saw a flash of light. I thought I was seeing things but there was another one. And another. Then a scream and another. I called 911. Then I saw him." She tells me with her voice shaky from her crying. The fear in her eyes and across her face is breaking my heart. Fuck, why does she have to go through this again.

"Saw who?" I push her hair from her face, and before she can answer, the buzzer near her front door goes off.

"Wait here." I demand before getting up to answer it.

"It's probably the officer." She says behind me.

"Yes" I push the white button on the intercom pad. I hate these fucking intercoms just like I hate this apartment. It's a beautiful place but too damn fancy for me.

"There's a couple of officers here to see Miss. Anderson." Juan says into the speaker.

"Send them up." I reply and open the door. I turn back to Lily to see she is wringing her hands, something she hasn't done for years. She started doing it when she was nervous or scared, and eventually it stopped. I hate seeing that it's starting all over again. That was definitely not a good sign.

"It's alright, Lily. I'm here." I wink at her and she stops wringing her hands as she looks at me.

I hear the elevator doors open and turn my attention to the elevator where two officers exit looking straight at me. I was expecting the kind of officers in suits, not uniform. Maybe this isn't a murder after all. That, would be great news.

"Lily Anderson?" the shorter officer looks at me wondering if I am associated with her.

"Yes, she's here. I'm Ben Anderson, her father." I motion for them to enter the apartment, closing the door behind us.

"I'm Officer McDonald and this here is my partner, Officer Dwight." The short plump man offers before turning his attention to Lily who is wringing her hands again, watching them nervously. I softly shake my head advising her to stop and she does so instantly.

"Miss. Anderson, we need to ask you a few more questions about what you saw. Seems there was a murder tonight in that apartment." Officer McDonald offers to her as he watches her intently. Lily instantly looks more afraid than she was, from the confirmation, that is a murder she has witnessed. I walk over to her and sit down, draping my arm across her shoulders and pulling her into me.

"You say she's already answered some of your questions." I look up at Officer McDonald who is now standing across from us on the other side of the glass coffee table. He seems to be the one calling the shots between him and Officer Dwight.

"Yes, but we would like for her to run through the events of the evening once more." The officer looks annoyingly at me, which pisses me off.

"I believe if it's a murder, that will be turned over to homicide, am I correct officer?" I ask knowing the answer before he even responds. There isn't anything about the law that I don't know.

"Yes, that is true, but we would like to close out our file on the matter before turning it over to them." His response makes me grin. I stand and take in a breath as I take out my wallet from my back pocket. I've had enough of this motherfucker, and he's only been in my presence for less than five minutes.

"Your part in her case stopped the minute you found out it was a murder. My client, will be happy to answer any questions the homicide department has for her." I was hoping, I wouldn't have to bring out my lawyer card so soon, literally. The officer scoffs at me as he takes my card.

"We only wish to speed up the process and make for an easy transition." He offers trying to weasel his way out of it.

"No, you want to make detective. You're hoping whatever pieces you can fit together before they get here will be the winning pieces to get you, a step up on that ladder. Well, we won't be helping you with that today. Thank you, officers, but your time here is done." I escort them out without them saying another word as I close the door behind them.

I return back to Lily to get the entire story. Now that I know what we're dealing with. I know what has to be done and she's going to hate it. I just hope in the process, I can get her away from that motherfucker Steven.