The Thief Who Saved My Life

Chapter 29

"One more time, from the top," the detective said.

I don't think I ever got his name, or may I had just forgotten it.

"Are you planning on charging my client?" My lawyer cut in before I could tell the story over again. The night that was supposed to be quiet and just for Tyler and me had been spent at the police station instead. Tyler was somewhere out in the station waiting for me to finish up.

"I'm just trying to get a clear idea of how this happened."

"My client was violently attacked by the same person who killed her father and burned her home just two weeks ago. To suggest this was anything other than an act of self defense, to hold my client here like she is the criminal is insane. Now she has cooperated fully and will continue to do so until this investigation has come to a close, but unless you intend to charge Ms. Dupree, we will be leaving."

My eyebrows shot up and I waited a little nervous that the guy was going to arrest me for something, but after a tense moment of silence, the detective sighed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card.

"Please make yourself opening to questioning, Ms. Dupree."

"Evie," I corrected.

The detective flashed a tired smile and held out his card for me to take. "We have a rare opportunity to take down some of the people who may have assisted in these crimes. If you can think of any details..."

"I'll call you," I promised, slipping the card into my back pocket. "But like I said, I don't think I'll be much help. Garret protected his secrets from me, I was no confidant to him."

"Thank you for your time," he said and quickly excused himself from the room.

My lawyer, who I kept referring to as dad's lawyer still, was an older man. He was thin and didn't look like the large intimidating powerful lawyer type. But appearances were deceiving and his receding hairline and frail-like form had nothing to do with how sharp he was. He'd been my dad's lawyer for as long as I could remember and I was more than a little certain he knew any and all of the shady things my father partook in, he may have even been apart of them. He didn't often handle violent crimes, but he was a hard man and had not hesitated in the least to show up when Tyler called him. As much as I appreciated him coming at the drop of a hat, I hadn't thought it was necessary.

"I had my assistant set you up with a room in the Hilton, all of your belongings have already been moved."

"O-oh," I said, surprised that it had all been taken care of. "Thank you."

"It was my pleasure to take care of it." He leaned closer to me, dropping his voice. "You call me if they bring you in for further questioning, they have no reason to drag this out for you."

He stood and walked to the door of the room where we'd been questioned. Following, I dragged myself to my feet and out the door. With a brief thanks and goodbye, I walked down the fluorescent hall to the waiting room. Spotting me, Tyler stood from the chair where'd he been and crossed quickly to me. He looked tired too.

"What time is it?"

"It's after midnight," he said and I nodded reaching for his hand. "You okay?"

"Yeah. They may have additional questions, but I don't think they're going to haul me off to prison."

Tyler smiled, squeezing my hand. "Let's get out of here."

The suite at the Hilton looked remarkably similar to every other suite I'd been in. This suite had gray furniture instead of the patterned floral seating in the last room. A different, but similar pattern to the white quilt on the bed that was never quiet comfortable — but my comforter was already folded neatly on top of the spread. It was a similar layout, but it felt lighter. Better. There wasn't a dead body on the floor. There wasn't a fear looming over me that something very bad was going to happen.