Page 86 of Kept in the Dark

She threw her head back and laughed. “I think so. Unless you do something to piss me off again.”

“Well, that’s pretty easy to do so…”

He laughed when she playfully smacked at his chest.

He kissed her again as they blindly made their way to his bedroom. Hailey kicked the door closed and melted into him, hoping that when this was all over, she wouldn’t regret it.

Unfortunately, Hailey and Trey didn’t find anything else of importance in the case files. As much as he wanted to sit in his cozy home on this rainy day and kiss her for hours, he needed to catch a killer. And he’d bet his entire career that person was David.

Though his gut told him David murdered Morgan, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Ryan was still somehow involved. The whole damn case was complicated. It was infuriating.

But despite who killed Morgan, it was evident Sara had been exploited. Everything Trey found out about the investigation thus far should have already been looked into. And from what he’d gathered, hardly anything had been thoroughly investigated.

No one checked alibis, potential eyewitnesses, or even possible suspects. Genevieve and Hailey should have been interviewed since they had the most involvement with Morgan. Nicole, Ryan, and David should have been questioned. But Washington bypassed any protocol and went straight to arresting and detaining Sara.

The problem with this case was they investigated Sara, but they didn’t investigate Morgan’s death. They went into the case with a biased opinion that Sara was guilty, and, because of that bias, they didn’t bother to chase down any other potential leads or suspects.

Trey just couldn't figure out why.

Why would Eli not make sure this was an air-tight case since, according to Hailey, the Gallaghers were like family to him?

He needed someone who could tell him exactly what happened with the investigation that night. So, he dropped Hailey off at Genevieve’s while he went back to the station to talk to the one man, he thought might actually tell him something.

Once inside, he beelined for Sargent Williams’ desk. Lucious was an older man, in his mid-sixties, with long salt and pepper hair that he kept pulled into a ponytail, his beard and mustache matching. Not a style Trey would wear but the ladies loved the Sargent, despite him being married for nearly forty years.

He was one of Trey’s favorite, and best, officers. Lucious was a wise man who spent his career taking the time to train other officers. He was fantastic at his job; fair and just, but he was also merciful when the circumstances called for it. He was no-nonsense and didn't mind calling other officers to the carpet, including Trey. Trey actually respected him for it.

Lucious saw him approaching and smiled. “Afternoon,” Lucious said with a nod.

“My office.”

He quickly followed Trey and took a seat across from the desk as Trey closed the door and sat down himself.

“How can I help, Chief?”

“This is off the record so we can drop the formality,” Trey said.

Lucious shifted slightly. “Okay.”

Trey tried to keep his temper at bay, but he was slowly losing control. This case was driving him crazy, and he was furious to know his own officers potentially covered up a murder. Especially Lucious.

“Do you know anything about a cover-up concerning the Morgan Gallagher case?” Trey saw fear flash behind the man’s eyes. Or was he being paranoid and seeing things that weren't there?

When Lucious didn’t respond, Trey continued, “There’s a lot of missing paperwork. You were one of the responding officers and I want you to tell me why protocol wasn’t followed. Walk me through the investigation.”

“I don’t know why reports aren’t there. I, uh, gotta get back to my desk. I’m trying to finish up some paperwork.” Lucious stood quickly and tried to exit.

Trey's voice boomed, “Sit down.”

The older man’s hand rested on the knob, his back to Trey.

Trey said, “I know something went on with this investigation and I want to know what it was. I’m going to make a phone call to I.A. and this will be your only chance to come clean before I involve them.”

The man shook his head. “Oh, hell.” Sighing, Lucious sat back down and rubbed his face. “We were blackmailed into incriminating Sara.”

“What are you talking about? What blackmail?”

Lucious looked at the floor, embarrassed. “David blackmailed me.”

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