Page 98 of Ink's Devil

Unethical be damned. But if Sykes got a reputation as being crooked, he wouldn’t make a good lawyer. I try to suck it up. “So what happens now?”

“You’ll appear in court for your first advisement hearing tomorrow, Tuesday.”

I frown. Looks like I’ll be spending yet another day locked up without hope of bail. “That’s more than forty-eight hours.”

He shrugs. “Seventy-two isn’t unknown. It could be a good sign if the prosecutor is having difficulty building a case.”

I just raise an eyebrow. Sounds fairly solid to me. I was caught with a bag carrying two kilos of heroin.

The detectives want to speak to me again, it’s why Sykes has come in. It’s the old familiar routine. I’m shackled with my hands in front of me linked to a chain on the floor just in case I get the sudden urge to reach over the desk and strangle one, or both, of the pair. Looking at it that way, it’s probably lucky I’m handcuffed. At least it stops me acting on the impulse.

Barker takes the lead once again. “How well do you know Bethany Foster?”

Shit.Dive straight in why don’t you? I think fast how to approach this.I don’t know what she’s told them.Fuck straight lawyers. I decide fast and wink. “Very well.”

I swear my answer makes both of them sit straighter. “Would you care to elaborate on that? How long have you known her, and would you say you and she were an item?”

I wish that I could say what we were. I’ve claimed her, for fucks sake, just to make sure my club protects her. But somehow the idea of having an old lady has got stuck in my head, and it doesn’t feel as dreadful as I used to think it would. Having Beth to come home to? Her to fuck for the rest of my life? Her to hold, to sleep with? I could get pretty comfortable with that.

Only one problem, I doubt she’d wait thirty years for my release. Even if some magic is worked and I get out sooner, I have no idea whether Beth would want me, or whether I’ve been too successful pushing her away.How long does it take for a woman to lose interest?

Restricting myself to what I fear is the truth isn’t hard. I shrug. “She targeted me at a wedding. There was a mutual attraction. We fucked. I liked it, so we fucked some more when her friend brought her to one of our parties.”

Hastings can’t keep the look of disgust off his face. “Ms Foster feel the same way? That the only thing offered was a physical relationship?”

“It’s what she wanted,” I say, daring them to contradict, mentally crossing my fingers that our statements won’t contradict. “What can I tell you? Ms Foster wanted to take a walk on the wild side, I was only too happy to oblige. If you saw her, you’d know that body offered on a plate would be hard to turn down.” I don’t let on I know they’ve interviewed her.

“You’ve been to her house?”

“I have,” I confirm. No point in denying it.

“Did you collect the drugs from her there? Or did she hand them to you when she met you somewhere else?”

What the fuck?How have they linked her with the drugs? It’s my turn to look genuinely confused. I turn to Sykes, but he, too, isn’t showing any sign he knows what’s going on. “I don’t understand the question,” I reply at last. “Why the fuck would Beth have anything to do with drugs?”

“The bag you were caught with had her fingerprints on it.”

It did?Damn. I hadn’t time to ask her anything at all. I hadn’t thought that she might not have been wearing gloves. Fuck, didn’t everyone on such a cold night?

“I know nothing about that,” I tell them at last. “I can’t imagine Beth would have anything to do with drugs, but as I said, I barely know her.” I’m hoping my words won’t get her into trouble.

I’m stared at by two pairs of eyes for a moment. I stare unerringly back.

Barker breaks the silence. “Where did you get the rucksack? Did it already contain drugs?”

Sykes glares at them. “My client has explained exactly how he got possession of the rucksack. He picked it up when it was dropped, only moments before he was arrested.”

Barker ignores him. “Did you go through Ms Foster’s house, perhaps? Take the rucksack while you were there? Decide she wasn’t putting out enough and get her back by trying to frame her?”

Christ. His version is more fanciful than mine.

“Whoa,” Sykes steps in. “Mr McNeish told you what happened quite clearly. Mr McNeish had nothing to do with the bag prior to him taking it off of the man he saw down the alley, the man who I suggest you should be looking for instead of keeping my client locked up. My client handled the bag for little more than a minute. How would he know where it came from?”

The detectives confer for a moment.

“Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about Ms Foster? Think carefully, Mr McNeish. If she gave you drugs to pass on to Childs, maybe you were just the messenger and indeed had no knowledge of what was in the bag. A bit of cooperation here might go a long way.”

I’ve already made the decision I’ll sacrifice all that I am to keep Beth out of this. I can’t go back on that now. I wish there was something I could do, some way to talk to her, to tell her not to give a hint that she knew what was going on. I wish I knew the story why she was there in the first fucking place. But I don’t. All I know is that message from Demon that she has a story which checks out. I can only surmise that her brother is somehow involved and rely on my club to find out. “I’ve nothing more I can tell you,” I respond at last.

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