Page 92 of So Right
Chapter Nineteen
At the police station, Luke sat in a small conference room that didn’t look anything like the interrogation rooms he saw on television. But then he hadn’t been arrested yet.
Yet.
Shit.What was he doing?
Protecting Kelsey. He didn’t think she’d done anything—he believed her when she said Noah had been fine when she’d left him at the park. But it didn’t look good with the texts and the bracelet. God, the bracelet. That was a damning piece of evidence. Circumstantial, yes, but they’d be able to put Kelsey at the scene—not just from the bracelet—and she certainly had motive.
What else could Luke do but protect her?
Officer Talbot, a balding guy in his late thirties, came into the room. “You may not know this, but there’s a weather camera at the park. Don’t know if it’ll show us anything from last night, but it might. With that in mind, can you walk us through what happened?” He sat down at the conference table.
Dread curled through Luke. He shifted in his chair. He needed to buy some time. He was sure Kelsey hadn’t done this, but he didn’t want her to be scrutinized by the police. Dammit, hadn’t Noah put her through enough? Still, Luke wondered what had happened. Who had killed him if it wasn’t Kelsey? And it sure as hell hadn’t been Luke, regardless of what he was trying to pull right now.
“I need to speak with my lawyer.” He cringed inwardly, certain this made the situation even worse, but not knowing what else to do.
Talbot exhaled. “Okay. You do realize you’re not under arrest at this point?”
“Yes.” Just as he knew his rights. “I still want to talk to my lawyer.”
Talbot stood. “You can make a call.”
Luke pulled his phone from his pocket. They hadn’t taken anything from him.Yet.
He was beginning to hate that word.
Talbot left, and Luke saw that he had several texts from Kelsey. His phone had been on vibrate, and he hadn’t felt it in the pocket of his sweatshirt. She was on her way to the station with Aubrey Archer.
No need to call an attorney, then.
He didn’t respond to Kelsey. What could he say? Anything he typed and sent would be used against them.
Against them? Did he really think it would come to that? He set the phone on the table and dropped his head into his hands. He didn’t know anything. And he didn’t know when he would.
After what felt like an eternity but was maybe a quarter hour, the door opened and Aubrey came into the room. She sat down next to Luke and gave him an encouraging smile. “Hey, Luke. Nice day to be at the police station.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, and she raised her hand, palm up. “Sorry,” she said. “Bad attempt at levity. Listen, I’m not a criminal defense attorney, but let’s see if you really need one. Can you tell me what happened?”
Luke had tried to come up with what he would say. If he told the truth, she’d know that he was innocent of anything—including using the rock in self-defense—and she’d simply relay that to the police. Wouldn’t she?
He tried to calm the storm raging through him. “Where’s Kelsey?”
“She’s out in the waiting room. We thought it best if I came in and talked to you first.”
Or did Kelsey just prefer not to see him because she thought he’d killed her ex? He supposed that was proof thatshehadn’t done it. Wait, did he really think she had? He realized he kept going back and forth. Logically, rationally, he knew she hadn’t. But emotionally, he didn’t know. He could see how she would do whatever necessary to protect herself against Noah. Assuming it was self-defense.
Fuck, his head was doing a number on him. He needed to talk to her. Now.
“I need to talk toherfirst.”
Aubrey frowned. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. This is serious, Luke. You admitted to killing a man.”
“No, I admitted to hitting him in self-defense.” Which he hadn’t done either. “Please get Kelsey.” He stood abruptly. “Never mind. I’m not under arrest. I can do what I want.”
Aubrey rose. “No. I’ll get her.” She gave him a wary look before leaving the room.
Luke paced as he waited for Kelsey to arrive. She walked in and slowly closed the door behind her. They stared at each other across the length of the table with maybe six feet between them.
