Page 89 of A Hero for Hailey (Love will OUT 1)

Chapter 33

If theEnergizer Bunny were arrested, wouldhe be charged with battery? ~ Text from Hailey to Suzie

Igrab my purse and keys and walk to the door with Aiden. Lola follows us. “No, sweet girl, you can’t come with.” She whines and stares at me with her big brown puppy eyes. Those should be classified as weapons and made illegal.

Aiden grins. “It’s fine. She can come with.”

“To the police station?”

He shrugs. “She’s a witness as well.”

“Not sure what her witness statement is going to say besides woof, feed me snacks, but whatever.”

We leave the house and I lock up while Aiden walks around his SUV and opens the back hatch. Lola jumps in, straight into a crate. “When did you get a dog crate?”

“Figured I’d need it if we’re going to be carting Lola around.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Awful presumptuous of you.”

“Do I need to explain what a relationship is again?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer before herding me to the passenger seat. “Come on. We need to get going.”

“What do you think Benjamin Jones wanted?” I ask him once we’re on our way.

His hands tighten on the wheel and a muscle ticks in his jaw. “I don’t know, but I will find out.”

Okay then. Moving on. “What did you do last night?”

He doesn’t bother responding. Nope, he hits the gas pedal and hightails it to the police station. Good thing it’s o’ dark thirty and no cars are out and about because someone thinks stop signs and red lights are merely advisory. I like speed as much as the next girl, but when he flies through a red light, I decide it’s time to grab the oh-shit bar and start praying for a safe delivery.

“We’re here,” Aiden announces. I open the eyes I didn’t realize I’d closed and huff out a relieved breath. “Come on, I’ll get you set up someplace safe while I deal with Mr. Jones.”

The menacing way he growls Jones’ name makes me super duper happy my name is not Jones. Someone is in trouble. Big time.

Aiden leads Lola and me to an interrogation room. “Someone will be in to take your statement.” He kisses my forehead and he’s gone. Lola cries and lays down in front of the door with her head in her paws. Such a big baby.

Fifteen minutes pass before a female uniformed officer comes in to take my statement. Officer Green asks me ten-thousand and one questions. I tell her the same story I told Aiden and then she leaves to type it up. Lola and I are left alone again.

“Honey.” Someone shakes my shoulder.

“Ten more minutes,” I mumble.

Suddenly, I’m airborne. What the…? I open my eyes to discover Aiden has gathered me in his arms. “What? Huh?” I blink my eyes until my vision clears and I remember where I’m at. “Put me down,” I hiss. I don’t want to be carried around a police station!

Aiden doesn’t argue and sets me down. “Come on.” He grabs my hand. “Let’s get you and Lola home.”

I refuse to move. “Nuh-uh. First, tell me why scary dude was in my house. What was he after? Was it my camera?”

He sighs and releases my hand to run a hand over his face. “Benjamin Jones is actually Bones Jessup.”

“Bones? Someone’s momma didn’t like him very much.” I deliberately make light of the name. In reality, it scares the pants off of me. Someone named Bones was after me? Yeah, this is going to give me some nightmares.

Aiden paces back and forth in the tiny room as he tells me the story. “Remember the first time we ran into each other at the hotel slightly over a month ago?” I nod. “You took a picture of your client’s husband in the hotel room.” I nod again, although he isn’t looking at me for confirmation. “You also took a picture of something you shouldn’t have.”

I search my mind. What the hell did I inadvertently take a picture of? I come up with a blank. “I don’t think so. I only took a picture of the couple. Nothing more.”

“It seems Mr. Jessup was hiding in the bathroom of the motel room.”

My eyes widen. “He was? But if he was hiding, I didn’t get his picture.” Furthermore, I deleted pictures from that day after Jones visited me at the office.

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