I started walking away from him to go find out who this guy was and what exactly was going on, but Duncan’s words stopped me.
“If there is anything I could have done to change the outcome of that rally, you have to believe, I would have. The club never wanted anyone to get hurt. We wanted to have fun, drink, and raise money for a good cause. I’m so sorry you lost your dad that day, Juliette, but innocent lives are at stake right now. Please, you have to trust me.”
“Trust isn’t given easily, Buchanan, and once broken there’s no going back.” I said over my shoulder before heading into the main lobby of the station to find out exactly who Pornstache was, and why he was here.
“She was wanted for robbery and kidnapping. I need to talk to her known associates to see if they knew what happened to the kid.” Pornstache sent me a skeezy look when I approached to find out what was going on.
I listened as he continued to tell Hollender about a little girl who was still missing and they were trying to track her down. They traced Brooklyn to Rising Star, but she died before they could get her into custody.
“How did you trace her?” Duncan’s warning about this guy was in the back of my mind, but he was a badge and Duncan was behind bars for murder. The whole world was upside down because I trusted the man behind bars more than the one in front of me. His story was hollow, and his thick accent made me think ofThe Sopranos.
“Special Agent Ricci, this is Deputy Rooker.” Hollender sounded annoyed as he made the introduction for us.
I noticed the guy’s last name was Italian, as was Megan Mazzano’s. Duncan warned that there was something going on that we didn’t know about. He had some kind of evidence that could bring danger on himself and others. I started to wonder if Meg had been mixed up with the Italian mob, but what would make someone from back east move to this little west Texas town? Something would have to send her running here and something would have to be waiting here for her. It made no sense.
“I want to question your suspect, Sheriff. He may shed light on the kidnapping, and we need to see what he knows about the missing child.”
“You might as well go ahead and call Mrs. Monroe. He won’t talk without his lawyer present.” I reached for the phone to call Tess, but Hollender depressed the headset button.
“Go to lunch, Deputy. We will handle the interrogation, and don’t try to deviate from your lane, Rooker. You’re the babysitter, remember.” He gave me a devious smirk, and I wanted to knee him in the fucking balls so hard his sack would be displaced, and it would look like he grew two small tits.
Pissed off, I grabbed my car keys from my drawer and took off, giving one last look toward the two men that were now speaking in hushed voices and then the man beyond who was still standing in his cell, his arms hanging through the slats as he leaned against the bars. Duncan’s eyes were watching me from across the room. I nodded slightly and left, knowing I’d just sealed my fate. Whatever happened now, there was no going back. I could be hailed a hero or branded a villain by the end of all this. I could solidify myself as the next sheriff or lose my badge all together.
I just knew I couldn’t side with someone I knew for a fact was dirty, and not help someone that I had strong suspicions was innocent. If I didn’t help figure out the truth, then I was no better than Hollender. I needed to find out the truth about Duncan, one way or another.
***
The Celestial Sons clubhouse wasn’t anything new to me. I’d been there when I first arrested Duncan. That was the first encounter I ever had with the frustrating man, and I had been less than respectable. I was angry. My emotions were charged, and I never should have been the one to make that arrest, but I was, and I cringe now thinking about the way I’d handled the situation.
Since that day, I’ve been in his company almost as much as I’ve been out of it, but I hadn’t been back to the clubhouse. I knocked on the door and stepped back, hooking my thumbs into my utility belt. When the door opened, I saw a big behemoth of a man, standing there with his arms crossed over his barrel chest. His beard was long and thick, and I swear looking up at him would give me a crick in my neck if I hadn’t stepped back before he answered the door.
“Deputy,” he said gruffly and without any warmth.
I almost regretted my decision to come here without backup, but I knew that Duncan might be in trouble and if he knew something that could prove his innocence and get him out of custody, then I had to get to the bottom of this. Otherwise, Hollender wasn’t looking for anyone else. As far as he was concerned, they had the gun, and that was enough, but knowing Duncan it no longer made sense. It was a puzzle that didn’t fit, much like Andrea’s death, and I couldn’t let another puzzle go unsolved.
“I’m looking for Mr. or Mrs. Monroe.”
“Why? Come to falsely arrest them for Brooklyn’s murder, too?”
I gritted my teeth, “If I was, would I be here without backup and knocking nicely on the door instead of kicking it in again?”
He looked at me skeptically, before nodding and stepping inside the dimly lit clubhouse. Last time I was here, I was charged up with adrenaline and had one sole job, locking my cuffs around Duncan Buchanan’s wrists. I’d done what I was told to do, fueled by anger and hatred for anything on two wheels with a motor.
My grief was still raw and fresh, and stepping foot in here that day was like rubbing salt into an open wound. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and I did everything I could to get out of here. Logically, I knew the Celestial Sons weren’t responsible for my dad’s death unless one of them had pulled the trigger. I doubted it since dad had a relationship with the MC that I had never seen before. That day he and Zodiac had talked to each other like friends and with respect, but it didn’t change the fact that he was dead because of that rally.
The room was dim, but there were enough lights for me to see the massive TV on the back wall that was surrounded by different mix matched couches. There was a bar in the corner that had a mirror behind it and every different label of alcoholic beverage you could think of and probably a few more. They had a full-size jukebox on one wall, and recessed speakers were lined up throughout the ceiling.
“Look, I don’t have a lot of time. Are they here?”
“What’s the rush, Deputy?” He grabbed his phone from on top of the bar and pulled out a stool while he sent off a text.
“I need Mrs. Monroe to come back to the station with me.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” He stood up quickly almost knocking his stool over “You can’t fucking think Tess had anything to do with Brooklyn’s death.”
The guy looked pissed and like he was about ready to throw me out of the clubhouse. I held up my hands, “Hey. Easy. I know she didn’t have anything to do with Brooklyn, and I’m starting to suspect that Duncan didn’t either, but I need Mrs. Monroe to come with me back to the station now.”
“Deputy Rooker?” Zodiac and Tess came into the room from the back hallway. They were hand-in-hand, and she had a bottle in her other while he was carrying a baby monitor in his.
