“I left.”
I was starting to get annoyed. He was all talkative in the car, now he wasn’t saying shit.
My mouth opened to say something else when Hollender waltzed in. He walked straight over to the table, laid the evidence bag on the hardwood finish, and grinned.
Damn, now I was surrounded by two cocky idiots.
He picked up a chair and turned it around, folding his arms over the back of the seat. “Tell me why you did it,” he prodded.
“Did what?” Duncan asked, not the least bit fazed.
“Why did you fucking kill that pregnant girl?”
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
Hollender slammed his hands on the desk, rising until his face was inches away from Duncan’s. “Bullshit! You fucking murdered that poor innocent girl. What was it? Love affair gone awry? Didn’t want your secret baby to get out into the world?”
Duncan sat back and crossed his arms over his chest, staring Hollender down. “I told you. I had nothing to do with that. I wasn’t even there.”
“Then where were you?” Hollander asked, his glare intensifying.
“I was…”
The door burst open and in waltzed the lawyer lady that married that other damn biker from his club. “Don’t say a word, Scorpio. Deputies, I’m Tess Monroe, Mr. Buchanan’s legal counsel. From now on, my client won’t be saying a word until it’s gone through me first.”
Hollender glared at the woman. “Your client murdered a pregnant woman and her baby. Don’t you have any decency, woman?”
The woman shot his glare right back, unable to hold her tongue. “The baby lived and is now in my care. As for the pregnant woman, I can assure you, Deputy, that my client was nowhere near the crime scene. He was at the clubhouse, drinking.”
“Is there anyone that can backup his alibi? Any video evidence that he was at the clubhouse instead of the crime scene?”
The lawyer looked at her client and he shook his head. She looked back at Hollender and frowned. “No evidence as of now.”
“Well, it looks like your client’s alibi can’t be backed up, Miss Monroe…”
“It’s Mrs. Monroe, thank you.”
Hollender rolled his eyes. “I honestly don’t care what filthy biker you married, Ma’am. All the bikers in Rising Star are the same. Low-life assholes who like to go around killing people. People like our late sheriff Rooker.” He looked toward me for a second, pausing for effect, then turned back to Duncan and his lawyer. “I used to respect the Celestial Sons, but now I hate them all. Your client is going to pay for killing this girl, and once I’m done with him, the rest of those assholes he rides around with are going to rot in prison too, including your husband.”
The woman stood toe-to-toe with him, not even the least bit afraid. “Deputy Hollender, you may be acting sheriff in this town, but you don’t even have half the integrity the men in the Celestial Sons MC do. You can sit here trying to bring them down all you want, but my client is innocent, as is his club, and once I clear Duncan’s name, I’m going to come after you for defamation of character. These men are law-abiding citizens. Can I say the same about you?”
Hollender opened his mouth wordlessly, then clamped it shut.
What did she know that I didn’t?
“Ma’am, with all due respect, Hollender is right. It was the Celestial Sons MC that held the rally where my father died. It was the Celestial Sons that let it get out of control by allowing 1% clubs to attend. It was the Celestial Sons that ultimately led to the death of a pregnant woman--one you called a friend and left her unborn child in your care. I don’t care how honest or how much integrity a club has. Eventually, they all will end up riding down the same path of destruction.”
Duncan seemed to be hanging on my every word, his intense look penetrating my darkened soul. My glare didn’t soften as my eyes narrowed on him. I hated him, despite how handsome and alluring I found him. Everytime I stared into his pretty eyes, all I could see was my father dying in my arms, then his eyes rolling back to his head, and finally the weight of his body as he took that last breath and turned stiff and cold in my arms. Yeah, the Celestial Sons weren’t the ones who pulled the trigger, but since we had no leads on who did, I was going to hold them responsible for what happened, and bury them for the hand they had in my father’s death. Starting with Duncan Buchanan.
“I’d like to post bail for Mr. Buchanan,” the lawyer stated.
“Due to the charges against Mr. Buchanan, we’re going to be holding him here until we gather all the evidence to back up his charges,” Hollender replied smugly.
“Actually, Deputy, you can only hold my client for fourteen days. A judge would have to deny his bond in order for you to hold him any longer than that. And I can assure you that under section 11a of the Texas Constitution, the guidelines for a longer hold without bond do not pertain to my client. He has no prior felonies or convictions, and given his status within this community, it’s highly unlikely that he will be committing any crime while out on bail. I’ll give you the fourteen days, but when those days are up, I’ll be taking Mr. Buchanan back to the Celestial Sons MC where he belongs.
She stood up, resting a hand on Duncan’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Scorpio, I’m gonna get you out of this damn place.”
Hollender and I rose to our feet. Ready to escort his lawyer out of the room. We weren’t going to get anything out of him today, and that pissed me the hell off.
