“Well shit,” Jolene mutters.“I had my doubts about you two, but it’s real, isn’t it?Lovely.Well, it was nice to have you drop in unexpectedly, and maybe next time call before you swing by.It will give me a chance to prepare.”
Jolene is staring at us, willing us to get up and leave.Ignoring her, I turn back to Helena and give her a slight nod along with a smile.We definitely got the bitch.Sadly, there’s nothing on Royce, but at least we have one out of two.Who knows, Orson might be able to give her a deal if she spills details about Royce or testifies against him.
Jolene clears her throat, but Helena still ignores her and asks me, “Yes?”
I give her a nod, knowing she’s asking if I found something.As if on cue, the doorbell rings.Jolene glares in the direction of the door.
Helena, on the other hand, asks with a toothachingly sweet voice, “Would you like me to get that for you?”
She stomps out of the room and I quickly take my phone to show Helena the picture.
“Holy fuck,” she gasps.
I notice movement near the door and shove my phone back into my pocket.To my surprise it’s not Orson who walks into the room, but Royce.
“Royce,” Helena grunts and gets to her feet.
“Helena.”Royce nods and holds out his hand for me.“Ballard, good to see you again.”
“They were leaving,” Jolene states.
Royce throws Jolene a disapproving look.“I’m sure they can stay a few more minutes.I do have to steal Jolene for a moment, though.We’ll be right back.”
“No,” Jolene snaps.“There’s nothing to talk about.I’d like all of you to leave.”
Royce narrows his eyes, but schools his features when he turns to us.“Well, this has been lovely, but I guess Jolene is right.We will have to postpone another get-together at a later time.”
He swings his arm in the direction of the door, giving us the “kindly fuck off” move.Slapping my palms on my knees, I push up and stand next to Helena.No use of my voice sucks because it means I can’t get chatty to prolong our stay.
Orson should be here any damn second and we need to stay inside the house to make sure the fucker in the basement stays the way he is to nail Jolene.The panic in Jacob’s eyes and the marks on his body clearly showed he wasn’t on that bed voluntarily.
Jolene is going down.It sucks Royce is here to witness it, though.On the other hand, Jolene might have something to confess, so maybe we can take Royce down as well, who knows?We walk to the hallway and thank fuck the doorbell rings again.
“You’re pretty popular today.”Helena smirks and steps forward to open the door.
“Orson,” she states with a load of surprise in her voice.
I know she’s doing it to make it seem she had no clue he was coming over, just in case we need to prolong this sting operation.
“Jolene Hagan?I have a warrant to search the premises.”Orson steps inside, along with two other deputies.
“What the fuck is going on?”Royce roars and glares at Jolene.“What did you do?”
“Stop blaming me for everything.I didn’t do anything,” she screeches.
One of the deputies heads straight for the basement.
“No.Don’t go in there,” Jolene snaps.
“They have a warrant, Jolene.They can go everywhere they like, and dig through your stuff,” Royce grits and shakes his head in disapproval.
The deputy comes back into the hallway, eyes wide and leans in to whisper something in Orson’s ear.
Orson steps closer to Jolene and takes out his cuffs.“Jolene Hagan, you are under arrest.”
“What the hell for?”Royce turns to Jolene who is now hanging her head.
Orson ignores Royce as he keeps talking.“For kidnapping and holding Jacob Tucker against his will.You have the right to...”
