MARIGOLD
My mouth falls open. I knew that me shouting I killed Hoover was going to come back to bite me in the ass. This is why you always plead the fifth. What happened to it being ruled an accident? Or my father saying that my tiny little hands couldn’t have snapped Hoover’s neck? They might be tiny, but I can still do other things with them.
I’ve still got my father’s keys I’d lifted off him. I’d slipped them into my bra for safe keeping. I thought I was going to have to bust my husband out of here. I figured if I didn’t have to, then I could maybe keep them as a small trophy for all the trouble my father was putting us through. Now, I’m thinking I might have to bust myself out.
My father tries to slap metal cuffs onto the wrist of my outstretched hand. Avery knocks them to the floor.
“Don’t touch my wife.” He’s about to explode.
It seems Avery has a lot of pull and power, but killing my father in the middle of a police station is not something I think even he can get away with. I’m a bit surprised at how well he’s holding back. I’ve seen the man in action when it comes to me. Hoover never stood a chance.
“And where is that arrest warrant?” Calista, the fancy lady with her blond hair pinned up and a suit that molds to her curves, fires back at my father. She steps forward, getting in front of Avery, probably thinking the same thing I am. If Avery kills him now, there is nothing anyone can do. My father is hoping he slips up.
Avery’s lawyer–and now she’s mine, too–only has only a few inches on me, but that’s not saying much. She talks as though she’s the one with the biggest set of balls in the room. I’m sure my father hates the fact that a woman is speaking to him with authority. I love it.
“You told me his death was an accident,” I huff, dropping my arm back to my side. I’m not sure my father is going to hand over my ring. He will do anything to get what he wants. I don’t understand his need to have control over me. It’s why I’d left his home the second I turned eighteen and never looked back. His control has never been out of love.
“Other things have come to light. She admitted to killing him.” Now my father’s anger is focused on the blonde in front of him.
“The coroner ruled it an accident, and you have no arrest warrant, do you, Detective Sullivan?”
His anger doesn't faze her. In fact, she takes a step closer to my father, as if daring him to do something.
“She admitted it.” If my father is nothing else, he’s persistent. This is his last-ditch effort to maintain some sort of control over me and get everyone to do what he wants.
“In high stress situations–such as a SWAT team flooding your home without cause and pointing guns at you–people say all kinds of things. You’re only proving the emotional toll you have taken on my client.”
I don’t know how much Avery is paying this little spitfire, but she deserves every damn penny. “You’re on a sinking ship, Sullivan. The harder you fight, the faster you sink.” She flicks her eyes around the room to the other police watching. “I’d be careful. If I were some of you, I'd be jumping off his ship.” You can see some of the officers visibly stiffen.
Elliott edges closer, his eyes glued to the attorney with the mile-high attitude. He’s clearly smitten. So am I, at least a little bit.
“My daughter is clearly in the middle of some kind of breakdown. Maybe it’s best if we admit her to the hospital.” He’s so far gone that he’s willing to burn this place down while standing in it, all while trying to put me in the loony bin. I suppose that might be better than prison. Easier to escape, even?
“That’s not a game you want to play with me, Detective Sullivan.” The woman stands up even straighter. “You think I don’t know what you’re trying to do? Even if my client was emotionally unstable, that would be a matter left for her husband to handle. The conservatorship you tried to file is already dead in the water. Kind of like you. It has been since she said ‘I do’ to her husband and became Mrs. Avery Harbin.”
“She belongs to me now.” Avery holds out his hand. “The ring,” he demands. I’ve never seen Avery look more serious. My father finally reaches into his pocket and pulls out the ring, handing it over. Avery wastes no time putting it back onto my finger.
“Shall we?” the fiery blonde asks, turning her back on my father. She gives me a warm smile. Everyone Avery hangs out with is so badass. They make my father look pathetic and not one bit scary.
She flicks a glare around to the cops lingering. They all scatter.
“This isn’t over,” my father says as we start to exit out of the front of the police station. “You might want to mention to your lawyer that Mrs. Hoover has reported missing items from her home.”
Avery’s hold on my hip tightens. My father is really grasping at anything at this point. It only proves that he’s not going to stop. Calista flicks her eyes my way. One of her perfect brows lifts. I'm sure my face says it all. Thankfully, we’ve all got our backs to them as we continue to walk out the door.
“I plead the fifth!” I shout as we somehow make it out unscathed. At least for now.
“I’m going to ruin that man,” Calista says when the doors fall closed behind us and we make our way down the stairs of the police station.
“Get in line,” Avery growls back.
“He killed my mom,” I say, barely above a whisper. “He’s not going to go down without a fight. In fact, he’ll try to take us all with him.”
“Fuck.” Elliott scrubs a hand down his face.
“You know what to do,” Avery tells Elliott. “Handle it tonight. I’ll meet you at the warehouse, but don’t start without me.”
“Got it.” Elliott nods.
I think I know exactly what they’re discussing, but I ask anyway. “What are you–”
“You’ll regret this!” My father bellows impotently from the top steps of the police station.
Avery whirls, his face like a thundercloud. “There will definitely be regret, Sullivan. But it won’t be on my part.” He takes my hand and leads me to the waiting car.
For once in my life, I feel like I have the upper hand. If there’s any justice in this world, I know Avery will deliver it to me. My father doesn’t realize it, but his days are numbered.
And as for me? My happy days are only just beginning.