Paint It All Red (Mindf*ck #5)(31)

“They have the evidence. There’s a fucking video of what they did to Robert Evans, for fuck’s sake! And you’re still holding me here? On what grounds?” I snap, glaring at Collins and Director McEvoy.

“On the grounds you aided a possible murder suspect in fleeing a town the same night her husband was killed, along with two men inside her home.”

“Cheyenne Murdock feared for her life, and she was not a suspect. She was attacked in her home, and our unsub saved her life.”

McEvoy points a finger at me. “And that mentality is why you’re here. You don’t get to assume she’s innocent because she says she is. Especially after you swore to your team the unsub was a female. Your entire profile for this case is all over the map, and it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. Then you just release a woman after two men are slaughtered in her living room with a skill far too advanced to ignore?”

“Two hit men,” I growl.

“Speculation,” McEvoy growls back.

“Let’s all take a step back,” Collins says, easing his hands between us and pushing us apart, creating much needed separation. “I’ve sent the evidence to be examined,” he goes on.

McEvoy narrows his eyes at Collins. “A woman digs up her basement floor and happens to hand you the keys to a closed case from years ago? And yet she’s nowhere to be found now, as though she magically vanished. It’s not like she can corroborate this story if we can find her, which makes it completely inadmissible.”

“You hope,” I add, glaring at him.

He takes a step forward, and Collins lands a hand on his chest, holding him back.

“All the lies and cover-up schemes in the world won’t do you a bit of good once I get my hands on that video evidence and have it authenticated.”

He takes a step back, his eyes narrowing. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with. I’ll bury you, boy. I’ll ruin your name so fucking well that nothing out of your mouth will mean a damn thing. All the evidence in the world won’t do you a bit of good with a reputation like I plan for you.”

“Is that a threat?” Collins asks him, eyeing the director like he just slipped up.

A sinister smile lines the director’s lips. “He’s being held for charges of obstruction and conspiracy to aide a known serial killer.”

“You can’t do that,” Collins growls.

“Watch me. He doesn’t leave this floor until they come with an arrest warrant and escort him out.”

He turns and stalks away, and Collins runs a hand through his hair.

“He must have played a really big part in covering all that shit up if he’s pushing the limits this far,” Collins says, looking over his shoulder. “I need to meet up with some people and get this sorted before he really does try to have you arrested. If you leave here, though, it’ll look bad. I won’t doubt that he has people blocking your exit. They’ll have permission to restrain you by any means necessary. So stay put. Don’t do anything stupid.”

He turns and walks away, and I grab the first thing I can get my hands on and throw it across the room. People gasp and scatter away as the broken stapler falls to the ground in two pieces.

“They just pulled in Donny,” Leonard says near me, looking around like he’s wary of everyone’s intentions.

“They’re going to split us all up and talk to us one-by-one. Just remember this is about me and none of you. Say whatever you need to in order to keep any blame off you.”

“I escorted Cheyenne Murdock and her daughter out of town. Not you,” he argues.

“Under my orders,” I remind him.

He narrows his eyes. “I’m not letting them take you down.”

I look around, making sure no one is close enough to overhear. “Their allegations aren’t wrong. I’m definitely compromised and you know it. In all honesty, I started obstructing this case the second I learned of Lana’s involvement.”

“In that case, Hadley and I are both in the same tub of shit you’re in. You’re not going down for this. Lana’s methods may be barbaric and illegal, but after seeing what they had to endure and then contend with in the aftermath, I can’t fault her logic.”

“Makes you question everything we’ve ever stood for, doesn’t it?” I ask, exhausted as I lean back against someone’s deserted desk.

“No. We’ve always fought to save the innocent from the sick and depraved. Lana had no one to fight for her or her family. She was tasked with the worst case scenario on her own.”

I cock my head as Hadley walks by, glancing over her shoulder as though she’s checking to see if she’s being followed. She holds her laptop closer to her body, clutching it like she’s up to something.

“She wasn’t on her own,” I say distractedly, watching as Hadley ducks into Craig’s office and closes the blinds.

His door doesn’t have a lock on it though.

He’s still out on the bullshit assignment they used to keep him away from Delaney Grove.

“Keep an eye on things and come find me if anything new reaches you. I’m confined to this floor for now.”

My eyes lift to where one of the director’s men is standing at the doorway, his eyes trained on me. He definitely plans to keep me in place.