Page 52 of Nightcrawler
His eyes widened as he nodded.
I hit speed dial, feeling like total shit.
Chapter Seventeen
RAVEN
I couldn’t believe Ned had taken this bullshit as far as he had. The whole situation felt surreal, and I had no idea how he thought he was going to get away with it. As Miguel and I entered the Hollywood precinct and were locked into separate rooms, I was left fuming.
I’d managed to reach Cassidy who promised to get over to the station as soon as possible but the cops watching me make the call had asked me to put it on speaker so they could listen to every word. I’d done it, not wanting to argue with the pricks, hopeful that if I cooperated, Miguel and I could go free as soon as we’d given a statement.
I expected Cassidy would take care of things but still, seeing my neighbors watch Miguel and I being loaded into a police car first thing in the morning, had been awful. Talk about embarrassing.
I sat in the room, staring at the four scruffy, gray walls and the glass window where I suspected people could observe interrogations—or interviews as the officers had called them—from the other side of the glass. The room smelled of burnt coffee and sweat. I felt dirty and angry, and by the time Cassidy walked into the room more than a half hour later, I was ready to cry.
He, on the other hand, looked like he was going to kill someone.
“I’m sorry it took so long, Raven,” he said.
I jumped up from the table and threw my arms around him, hanging on for way too long as he gave me an awkward hug back. “I’m so glad you came. I didn’t know what to do and they kept us separated, so I couldn’t even see how Miguel is.” I let go, only then noticing the tears running down my face, and feeling extra angry that I didn’t have better control over my emotions as I swiped at them.
“He’s all right. They’ve got him next door. Have a seat and let me tell you where we go from here,” Cassidy said, grabbing the metal chair to sit facing me.
“That doesn’t sound good,” I said, sitting down hesitantly. “What do you mean?”
Cassidy shook his head. “First of all, don’t worry. You’re going to sit here and write out a statement of every single thing you did from the time you first brought Miguel home and encountered Ned Jeffries in front of your house, to this morning when you woke up and found two LAPD officers pounding on your door. Will you do that for me?”
I swallowed hard. That meant that everyone who read my statement, including Cassidy and Mike, would know that I’d slept with Miguel last night. It wasn’t that I was embarrassed. I’d been out since high school and I couldn’t give a shit what anyone thought about me being gay but the very idea that Ned had put me in this position, rubbed me the wrong way. I hated him for it.
“But I didn’t do that to Ned…those horrible pictures…what kind of monster do the officers think I am?”
Cassidy reached out and took my hand, ducking his head, and looking directly into my eyes. “None of that matters, Raven. Do you hear me? I don’t care what they think about you as long as we get you and Miguel out of this, do you understand?Secondly, this is Hollywood. Do you think those officers have never encountered a gay man before?”
I offered him a tiny smile, knowing that he’d sussed out my feelings for Miguel. Hell, the other day at dessert, I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off him while he ate. “If they haven’t, they’re probably not very good police officers. You and I both know gay couples have just as many domestic disputes as straight couples. And if they haven’t broken up at least one fight at a gay bar, then they aren’t answering their radio.” I sighed, looking down at the pen and pad he'd brought into the room. I pulled them toward me. “Okay, I’ll write my statement. What about Miguel?”
Cassidy sat back. “Miguel is in with Mike right now, getting the same speech I’m giving you.” He nodded to the yellow pad. “He’s also going to give us a statement.”
I nodded, looking down at the pad. “Okay, good.” I glanced up at him as something occurred to me. “You and Mike work in the Brentwood station. Will you be able to stay on as detectives in this case? Won’t it be a conflict of interest?”
“No. That’s for the judge and lawyers to deal with. But don’t worry about that. I’ve already talked to the detectives who caught this case and while you’re writing your statement, I’m going to go out there and catch them up. At that point, I’ll ask to be put on the case. They’ll have to get it cleared by their lieutenant, but I know the guy and he’s reasonable. I have no doubt he’ll sign off on it.” He pointed to the pad. “When you write out your statement, be very precise about every single person you encountered yesterday, every call you made or answered, and try and give me correct times for all those encounters. I don’t care if it was you waving at your mailman or a neighbor. Give me an approximate time that it happened, who was with you at the time, and Mike and I will check it all out.”
“That’s how we’ll get out of this?”
“Yes.”
“They haven’t read me my rights or anything, Cassidy. Are they supposed to get away with that?”
“You haven’t been arrested. You’re here for questioning and I have no doubt the lieutenant will want to sit in when we talk to you but first, write out your statement and then we’ll follow up with questions once you’ve got it all on paper. Okay?”
“Yes, and then you’ll talk to Ned? Get him to drop this crap? Find out who really beat him?” I shook my head. “I can’t believe he’d go that far.”
Cassidy frowned. “Go that far? You don’t think he was randomly jumped and then saw an opportunity to put it on you?”
“No. You have no idea how safety conscious this bastard is. He carries mace on his belt all the time, even when he’s out dancing or whatever. He’s a complete loon when it comes to that. He once told me, he might die in a fight but not until he took the other guy down with mace. That’s why I stepped between him and Miguel yesterday. I was really afraid he’d use it. I’m a 100 percent sure he hired someone to beat him up just so he could get back at me for firing him. He warned me. After I fired him, he told me I hadn’t heard the last from him. I guess that’s what this is. His way of getting back at me and Miguel.”
Cassidy nodded. “I’ve met guys like him. Can’t take rejection or no for an answer.”
I nodded emphatically. “Yes! That’s Ned to a tee.”