Haunted (Michael Bennett 10)

“That crazy little bitch tried to kill me.”

“That’s how it may look from your perspective. I saw a girl acting in self-defense. I suspect just about any jury would view it the same way. I don’t see any story line in which a drug dealer under investigation for murder isn’t considered a threat to a helpless girl.”

“That girl is anything but helpless.”

I had to smile. “You’re right. I meant helpless-looking girl.”

“So all that talk about justice is just bullshit?”

“Justice comes in many forms. Some might say you’re escaping justice by being arrested and not giving the people of this town a chance to deal with you.”

“I’m not worried about any charges you try to file against me for information I gave up while being tortured. This is still America. No judge will allow anything you find in this house in court. Nothing I said will ever be repeated in front of a jury.”

He wasn’t quite as stupid as he looked. He had a point, and I’d already considered it. I heard someone shout from upstairs.

“Police. Is anyone down there?”

I shouted, “Yeah, we’re down here. We need some paramedics.”

A few minutes later, after professionals were tending to Dell Streeter, Sadie and I were safely upstairs. Police cars from the state and county were starting to pull into the compound along with a fire engine. I guess the fire department didn’t get enough calls and wanted to be in on anything that might happen. Firemen are like that. They like to be involved. It makes them feel better about getting paid to sleep and work out.

I sat in the living room with Sadie. She was quiet, and I wanted to make sure she was okay. She’d been careful to wipe the tears from her eyes and make sure no one would realize she had been crying.

I just sat next to her on the couch quietly. We both watched as the paramedics came through and the state police started to secure the house. I hadn’t told them anything yet. They knew who I was and suspected that I had quite a tale to tell.

First I needed to talk to Sadie about a few things.

“Sadie, sweetheart, I need you to listen to me very carefully.”

She turned those big, intelligent eyes to me but didn’t say a word.

“Someone is going to ask you questions about what happened down there. I don’t know who it will be or when, but it’s going to happen.”

She nodded.

“You need to tell them how scared you were and that you were just protecting yourself.”

“I wasn’t really scared. I knew what I was doing.”

“And that’s exactly what I don’t want you to tell anyone.”

She gave me a sly smile. “Doesn’t giving me advice like that violate your oath as a police officer?”

“I can’t watch another kid go to jail. I can’t bear to see you sent away for something like this. That’s why I’m asking you to do it as a favor to me.”

“You want me to lie?”

“Did you think Dell Streeter was going to come after you at some point?”

“Yes.”

“Then you won’t be lying. It was self-defense. You had to do it to save yourself. Be very vague on everything else. Tell them you’ll only talk to Detective Coles from the Linewiler PD. They won’t realize you already know her.”

I could see her considering it. Finally she said, “I’ll do it for you. But you’ve got to make sure Dell goes to jail.”

I was already working on that in my head. There were a few problems. Streeter himself had already mentioned the biggest problem. Anything he said and anything we found could be suppressed by a judge.

I had to figure a way around that.