As the deputies pulled Rian’s arms behind his back and cuffed him, Rian’s gaze lifted to Lexi who had walked into the middle of the station. “Get him to his cell.” The deputy pulled Rian from the room with a hard yank as Rian glanced over to Lexi, her eyes filled with tears.
“What’s he being arrested for?” She demanded. Rowland walked over to her, his hands gripping her arms. “He’s being detained, not arrested. Yet.”
Lexi shook her head. Her gaze fell to Rian as they pulled him down the hall toward the cells. “What is going on?” Lexi asked as she stood at Rian’s cell. Her hands gripped the bars, Rian’s moving over hers protectively.
“He thinks the club or me directly had something to do with Brad Benjamin’s murder.”
“That’s insane.”
Rian shrugged, his gaze lifted to the deputy who stood feet away at the entrance door. He'd said the same thing, not that they had any intention of listening. “Baby, I need you to get word to the club. Let them know I’m in here and why. Tell them what I told you about last night.”
She nodded, her gaze lowered to the floor as her eyes closed, tears tipping the edges of her lashes. “I need to be calling you a lawyer.” Her gaze returned to him. “Trying to get you out of here, finding the killer, just…”
“Babe.” He spoke over her rambling. He lifted his hand from hers, placing it along her cheek. Lexi’s eyes closed at his touch and she brought her hand to rest over his before the deputy spoke with a loud tone.
“Pull your hand away O’Rooney!”
Lexi glared at the deputy, her hand wrapped around the bars once more, his covering hers as before. “What about shifting?” She whispered. “Can you just shift and get out of here? We could just go somewhere.”
“If I shifted, I would still be locked in this cage and everyone would know what I was. That could do more harm than good, you know that.”
Her eyes closed once more as she fought to not cry.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this, Billingsworth must be involved.” Her gaze returned to his. “This is a plot to taint the club, destroy the members because of what the town sees them as. I know it, you know it.”
“Just tell the club. They will know what to do. I don’t want you getting any more involved. Do you understand?”
“I don’t want to be home without you.” He glanced over to the deputy, who had his face down in his cell phone. Rian looked back at Lexi, gave her his signature grin before he stepped closer to the bars. She smiled, moving to him as their lips connected through the bars.
“Hey! Back from the cell!” The deputy yelled as he shifted toward them. Lexi backed up from Rian, her eyes filled with tears once more.
“I love you, Lexi Jameson.”
She stepped back as the deputy pulled at her arm and her hands fell from under his. “I love you, Rian O’Rooney.”
After Lexi was escorted out, Rian was left alone in the holding cell. He backed from the bars to turn and glance around the small room. A single bed, a sink, a toilet and a small metal desk was all it contained. There was a tiny window near the top of the ceiling that offered just a small amount of sunlight. He stepped to the bed to lay down in the center of the lumpy mattress, his eyes locked on the light that stretched the length of the ceiling. Now what?
Chapter Three Hundred Thirty-Two
Twenty-seven hours. That’s how long Rian had been locked behind bars. He was being held under the suspicion of murder, or at the very least, knowledge of the killing. Brad Benjamin was the victim, a local who had been considered the golden man of Bel Mar. He didn’t earn this becoming a hero, serving their country or even saving a child from demise.
No, he received this title by simply being him. He graduated from high school without honors. He didn't go to college and he married the only woman he’d ever gotten involved with, his high school sweetheart. He worked odd jobs through town and charged nearly nothing for his services, just enough to support his wife and kids, to take care of his family. He was everyone’s friend, the neighbor you wanted, the man you turned to when you needed a favor or a listening ear.
Rian laid in the center of his bed, the lumpy piece of crap he’d been forced to endure the entire time, unless he wanted to sleep on a metal stool. He hadn’t spoken a word since Lexi left. He never asked for a lawyer or for his phone call, he trusted his woman would send message to the club.
Any moment now they would show up, demand his release, hell, possibly have the person behind this set-up locked and loaded to hand over. With every hour that passed, each time Rowland pulled Rian from his cell to drill him with questions, Rian wondered what the holdup was.
As he sat on the edge of the bed, Rian closed his eyes, his focus shifted. He could hear the muffled voices inside the station but couldn't hear their words. When Rian was shifted, he had enhanced speed, hearing and smell. Yet, as a human he had to focus harder. To push the remaining abilities he had down and allow the one he wanted to peek through.
He needed to know what was going on. He knew he hadn’t been told everything. Had the club showed up and was told they couldn’t talk to him? Had Lexi been restricted from coming to see him? Rian didn’t like the questions that spilled over in his mind. With a deep inhale, he began to hear the voices coming clearer through the thick walls.
“We have nothing that’s
