He glances at Bates and shudders. Good.
“Go on,” my boss says.
“The two of them came to my bar one night out of the blue.” He looks at Eve. “The night you were there.”
Eve is white and looks like she might vomit.
“You were leaving as they came in, but they saw me hug you before you left and they started giving me trouble about you. They thought we were dating.”
I narrow my gaze. He wishes.
“Get to the point,” my boss says.
Owen swallows. “The guys stayed late after I closed up and we got drunk. They kept asking me questions about Eve, even though I told them she wasn’t my girlfriend. Just a friend. As the night wore on, I mentioned that my bar is in the red and I thought I’d have to sell it soon.”
“So, you decided you could make a buck by selling Eve?” Davis growls.
Owen shakes his head. “No. It wasn’t like that. I had nothing to do with it. The two of them decided. They said she has the look buyers are looking for. I had hoped they were joking, but they wouldn’t let up. I called Tony the next morning to make sure he was kidding. He laughed at me, and I didn’t like the vibe. I wasn’t sure what to think, so I called the police.”
My boss interjects. “You called in the tip.”
Owen nods. “Yes. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t want to rat out my friends if they were kidding. Seemed ludicrous to think my friends were really in the business of human trafficking.”
“Did you know Bates was following Eve?”
He shakes his head. “No. I had no idea. But when I saw you with her last Friday, I knew you were not just some random guy who came into the club. I knew you were a cop.”
I hate that he picked up on that, but I say nothing.
“So, you called the second tip too?” my boss asks.
“Yes. When I left the club that night, I saw Bates lurking around outside. It freaked me out.”
“Why the hell didn’t you fucking tell the cops everything you knew at that point?” Davis asks.
Owen runs his hand down his face. “I didn’t know what the fuck to do or what to think. I still couldn’t believe they were seriously going to fucking kidnap her or sell her.” His voice is raised. It should be.
“Go on,” I grind out.
The man is shaking. I’m not certain he hasn’t actually pissed himself by now. “I called Bates a few days later, but he blew me off. Said I was seeing things. Told me he hadn’t been at the club last Friday. I called Tony too, but all I got was his voicemail. He never returned my calls, and I began to assume he was the ringleader. I wasn’t sure Bates even knew for sure what Tony had planned, but I couldn’t stand the stress. I haven’t been able to sleep or eat all week. I kept thinking I was surely out of my mind. There had to be an explanation. But I was scared for Eve too, so I called the cops again Friday morning and told them I thought Tony was planning to kidnap her.”
There are moments of silence. Eve grips my shirt at my back so tight that I can feel her little fist at the small of my back. When I glance at her, I see flames. She’d like to throttle Owen. She’ll have to get in line.
“How did you end up here today?” I ask.
Owen starts fidgeting. “Bates called me earlier this morning. It went to voicemail. I didn’t get the message until a while later. He sounded like a crazed lunatic, telling me about Tony being arrested, blaming me for turning them in, rambling about how I was ruining his life. But what spurred me into action was his laughter. Like a crazed lunatic. Said he was going to show me. He didn’t need Tony. He could make the drop-off all by himself. He was done taking a cut from Tony. He would take over.”
“Jesus,” I murmur. “How did you know where Eve was.”
“Bates fucking told me. You can listen to the message. I swear. He was out of his mind or something. Told me he was here at the hotel and he was going to finish the job. As soon as I heard him, I drove here as fast as I could. I figured Eve wouldn’t have protection anymore since Tony had been arrested, so I wanted to warn her. I texted her to come out and talk to me.”
Owen shifts his attention directly to Eve. “I swear I had no idea Bates would grab you the moment you stepped into the hallway. I had no idea he was behind me. I was trying to help. Eve, you have to believe me.”
Eve stares at him.
We all do. It’s a ludicrous story that we’re going to need to investigate and hear ten more times, but it’s also possible he’s telling the truth. We’ll see if it all checks out.
My boss speaks next. He sets his hands on his hips and steps into the middle of the circle. He points at Owen. “I have two thousand more questions for you. You’ll be escorted to the hospital and then transferred to the station. Hope you finally got a good nights’ sleep last night because you’re going to have one hell of a long day.”
Owen nods, his eyes wide. “Yes, sir.” He glances back at Eve as they lead him away, his eyes pleading with hers.
I don’t know what to think of the man right now. I’m furious with him though. He could have come forward at any point. If he knew it was serious enough that I was protecting her… Jesus.
I need to focus on Eve, not Owen or any other
