Page 124 of The Innocent

Jekyll straightened, releasing Logan. He circled the table while the rest of the brothers slowly moved closer.

The cop kept his gun on them and waved them toward the wall. “Don’t do anything fucking stupid.” He looked around the room and shouted, “Imogene?”

Jekyll furrowed his brows and shared a look with Ace.

She emerged from the back corner of the room. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach and her cheeks damp. But she didn’t look hurt. Her red-rimmed eyes landed on him, and he saw the relief flash over her features.

“You okay?” The officer asked.

She nodded, looking up. “Yeah, Erik. I just got really scared.” She went to walk past him, but he stepped in her path.

There was a familiarity between them. It clicked instantly. Erik Murdoch, the police detective. Her cousin. She must’ve called him.

“Need you to stay close to me. I got back up coming.”

“Back up?” Imogene seemed confused.

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re outnumbered.”

She leaned past him and pointed to Jekyll and the club. “I called them to come get me.”

“What?”

“Yeah. At first, I called Jekyll a bunch of times but I couldn’t get through, so I called you and left a voicemail. Then I tried Gent, and he picked up.”

His brother’s name was so casually spoken, and the cop took notice. He shifted his eyes to him and the brothers. “You know them?”

Say it, Imogene.

She nodded. It wasn’t good enough.

“How do you know them?” Erik asked, suspicion lacing his tone.

Imogene bit her bottom lip staring at Jekyll.

Say it.

She pointed across the room. “Jekyll is my boyfriend.”

Good girl.

The next few minutes were a bit chaotic. As promised, more officers showed up. Even knowing they weren’t involved in any type of crime, the club was still questioned. None of them had much to say. They were well-trained when it came to dealing with the authorities.

Imogene had been questioned, then she made her way to him and stuck by his side, curled against his chest. After a few minutes Erik approached them.

“You’re all free to go. You can probably expect a bill for the door, but the owner has declined to press charges.” Erik smirked. “But you probably already know that.”

Yeah, we fucking do.

Most local businesses knew who ran Lawry. Killcreek may not live here, but everyone knew who they were and more importantly, who they were connected to.

“Imogene?” Murdoch glanced down. “Do you want to press charges?”

“I um” —She glanced up at Jekyll, who steeled his features— “I don’t know.”

“If you do, he’ll be sent back to prison. And after everything that happened tonight, I think you should.”

As Murdoch said, pressing charges would have Logan locked up. That’s not where I want him.