Page 4 of Misconduct & Manipulation

I really could’ve used that Xanax.

Chapter3

JOHNNY BLACK

Someone had cut the security cameras on the apartment building, which made it easy to lie to the cops when they questioned me—not that it mattered, the Scorpio Society had all the police and local politicians on their payroll.

I knew with one hundred percent certainty; they were behind the attack and still I covered their tracks by telling the two officers who questioned me that I was just at the Harborview Apartments to visit friends. I gave them Mike’s name in case they wanted to verify that information, then I went on to reveal Mike never answered the door.

“I was about to leave when Hailey entered the lobby. She lives on the third floor. We exchanged a few words, then I said goodbye and started for the door. That’s when we were bombarded by a couple of men in ski masks. I don’t know why they were there or what they wanted. I don’t need to tell you the rate of sexual assault crimes on campus, do I?”

When they neither officer replied I continued.

“Right, so you can see where my mind immediately went. I put up a fight—hence the state of my face—but despite my efforts, I lost, and Hailey caught a bullet to the shoulder. I guess when they realized she had been hit, they got spooked because they took off after that.”

The bullshit story ran parallel to the one surrounding my father’s death and Cassie’s unfortunate attack and they seemed to buy it. A doctor came out shortly after I gave my statement, informing me that the bullet went straight through, missing Hailey’s scapula bone by a centimeter. There was no major damage and they expected her to make a recovery. She’s getting patched up now, but the cops are lingering around, undoubtedly to make sure our stories line up. Now, I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to get in to see her before they question her.

Threading my fingers through my short hair, my mind wanders back to earlier, and I’m slammed by the look of terror that was reflected in her whiskey eyes. I’m not sure it was the knowledge she had been shot that had her so fearful or if it was the sight of her own blood, but in that single moment, she looked so fucking vulnerable. An overwhelming sense to protect washed over me. The only other time I had felt anything close was when I learned Cassie was carrying my sister and my father had abducted her. Cassie was essentially a stranger to me, just like Hailey—but I felt tethered to both girls.

Lowering my hand, I glance down the hallway. My gaze zeroes in on the two officers loitering at the end and my mind flashes back earlier. In between beating the living shit out of me, the men who cornered me outside of Dizzy’s had let their intentions slip. They said in order for me take my father’s place in their heinous cult, I’d be thoroughly tested, and they didn’t mean I’d be taking a written exam with a number two pencil either. They were going to test loyalty by presenting me with morally challenging obstacles. If I wanted to live…if I wanted to see all the hard work I put onto field become something more, I needed to prove that I’d die on the cross for them.

A novel idea if you think about it.

I mean our Lord and savior did it, didn’t he? The difference is, he sacrificed himself for the greater good of his people. There wasn’t anything selfish about his sacrifice.

Suddenly, a thought crosses my mind.

What if I can do more to save the people around me? What if the answer isn’t to send Cassie into hiding? I am no God by any means but I’d risk my life, reputation, and dreams if it ensured Cassie’s baby was unscathed by our father’s sins. If it means no more innocent lives like Hailey’s get stuck in the crossfire of this mountain of shit.

A hand touches my shoulder, startling me, and I act on pure instinct, ready to lunge.

“Whoa,” Mike says, quickly holding up his hands in mock surrender. “Jesus, fuck, man what the hell happened to you?” My gaze darts back to the officers at the end of the hallway, both seem to be otherwise occupied so I quickly push myself off the hard plastic chair and grab Mike’s forearm, ushering him toward the fire stairwell.

Once we’re out of sight, I release my hold on him and meet his narrowed stare.

“If you’re here to see Cassie, you better get yourself cleaned up. The last thing she needs right—”

I cut him off.

“I’m not here for Cassie. Do you know Hailey Marsh?”

His brows draw together as he tries to place her.

“The reporter with the Stonewall Gazette?”

I nod.

“That’s her. She also lives in your apartment building on the third floor.”

“What about her?”

“She was shot tonight. I went to your building, hoping you and I could talk. You obviously weren’t there, but before I could leave, Hailey entered the lobby. She approached me yesterday, wanting to get a statement about my father’s death for the paper, so naturally, I blew her off. Just as I was about to leave, I noticed a flash outside the building. I couldn’t make out what it was and even if I could I don’t think there would’ve been enough time to react before the gunshots rang out. I pushed her to the ground, but a bullet hit her shoulder.”

“Fuck,” he hisses, combing his fingers through his dark hair. Lowering his hand, his eyes rake over me. “That doesn’t explain why you look like someone took a crowbar to your face.”

“Not a crowbar, just a couple of fists,” I say, biding my time as I get my thoughts in order. Drawing in a deep breath, my lungs stretch, and a burn fills my chest as my anxiety starts to rear its ugly head.

It’s now or never.

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