17. Seventeen

seventeen

Spike

Iswallowed uncomfortably as I sat next to Daniel Strickland, Amber's husband, struggling to calm him as he sat hunched over on the bottom step of the staircase with his elbows draped across his knees and his face trapped in his hands, sobbing. He was beyond plastered and given that he was doused in the unbearably potent stench of Jameson whiskey, I was surprised he didn't have alcohol poisoning.

Then again, it was possible he did.

It probably wasn't a bad idea to have him transported to the hospital for fluids and a medical evaluation.

"I-I can't be-believe th-this ha-happened," he cried, sucking back in the snot trying to leak out of his nose as he lifted up and wiped the wrist of his sleeve under said spot, blowing out a breath. "I-I don't even know how this could've happened. I… I don't remember us coming home last night, me getting in bed, nothing."

"I'm sorry this happened, Daniel. You have my condolences. I know this is hard, but I really need you to tell me everything you told the CSIs and EMTs."

Phoenix and I had gotten here just moments ago and the EMTs were gone with Amber long before we left the precinct. Phoenix was gravely pissed and hadn't so much as breathed a word to me the drive here, except for the one remark he made about going to help process the scene while I fell back and interviewed the husband. He was currently in the living room with one of the CSIs who stayed behind to talk to us.

"My wife and I are swingers."

My fingers tensed, squeezing tighter around my pen. I had a feeling I already knew where this was going.

"Swingers?"

Daniel nodded. "We're members of this club called The Flirty Sanctum. We haven't been there in a while thanks to our work schedules, but we got lucky and managed to get the night off together."

I opened my mouth, then closed it, rethinking my next approach. He admitted he and his wife were members, but if they hadn't been there for a while, then they likely weren't aware there had been a recent assault. I also didn't remember seeing Daniel Strickland on the list of suspects for Delilah's case either.

"What is the last thing you do remember, Daniel?"

He blew out a furious breath and swiped under his swollen, bloodshot eyes. "I remember being at the bar. Amber and I were drinking. There's a couple we're used to seeing but they canceled on us at the last minute."

"Did anyone approach you?"

"Yeah," he said after a moment. "It was a guy. He came up to me and asked if I'd mind if he bought Amber and I a drink. I was going to say no at first, but Amber seemed flattered by the offer, so I let him buy us a round."

"Okay, Daniel," I nodded, feeling a burst of excitement dance through my veins. "I need you to really think here. Do you remember the mask he was wearing?"

"I don't," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I didn't really pay much attention to the guy after that. I went to the bathroom and when I got back, Amber was still talking to him. I drank my double shot of whiskey and then everything after that is just…blank. Like I said, I don't remember leaving the club, coming home, nothing."

Shit.

If Daniel was telling the truth—which so far, he hadn't given me any reason to believe otherwise—then I suspect I knew what happened to him.

"Tell me what happened when you woke up this morning."

More tears rained down Daniel's face. He sucked in another breath, his bottom lip trembling.

"I woke up with a gnarly headache. It was all I could do to get out of bed but when I did, I went to our master bathroom and popped two Tylenol from the medicine cabinet. After that, I came downstairs and found Amber on the couch, covered in blood and her clothes torn clean off her body. I ran to her, tried to wake her, then checked her pulse. She was still alive, but she just wouldn't wake up for me." He paused again, sniffling. "I didn't know what else to do, so I called the police."

"I'm sorry, Daniel, but I think it might be best for you to come down to the hospital and get checked out. Get some bloodwork done."

"But why?" he asked, though I could tell by the horrified expression on his face that he already knew.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. I think you may have been drugged. If you're willing to come down to the hospital, we can run a toxicology test to know for sure. I'm pretty sure Amber's doctor has already administered one for her. We should have those results no later than this afternoon."

Daniel staggered to his feet, grabbing ahold of the railing for support. "Whatever I can do to help Amber."

I sighed in defeat. He was definitely still intoxicated, and there was no way in fucking hell I could permit him to drive to the hospital. I genuinely felt bad for the guy, so I offered to give him a ride. If I was right and Daniel really was drugged, then I had to race him to the hospital before any and all traces were completely depleted from his bloodstream.

But fuck, I rode in with Phoenix.

"Sit tight for a second, Daniel. We'll get you to the hospital soon."

He sank back down on the bottom step, looking lost and like he was light years away from mentally ascending into another universe. This was bad, so as I stepped off the bottom step and crossed over the crime scene tape displayed across the entrance to the living room, I approached Phoenix while he was still in deep conversation with the CSI.

"Daniel needs a ride to the hospital. I think he's been drugged. I told him we'd take him."

"That's fine," Phoenix said, keeping his attention locked on the blonde CSI standing beside us.

I took another look at her, then froze, my mouth dropping once I recognized her.

No fucking way…

Was that Kendall?

"I'm waiting on another unit to come in for the couch and rug," she said to Phoenix. "Blood samples, fingerprints, and all that good shit should be on its way to the lab as we speak."

"Thanks, Kendall." Phoenix reached inside his pocket and slipped a hundred-dollar bill in her palm.

My brows furrowed at the exchange.

What the hell was that about?

"Will you ask around for me?" he asked her.

Kendall sighed, but nodded and deposited the money in her back pocket. "I can't guarantee anything. I don't really talk to my brother anymore. You know he hasn't exactly been supportive of my career choices."

"But your niece is still fucking around with Killian and Levi, right?"

"That's none of your business, Phoenix, but yes, I guess you can say Kendra still sees them on occasion."

"Can you talk to her? See if she'll ask them?"

"You know this shit can cost me my job if word gets out to the wrong people."

"It's me, Kendall." He reached up, and in a stupid as fuck move, cupped the side of her face. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do." Her fingertips grazed his wrist before she pulled away and stepped back, shaking her head. "I can't do this, Phoenix. It's not fair, so please don't make me."

"Fine, Kendall. That's fine. Just check into that for me and let me know as soon as you can."

She ran off then, leaving him to stand there gaping at her with tears shimmering in his eyes.

"Phoenix." I stopped him, grabbing his shoulder as he made to turn and walk away. "Are you still—"

"I stopped seeing her years ago. I heard she was back in town and had gotten a job at the lab recently, but this is technically the first time I've seen her since the breakup."

Jesus fucking Christ.Kendall Wilson used to be Phoenix's everything once upon a time. They'd dated throughout high school, but when college rolled around, she'd called it quits in their senior year and left Phoenix devastated. Since then, throughout the years, Kendall would randomly pop up, drunk off her ass, pussy soaked, and would spend the night in Phoenix's bed, just to crush his world the next morning when he'd wake up and find her gone without leaving so much as a goodbye note. I'd spent many nights nursing my dear friend back to health thanks to him damn near drinking himself to death over that woman in the past.

"Phoenix."

"I don't want to be with her anymore, okay, I don't. I gave up on her a long time ago. The only reason I slipped her that money is because we need to know if the MC's may have any involvement with these cases. Crow would know, but since he and Kendall aren't on speaking terms, then we'll have to go with the next best thing."

"And if Kendall doesn't deliver?" I asked.

"Then it wouldn't be the first time I've made a mistake with her, now, would it?"

It was extremely risky confiding in Kendall, but Phoenix was smart and knew just as well as I did that with us being cops, we couldn't inch a toe inside Crow"s turf or make it within twenty feet of his daughter without having an army of fucking weapons aimed at our heads.

"Why not just go by his place and talk to Crow yourself? You used to be friends, right?"

Phoenix sighed and said, "It's complicated. Crow and I had a bad falling out after Kendall and I ended things the last time. I see him around once in a while riding with his crew, but he and I haven't spoken a word to each other in over four years."

"Was there any evidence found indicating a MC member was involved?"

Phoenix shook his head. "Not exactly. We've got blood, hair, fingerprints, and a few fiber samples I think may be from either the couch or carpet. We won't know more until we get the results back."

"Then why did you ask Kendall to hound Crow's daughter?" I had to ask.

"Because Crow's club isn't the only MC in Seaview Pines, and it also isn't a secret that a lot of them stay coming and going from the precinct. I know we ruled them out with Delilah's case, but here, we're at an actual crime scene and have a little bit more to work with this time around. Plus, you know some of the crews are good for this kind of shit. I understand Chief thinks our cases are connected, and he may be right, but I want to exhaust any and every possible lead we can think of first before we draw up any sort of conclusion."

I opened my mouth, starting to tell him I agreed, when suddenly, a loud thud resonated behind me.

My eyes widened, and as I whipped around, cursing to myself, I ran for it, right on over to Daniel Strickland who'd just tipped over forehead first onto the floor.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"We have to get him to the hospital," I hollered at Phoenix over my shoulder, cursing again as I struggled to help Daniel sit up as he groaned, his eyes pressed shut. "Help me with his—"

I bristled, gritting my teeth as I slightly turned to the side, finding Charlotte Greene stepping through the threshold and staring incredulously between me, Daniel, and Phoenix, who was helping haul up Daniel's legs.

Charlotte dashed out of the way as we lifted Daniel up, eased him out the door, and toward the car.

"What the hell? What happened to him?"

"We think he's been—"

"I wasn't talking to you." Malice flashed through her eyes as she narrowed them at me. "I was talking to Detective Rhodes."

I internally snorted. So much for that promise to keep her personal problems emotionally muted outside of work.

"Spike things he's been drugged," my partner responded, grunting as he swapped positions with me, holding up Daniel's upper half long enough for me to get the back door open.

It took us a minute, but eventually we were able to get Daniel's heavy ass draped across the back seat.

Maybe not comfortably, but still, we got his ass in there.

"We're taking him to the hospital to get checked out. Amber should already be there."

"Dr. Giles won't let us talk to her right now. I already tried."

"You what?" I growled, cocking my head at her. "Since when did that little DA badge clipped to your slacks get upgraded to a detective's badge? Last I checked, you aren't one."

"What the fuck is your problem, Spike?" she hissed right back at me. "No, I may not be a detective, but as the CDA working alongside you on these cases, I have every right to speak and interview the victims as you do."

"Spike." Phoenix looked torn as he stared between us. "Charlotte. Please, guys, we don't have time for this—"

"But you know what," Charlotte sternly bellowed, approaching me nose to nose, eye-to-eye. "Fuck it. Have it your goddamn way. I QUIT. Figure all of this shit out for yourselves."

"What?" Phoenix muttered, his face falling in utter devastation at the same time my heart sank to my stomach when she threw up her hands and stormed away for her car.

"Charlotte," I shouted, swallowing painfully hard when she refused to stop and proceeded to get into her car, slamming the door behind her.

Phoenix tried running after her, but it was already too late. The wheels on her Altima spun, and just like that, she was over halfway down the road, leaving me standing there feeling so fucking guilty as Phoenix glared at me across the road with tears snaking down his cheeks.