8. Eight

eight

Charlotte

It was all I could do to get out of bed this morning. Between watching the security tape at least a thousand times, going over my notes, and taking new ones, I'd completely lost track of time. I'd barely gotten three hours of sleep and to make matters worse, I was running late. The detectives were waiting for me at the hospital. There were two texts from Peter I hadn't gotten around to reading yet and a missed call from Chief. I still hadn't figured out how I wanted to handle things with Karl.

When I was finally ready and in the car, I let it idle for a few minutes so I could grab my phone and pull up the texts.

Peter: Good morning.

Peter: Chief needs your answer soon or else Karl goes free.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat, forcing myself not to cry and ruin my makeup. Why did it have to come to this? He was the one who cheated and was responsible for his mistress"s death. Hell, I never would've learned about the affair if Karl hadn't sped through a red light and T-Boned another car. I understood his animosity, but none of this shit was my fault, and I was fed up with him treating me like this and accusing me of ruining his life. Peter was right, Karl was escalating. Not once in our ten years together has Karl ever hit me and ever since he did, I couldn't help but think about what would've happened if Rhodes and Hutch hadn't been there to stop him. I had to decide, and I had to do it now.

I took a deep breath and typed my response.

After taking a detour long enough to grab a large coffee from Starbucks, I finally made it to the hospital and found Detective Rhodes and Hutch sitting in the lobby, flipping through healthcare magazines.

"Hey," I said, rushing over to them. "Sorry I"m late."

They both dropped the magazines on the table by their chairs and rose to their feet. Detective Rhodes offered me a gentle smile while Detective Hutch silently excused himself and walked over to the desk to speak with a nurse.

"Rough night?"

"You could say that, yeah. So, what's the verdict?"

"Justin's clear. He's not our guy. Did you review the footage I sent you?"

"About a zillion times," I shamelessly admitted. "I don't mean to pry or step on any toes here, but would it be okay if I could maybe take the lead on this?"

Rhodes gave me a look that made his forehead pucker with wrinkles. "You want to speak to her alone?"

I shook my head and said, "Not alone, no. Given what's happened to her, I can't help but feel like maybe she'd feel more comfortable talking to me as opposed to dealing with two intimidating cops who just so happen to be men."

He considered that for a moment or two, saying nothing at first.

"It's worth a shot," he eventually concurred, but it was the way he was looking at his partner that told me Hutch likely wouldn't approve of it.

"He doesn't want me here, does he?" I wasn't sure why I asked—it just kind of slipped out. Maybe it was the way Hutch seemed so eager to get rid of me yesterday, or maybe it was because he'd stormed off without having the decency to speak to me.

Better yet, why do I even care? I wasn't there for him, not even for Detective Rhodes. I was there for myself and most importantly, for Delilah. Whether Hutch wanted me there or not frankly didn't matter. Either way, I still had to do my job.

"What?" Detective Rhodes blinked at me like I'd sprouted a third eyeball. "What gave you that idea?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "I mean, after what happened with Karl—"

"Listen to me." Rhodes stepped forward and reached up to grasp my shoulders, squeezing them gently. "You're fine. If he seems a little flustered, well, that's because he is. He and I pulled an all-nighter reviewing hours of security footage, on top of trying to pilfer through the suspect list at the same time. He's exhausted—we both are, and to be honest, this is the last place we both want to be today. But we have jobs to do, and so, here we are. I promise you haven't done anything wrong, Charlotte, so don't worry about it, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded, accepting his answer. "Thank you."

"You two ready?" Hutch gruffly called out from where he stood beside the check-in desk.

One of the nurses left their post and scanned her ID card, opening the doors for us.

"We're ready," I answered, straightening my posture.

"Ladies first."

Detective Rhodes smiled fondly at me and then gestured toward the open path. I ignored the heat flooding through my cheeks and then followed behind the nurse. She led me to Delilah's room and as I glanced behind me, I found Detective Rhodes conversing with Hutch. I didn't bother waiting for them.

"Hi there," I said to the young brunette who was sitting up in the hospital bed, picking listlessly at her breakfast.

Delilah's bruised gaze lifted and locked with mine. She offered me a wobbly smile but didn't speak.

"My name is Charlotte Greene. I work for the DA's office."

"So, you're technically my lawyer?" she asked, looking a bit confused.

"Sort of, yes. I'm helping Detectives Rhodes and Hutch with the investigation."

Delilah swallowed, and then her battered eyes grew wide as they shifted over my shoulders. I didn't have to look to know the detectives were behind me. I felt it the moment they entered the room.

"We need to talk, Delilah. Is it okay if I sit down?"

She nervously nodded. "Sure."

I grabbed the closest chair and implanted it a few inches away from her bed. The detectives hadn't moved but I could still sense them behind me.

"So," I started. "I'd first like to express how sorry I am for what happened. I can't imagine what you must be going through or how you're feeling."

"It's hard," she replied. "But I'm alive. I guess that's all that matters."

"You're right," I didn't hesitate to agree. "You survived. Not many women are fortunate enough to survive something so heinous."

Tears filled Delilah's eyes. "What can I do for you, Ms…?" She paused, having forgotten my name.

"Please, call me Charlotte. The reason why we're here is because, well… We know you weren't being honest about what happened."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" her voice shook.

"Listen, Delilah," I said as calm and as comforting as I could. "We have the security tapes from that night. We know you didn't go to the club with Justin. You were alone. You spoke to the owner and there's evidence of you purchasing a membership and a mask from the shop."

Her jaw began to tremble, and then she broke, sobbing with tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Delilah." I scooted closer to her and grabbed her hand, trying to calm her by rubbing my thumb in smooth circles along her skin. "You're not in any trouble here, okay? We just need to know what really happened and why you lied."

"I didn't lie about the rape," she swore. "Justin… I discovered he was cheating on me. I went through his phone and found messages between him and this girl… Kristen. A friend of mine knows how to make fake ID's and so, I got one. I knew Justin was meeting her at The Flirty Sanctum, and—"

"You went there to catch him in the act," Detective Hutch said from behind me.

"I was going to confront him," she fiercely admonished, her red eyes flashing. "But I never got the chance. I couldn't find him. Everyone there… They all had masks on, and according to the rules, you can't officially enter the sanctum without one."

"What happened?" I asked. "There's no use in lying, so you might as well come clean."

"I bought this ugly beaver mask and as soon as I was through the door, I went hunting. When I couldn't find Justin, I decided to head back to the front desk because I remembered I had to sign in after I purchased my membership. I never thought about checking the list when I first got there, so I decided to go back to see if his name was on it."

"But you never made it that far, did you?" asked Detective Rhodes.

Delilah sadly shook her head. "No, I didn't."

"Did you talk to anyone? Anyone at all? Even if it was just a few words?" I asked.

"The bartender greeted me and asked if I wanted something to drink, but other than that, no."

"You said your attacker had a bull mask on," said Detective Hutch.

"Yes!" Her eyes frantically lit up. "It was a bull. It had to be. If not a bull, then it was something extremely close to it. I was so scared… I tried to scream, but then the guy put his hand over my mouth and told me to shut up or else he'd kill me. He-he had a knife…"

"He pulled a knife on you?" Detective Hutch repeated, his tone raised and heated.

"Delilah," Rhodes cut in gently. "Why didn't you tell us this the first time?"

"Because I was terrified," she answered, her wet eyes wide and pleading for us to understand. "I've never been in this type of situation before."

"It's fine," I said before either of the detectives could say anything else. "We know now, and that's all that matters. Now, your attacker… Did he say anything else to you? Anything at all?"

"He…" She paused, her jaw trembling as she swallowed. "He told me I was stupid and that I knew better. That I belonged to him and that he had to teach me a lesson."

I sat back in my seat then and blinked in frank surprise, my brows to my hairline. "And why would he say something like that?"

"How the hell would I know?" She met my gaze, then Hutch, then Rhodes. "I have no idea who did this to me if that's what you're implying. I swear I'm telling the truth."

"And you never saw his face?" Hutch asked. "Not even a glimpse?"

Delilah shook her head. "No, never. It covered his whole face, and he never took it off, but…"

"But what?" I wondered. "What is it?"

"My mask broke while he was beating me. He tore it off and when he saw my face, he…stopped. His whole body went stiff, and it was like he was just… frozen. I can't be sure, but a part of me feels like maybe he thought I was someone else."

I took a moment to absorb the information, nodding at the probability. It wasn't as crazy as it sounded, and I could tell just from the look in her eyes that she was terrified we wouldn't believe her.

"And then what happened?" asked Detective Rhodes.

"He bolted after that. Ran right out the bathroom and just left me there on the floor."

"What about your mask?" I asked. "Do you know where it is?"

Sadly, Delilah shook her head. "Sorry, no, I don't. I don't remember seeing it in the bathroom before I ran out, so it's possible the guy could've taken it with him."

Damnit. I sure as fuck hoped that wasn't the case here. Given Delilah's condition, there was no way in Hell the assailant inflicted an assault that heinous without busting up his hands and knuckles. I guarantee there was DNA on that mask, possibly fingerprints—

"Wait…Was he wearing gloves?"

Delilah thought back and then blinked, her lips parting. "Actually, yeah. He was."

I frowned then, sighing. Shit. No fingerprints then.

"Do you remember what he was wearing?"

"Not specifically, no," she replied, frowning miserably. "I remember the gloves because even now I can still feel the leather pressing against my mouth." She swallowed and then reached a hand up and began tenderly rubbing her bruised throat. "And around my neck. As far as the rest of it goes, I really don't know. I want to say he was wearing regular clothes. I'm sorry I can't be of more help but that's literally everything I remember."

"I think we've got everything we need for now."

I rose to my feet, digging into my pocket to hand her my card.

"Rhodes? Hutch?"

"Yeah, we're good," said Hutch. "We'll be in contact, Delilah. Be safe out there, kid."

She nodded. "Thanks."

"You guys hungry?" Detective Rhodes asked when we stepped out of the hospital room and began our trek back to the lobby. "We have a lot of ground to cover, so I thought we could discuss things over brunch. My treat."

I wasn't about to reject free food, so I agreed to the proposal and told them I'd meet them at the restaurant.

Detective Hutch downed his cup of coffee not even thirty seconds after the waitress had placed it on the table, looking frustrated because now he had no choice but to wait for her to come back with the coffee pot.

"Rhodes said you two pulled an all-nighter," I said as I sipped my water, frowning at him. I was sitting across from him in the corner of the L-shaped booth with my case file and menu in front of me on the table. Detective Rhodes had excused himself to the bathroom and should be back any minute. "That bad, huh?"

"It is when you have fifty suspects stacked on your plate."

I coughed mid sip, damn near choking on my water. "I'm sorry, did you just say fifty?"

"We eliminated about half of them last night," he told me, looking away to cover his mouth as he began releasing one of the largest yawns I'd ever seen in my life.

"What?" I asked, my brows crinkled. Obviously, I'd misheard him. "How? You mean to tell me you gathered over twenty DNA swabs overnight? There's no way in hell the lab—"

"No," he said thickly. "We didn't gather any DNA because we didn't need to. Everything we need is all over the security feed."

I slightly cocked my head at him, my brows furrowing. "I'm afraid I don't understand, Detective."

He tiredly rubbed his eyes and scuffled his fingers through his black hair, sighing as he gaped around the restaurant for both our waitress and his partner. Thankfully, Detective Rhodes had turned the corner and was headed our way. He approached the table, raising his brows at Hutch, and then turned, offering me a charming smile as he slid into the booth.

"Are we ready to order?" a young blonde asked as she quickly trotted over with the coffee pot in her hand. She offered Hutch a flirty smile and then refilled his mug.

"Would you mind doing me a favor?" he politely asked her, his hand dipping down to his pants pocket. He pulled out twenty dollars and swiftly guided it to her empty hand, enclosing the currency around her fingertips. "I need two large to-go cups filled to the rim with coffee. This little mug here isn't cutting it."

"Oh." The pretty waitresses' face flushed. "Yes, Sir, of course." She cleared her throat then and gazed between me and Rhodes. "Would you like some more time?"

"I'm ready," said Rhodes. "I'll take the stacked omelette with ham, bacon, sausage, extra cheese, and a side of hashbrowns."

"You know what," I said, pursing my lips as I considered what I wanted. "That sounds fantastic. I'll have the same, please."

"Same for me as well," Hutch replied.

"Of course. I'll get that in and be right back out with your coffee."

The waitress spun on her heel and when she was gone, I wasted no time turning to Detective Rhodes. "You care to explain to me how you two were able to eliminate twenty suspects without obtaining DNA samples?"

"It's simple, really." I watched wordlessly as he gathered up our menus and slid them toward the edge of the table for the waitress to retrieve on her way back. "I'll forward you the rest of the footage if you need me to, but basically, we followed the timestamps and compared it with the sign-in sheet."

"The club opens at 9pm and doesn't close until 2am," Hutch added, whispering, thank you to the waitress as she zoomed up and dropped off his to-go cups, sneaking him a folded piece of receipt paper with what was obviously her name and phone number jotted down on it. A strange heat sizzled across my cheeks when he cracked a smile at her advance. I hadn't realized I was scowling until Detective Rhodes nudged my shoulder and asked if I was okay.

I cleared my throat and took another sip of water, shaking off whatever the hell that just was. "I'm fine."

"Anyway," Hutch continued, groaning as he took a large swallow from his large coffee. "It's like Rhodes said, we followed the timestamps. Delilah walked in the door around 10:50pm. The tapes show her running out the front door around 11:10pm."

"That's twenty minutes," I easily assessed. "That means Delilah was attacked just minutes after her arrival."

"Correct," his partner agreed. "Which also implies the assailant was already in the sanctum."

"The list contains the names of every male in the building at the time of her attack," Hutch continued. "Majority of the serving staff are female, except for the males who were bartending. None of the bartenders left their post, so that automatically marks them off the suspect list. The others we eliminated walked in minutes after Delilah fled the club."

"Shit."

I sat back in my corner, mildly displeased.

This was bad news.

I mean, it was good they were able to shorten the list some, but it still left us with a big whopping pile of nothing.

"Okay, so what about the others? Any leads there?"

"We're still working on it," said Detective Rhodes. "So far, we haven't found anyone wearing a bull mask or anything related to that particular animal. We still have more footage to review, so don't worry, we'll find him. It's just going to take a little more time."

"Why don't you let me help with that?" I offered, staring serenely between the two of them. "Honestly, I don't mind. You still have to interview those other suspects, right?"

"Don't worry about it," Hutch told me. "We have it—"

"Actually," Rhodes interrupted him with a raise of his hand, which had Hutch scoffing at him in utter annoyance before he took another giant swallow from his plastic coffee cup.

What the fuck was his problem?

"That would be a huge help. Thank you, Charlotte."

Our food arrived and we discussed the dirty details while we ate. Even though Hutch seemed to have his foot up his ass over me assisting with the tapes, overall, I was pleased with the arrangement.

I then brought up Delilah's interview, most specifically Delilah's mask and the comment she made about the perp. It was a long shot, but we really needed to find that mask.

"Chances are Delilah is right and the guy took it, but it's possible he could've tossed it, right?"

"It's possible, yes," Rhodes agreed. "We can check the dumpsters—"

"It's too late for that," Hutch pitched in as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, tossing it on top of his empty plate. "Trash pickup was yesterday. If the perp did toss it, it's gone now."

Damnit. That's right. I completely forgot about that.

"Well, there's still a chance it's out there," I said, trying to remain confident despite my sagging shoulders. "If we can find the perp, hopefully we'll find the mask. If not, then that's okay. All we need is the DNA match. I won't lie though, I'm a bit concerned with what Delilah told us. What if this guy really was targeting someone else?"

"Let us worry about that while you focus on the security tapes," Detective Rhodes said just before he stopped the waitress and handed over his debit card, turning back to face me when she was gone. "I'll lend you our notes. They should be easy to follow. And oh, I have your copy of the list in my car. If you find anything, either call or send us a text."

He slid out the booth. Hutch followed, and after throwing my purse strap over my shoulder and grabbing the file, I was on my feet and ambling toward the exit, ready to get to work.