Sue

No chapter tomorrow since I'm traveling. I'll upload tomorrow's share shortly.

~~

Chapter 30

Quietly, without letting my aunt know, I accompanied the detective to the police station. As I arrived, there were a few angry men and women making a ruckus at the police station. It may have been a small and peaceful town but the police station wasn't so small. Yet, their voices could be heard outside signifying how loud they were. Or maybe my hearing was just that much enhanced.

"Is it him?! Is he the one who assaulted my son and did this to him?!" Among all of them, there was one loud woman who was at the forefront of the group. There were three men and four women which meant one guy's dad was either out of the picture or wasn't here. 

Anyhoo, I remained silent because even in a police station, everything I say and do could be used against me and I didn't want that.

"Okay, detective, you got me here. Now what?" I asked, turning to him, ignoring the angry parents. The detective looked at me and said, "As I've told you before, four teenagers were assaulted last night and eyewitnesses hold you leaving the scene."

"And I say in my defense that I was never there. What time did it happen around anyway?" I asked.

What? I wasn't supposed to know time, now, was I?

"…" Seeing that his wordplay hadn't been successful, the detective simply replied, "Around 8-8:15 pm."

"Hmm…" I mused for a while, taking a good while actually while some angry parents in the background continued to make a ruckus.

"Well, I don't exactly remember where I was at that time but I definitely wasn't at home and I was also alone so I can't present you with an alibi. I'm not well versed with the area so I don't know where I was either but it certainly wasn't a park." I replied, my reply as ambiguous as it could have been.

"So what are you trying to say?" The detective asked.

"I'm saying I didn't do it," I replied.

"You don't expect me to take your word for it, do you?" The detective asked.

"Well, of course, I don't. You're a detective, aren't you? Dig into it. Find out what really happened." I replied.

"Excuse me?" He asked, perhaps offended at my blunt words. I smirked and said, "Well, didn't you take their words against me as well? Do they have any form of proof of my presence?"

"We have witnesses placing you on the scene." The detective argued.

"And I have witnessed seeing these guys organizing a drug deal. That doesn't mean it's true. Witnesses don't hold in court and you know as well as I do so unless you could present some reliable evidence, I'd like my phone call." I replied.

"…" The detective remained silent to my reply before his expression twisted a little but it returned to normal in an instant as he said, "Look, it'd be better if you just cooperated. There's no need to make this issue so… escalated."

A gentle way of denying me my phone call. If it was a silent case to be handled amicably between two parties, it would have never entered a police station. It did. Since it was already in the police station, lawyers would have to be involved. He was denying me one which was exactly what I wanted.

"Are you denying me my right, Detective Tent?" I asked straightforwardly, with no hesitation in my question.

"Of course not. I simply don't want to escalate this issue than it already has been. You simply have to answer some of my questions and we'll be done here." The detective asked.

"…" It seemed like he hadn't given up on his try to make me fess up about the crime. Well, he was about to meet the most tight-lipped and annoying person ever.

"Fine. What it is you wanna know?" I asked.

"How do you know Jackson Stanton?" The detective asked me right off the bat.

"Didn't you say four of them were assaulted? Why would you assume that'd the guy I have any form of connection with?" I asked a question in return, beginning the journey of annoyance.

His annoyance.

"Well, Jackson Stanton has told us about you." The detective replied.

"Then if you already know, it doesn't make any sense to ask me about it," I said, an easygoing expression on my face. He was visibly annoyed at his second question being dismissed like that but he still tried to play along, "Is it true that Jackson is the boyfriend of your cousin Sara Miller?"

"Yes, it is," I replied.

"Then is it true that you tried to attack him two days ago when you couldn't bear to see him and Sara Miller kiss?" The detective asked.

"Why would I be annoyed by that? Aren't boyfriends and girlfriends supposed to kiss? Besides, I was more focused on someone else at the moment." I replied.

"That's not what Jackson says." The detective replied.

"If you're going to believe only what he said, then what the point of this conversation is at all?" I asked, increasing his annoyance once more.

He remained silent about that and changed his question, "Do you have any grudges against Jackson Stanton?"

"Why would I? I never met him since a few days ago." I replied to which he asked again, "Which doesn't make sense. Why would you attack him if you don't know him?"

"I never said I attacked him," I replied. Replying I didn't would mean something else while denying his words would mean something else. He knew it as well as I did.

"Haa…" He sighed as he looked at me, "Look here, Mister Haller, it would be better if you cooperated. Otherwise, I might have to press charges against you."

"Go ahead." I replied, "But before that, I want my phone call."

"Unfortunately, I can't do that. I will have to hold you for now for Section D-5.3. Noncompliance with an ongoing investigation." He cited some bullshit law which I knew didn't exist. Still, like a clueless person, I went along with it and said, "Well, I still am not saying anything unless my lawyer's here."

"We can look forward to that." The detective said before he led me to be processed. He took my phone and wallet which only had my cards, no cash. Cash couldn't be processed after all. Then, he locked me in a cell and simply left while leaving a few words behind, "I'll be here when you want to talk."

It was clear he was a cop on the payroll. It was true I was out of the city and I couldn't exercise my authority here but that didn't mean law wasn't on my side.

[Inventory]

I pulled a phone out of my inventory and called my lawyer. "Fly in right now. I'm in a police station. Get here as quick as you can."

The lawyer didn't have time to form a reply before I disconnected the call and put it back in my inventory.

"Hey, you." The reason I was so quick was, "Hook me with a call as well." I looked at who seemed like a biker gang member looking at me with a threatening gaze.

"Haa…" I sighed before I turned to him with a smile and said, "Well, I was looking forward to some fun."

This was also why the detective held me in this cell even when there was an empty one right next to me. To intimidate me. Well, time to get a beating.

~~

"This is outrageous!" My lawyer yelled as the meeting of settlement was held. My lawyer arrived shortly after I was beaten up by the biker. He wasn't the one in the LA but one close by on his call which was why he arrived so soon. As soon as he did, the detective was puzzled but then the shebang of formalities began to take place. All the things the detective did were bullshit and although he denied it, I still sued him.

I was injured in the process, although very lightly, but it was still something. The detective denied all accusations and even when I repeated the bullshit law he stated to me, the representative of the judge's panel only laughed at me.

Well, he didn't laugh when I pulled a recording device out of my pocket and played it. As the conversation between me and the detective began to play, everyone in the room went silent.

Once we were done, the gravity of the situation had sunk in, in the deathly silence of the room, I said, "Now, let's talk about how much this is going to cost you."

~~

In the end, the D.A. tried to settle, subtle threats here and there, the whole usual play but I was adamant. I wanted the detective suspended for a year for not taking this case to the public and settling it behind them and a compensation of 50,000 dollars. It was taxpayer's money and the D.A. was adamant my request be denied but a subtle threat from my side, and all my requests were meant.

After all, if it ever came to a jury, they would have to pay a lot, lot more.

Finishing everything in four hours and consuming a potion to remove my injuries, I returned home and was instantly assaulted by that intoxicating fragrance.

'Fuck.'