Midnight Vigilante, Leonor Bass [top business books of all time .TXT] 📗

“I don’t know what, Paige?”

“Detective Castelló was attacked last night. I thought since you were the last person with him, you would have known, or gotten hurt too,” Paige told her.

Riley froze. It was like the dream she had the night before was being played inside her brain again; the blood and the laughter echoed in her head. There was a new level of fear growing inside her heart.

“I gotta go,” Riley said and ran through the door.

For once, Paige didn’t even try to stop her.

It hadn’t been hard for Riley to find exactly where Adrian had been taken. When she arrived there was only one room surrounded by uniformed men, and two of them stood side-by-side next to the door.

The two police officers allowed her entrance when she introduced herself, which was strange but also gratifying.

When she pushed the door open, she immediately began studying Adrian. His eyes were closed, his face covered with fresh bruises. He had a machine that beeped every time he breathed in and out. At least she knew he was still alive.

“Riley?” Adrian spoke, his voice raspy and tired as his eyes struggled to stay open.

“How are you feeling? Paige told me you were attacked last night.”

“News travels fast nowadays,” Adrian said with a faint smile. His lower lip carried a nasty cut, his left eye was swollen partially closed, and he had a horrible cut on his forehead with a few remaining spots of blood in it. He was in bad shape, but not as bad as she had imagined. “I’m okay though, I’ve had worse. Trust me.”

“The guys who did this, were they the same who showed up at my house?”

It looked as if Adrian wanted to reply, but held back. Just when she was about to push for an answer, a middle-aged man entered and suddenly Adrian’s demeanor changed. He became stiff, even more than he was, and looked down at his hands when the man exchanged looks with him.

“Detective, I see you have a visitor,” the man spoke, glancing between Adrian and Riley.

“Yes, sir. She’s my friend, Riley Spencer,” Adrian replied. “Riley, this is my boss, Captain Vera.”

“Hi. I just came to check on him. Make sure he was in one piece,” Riley joked. Adrian grinned at her. “I heard what happened and I got a bit scared.”

“Well, Detective Castelló is a brave man. He’ll come through perfectly fine,” the captain replied, and Riley felt chills race up her spine at the coldness of his voice.

“I’m sure he will. You know, if you need a witness to file a complaint, I’m here. I can come to the station or give you a statement here if you need to,” Riley addressed both men.

“There’s no need. Detective Castelló is not going to file a complaint,” Vera said.

Riley snapped her head toward Adrian, who remained silent and didn’t seem to want to disagree with what the captain was saying. “Seriously?”

Captain Vera answered for Adrian. “It was dark, and he can’t remember their faces. Right, Detective?”

“But I do. He was walking me home when those men showed up. I remember their faces pretty well,” Riley argued.

“Even though I appreciate your help, Detective Castelló and I came to the conclusion that since there isn’t enough evidence, an investigation wouldn’t be fruitful. The decision has already been made,” the captain said, crossing his arms.

“What more evidence do you need? Look at him!” Riley snapped. She could sense Adrian’s eyes on the back of her head, silently trying to stop her, but she ignored him.

“Riley, the captain is right. I really can’t remember much about the guys.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” Riley snapped at him. “He’s controlling you.”

“I’m standing right here,” the captain curtly reminded her.

Riley snapped her attention back toward him. “The fuck you are.”

“This is my decision,” Adrian said with determination in his voice.

“Those guys could have killed you,” she pushed. “They threaten you right in front of our noses, and you’re gonna let this go?”

“Are you done?” Adrian snapped.

“Fine. I’ll leave.” Riley walked toward the door, but not before turning around to say one more thing to him. “Just keep in mind that you could have stopped this, that those men could have been behind bars right now, but you did nothing about it. So I hope your conscience is still clean when you wake up in the morning.”

Chapter Sixteen

Riley tried to focus more on her job and less on the thoughts running through her head, which led to her being a bit angrier than usual. She knew better than to expect good things from people she barely knew, people who were supposed to do good and fight for what was right. Adrian could be added to her list of disappointments in| LinHill.

“How’s he doing?” Paige asked when she had a moment alone with Riley.

“Fine, I suppose,” Riley replied, scrubbing the bar harshly.

“Well, I guess he’s luckier than the poor girl from last night,” Paige said, getting Riley’s full attention now.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, while he was in the hospital, a woman was attacked on her way home. Rumor has it she was also raped. I don’t know about you, but I think they were the same men who attacked Detective Castelló. I mean, it was the same night,” Paige said.

Riley rubbed her temples with one hand while the other turned into a fist. “How is she?”

“Hurt and scared as hell, as anyone would be. She tried to file a complaint, but according to the police captain, there wasn’t enough evidence.”

The captain again.

What was the point of having him around if he wasn’t doing anything to keep LinHill safe?

“We could use some help around, you know? Like someone who can kick those guys’ asses and not let them get away with it. Some sort of superhero, if those actually existed,” Paige joked.

What if that someone was her? What if she used all the anger and energy she had to stop those guys from scaring the