“Come on, Elena. Let’s see what we can do about getting Ashton out of here.”
A tall man with dark brown hair came down the hall. The fit of his gray three-piece suit made it very clear that he was not a public defender, or a detective; a suspicion only confirmed when Malcolm offered his hand.
“Arthur.” Malcolm turned and gestured for me to join him. All of the hatred of a few minutes ago gone, I could feel Miller’s presence close behind. Then he stepped up next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder for support. “Arthur Colburn, please meet Elena Tolley. Elena, this is my lawyer, Arthur.”
The gentleman extended his hand toward me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He gestured toward one of the detectives. “Now that you’re here, we’ll be able to straighten this out in no time.”
He led me over to the reception desk where Detective Lynch introduced himself and asked if I could answer a few questions. My hands began to sweat as I considered how much lying I might need to do to keep Ashton out of jail.
“Okay. I can do that.”
He led me to an office down the hall, gesturing for me to take a seat in front of the desk. Arthur took the seat next to me. Malcolm and Miller had elected to wait out in the lobby, knowing their presence in the room wouldn’t help. Detective Lynch took the seat behind the desk and opened the file. Pen in hand, he looked up at me.
“Now, Mrs. Tolley, you said that you were not kidnapped by Mr. Hawes.”
“Absolutely not.” I moved to get up from my seat and Arthur set his hand on my arm, signaling me to sit back down. “Ashton has done nothing but save me from being abused by my so called husband.”
“I take it from the conversation a few minutes ago that your husband didn’t always treat you well?” He had the grace to look somewhat embarrassed by my behavior.
“You could say that. I doubt you want all of the details—you certainly got enough earlier—but Dominic liked to put me down, make me feel terrible about myself. He isolated me from my family and friends. Ashton has done everything he can to make me see that I am worthy of being treated well. Of being loved.”
“So Mr. Hawes did not trade money to have you for three months like your husband claims.”
How close that was to reality scared me. What if I gave myself away? Trying to think about it rationally, I reasoned that, technically, Ashton didn’t give any money to Dominic for me or vice versa. Using that thought to comfort and relax me, I answered. “No, he didn’t.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you aware that Mr. Hawes has previously been investigated in relation to unlicensed moneylending?”
I shook my head, hoping to seem naïve to his business practices. “Ashton owns three restaurants downtown.”
“What is your relationship to Mr. Hawes?”
“Ashton and I are living together.” I drew little circles on the table. “When I saw Dominic last week, I told him I was filing for divorce. Apparently he decided to turn Ashton in, instead of giving me up as his slave.”
The detective nodded with each word that left my lips. His eyes crinkled, his voice soothing. “I’ve seen this many times, Mrs. Tolley, although, not to the extreme your husband took it. It’s not uncommon for abusive husbands to push things too far when their wife threatens to leave them, especially for another man.”
“Does that mean you’ll let Ashton go?”
He sat back in his seat and watched me. “While it would give me great pleasure to arrest a member of the Hawes family,” his eyes darted to Arthur, who sat stoically, staring straight ahead, “this is one instance where I believe that they are innocent and have, in fact, helped someone out of a terrible situation.”
I held my breath, waiting for him to continue.
“So yes, Mrs. Tolley, in this circumstance, Mr. Hawes will be released.”
I wanted to jump up and wrap my arms around his neck. There were things I never told Ashton that he deserved to hear when we were alone, not over a phone, or through a glass window. With great effort, I kept myself seated and simply said, “Thank you.”
The edges of his eyes crinkled with his smile. “You’re welcome. I would warn you, but I think you already know more about Ashton than you’re letting on.”
There was a moment of silence. I could have let it go, said nothing, but I needed Detective Lynch to know.
“Ashton loves me. He makes me feel like a princess—something I’ve never felt before.” I almost added that I didn’t care what he did, but I figured that would be too much.
Detective Lynch stood. “Give me a few minutes to get all the paperwork completed, then Mr. Hawes will be released.”