Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“So, what happened?” Shooter asked.
Caleb sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. “Well, that’s our biggest problem,” he announced to the group. “Because Tildy isn’t saying anything at all.”
“What do you mean?” Tex asked. “Then how did Hawk get pulled in for questioning?”
“Tildy won’t talk about what happened,” Caleb replied. “Right now, she won’t even admit that she and Hawk spent time together in the parking lot in his truck. According to her, he only held the door for her, and they went their separate ways when they got outside. She says she walked to her car and didn’t see where Hawk went.”
“That’s bullshit,” Hawk interjected. “We fooled around in my truck. I admitted that. Why is she lying?”
Caleb looked at Hawk. “Well, Tildy won’t admit it. So far, she is absolutely sticking to her story that she never saw you after you held the door for her. She says when she got home it was dark, and she tripped outside her parent’s garage. That’s her shitty-ass explanation for her injuries.”
“What injuries?” Hawk demanded.
“She’s got a cut above her eye she’s trying to hide and a split lip. Neither of which she’ll see a doctor for. There was a witness,” Caleb told Hawk. “Rawlins didn’t lie about that. But there are problems with her statement too. First off, she was high. So her word can’t be taken for too much, especially not in court. But the woman says she saw a man grab Tildy from behind by her hair and slam her face into the frame of her car door.”
“Oh, God,” Sarah cried, and Chris put his arm around his wife to comfort her.
“The woman says he pushed Tildy against the car and ripped off her underwear from beneath the dress she was wearing. She couldn’t really tell what was happening at that point, but shortly after that he left Tildy and took off. But between the witness being impaired, the rain and it being dark as hell outside, she can’t identify him. Not a chance in hell. Or even the truck really. Just a black truck. Which happens to match the description of your truck,” he told Hawk. “Not that it means much, because that’s roughly half the trucks in the whole damn state. Add to that the fact that Tildy will not admit that anything happened to her at all; RCPD doesn’t have much of a case. Against anyone. Not even the bastard who really did attack her.”
“I don’t get it,” Easy said. “Why won’t she tell them? I mean she won’t even say she was with Hawk before it happened. And she knows he didn’t hurt her. What the hell?”
Caleb grimaced. “I’m... not so sure.”
The men sat forward. Tex’s eyes narrowed. “You are not accusing our brother of-”
“No,” Caleb said, holding up a hand. “I’m saying I don’t know if Tildy is sure. Hawk admitted that he and Tildy fooled around, but she wouldn’t have sex with him. Rawlins latched onto it like a pitbull, and he pushed his theory that Hawk was pissed at being told no, followed her out of the lot, and attacked her.
“According to the eyewitness, for whatever it’s worth, the attacker came up behind Tildy, bounced her head off the door, and bent her over in about five seconds flat. Tildy never saw the man that hurt her. Unless he said something to her during that time that could have identified him, or at least ruled out Hawk, it’s entirely possible that Tildy actually believes it was Hawk. Like I said, Rawlins was pushing that theory pretty hard and not just to get Hawk to confess. He hammered Tildy with it too, trying to get her to pin it on Hawk.”
Caleb held out his hands. “I have no idea what Tildy thinks, because she refuses to talk. She’s obviously scared. She’s had time to come up with that falling down story, and she’s sticking to it, come hell or high water. It is possible that it’s Hawk she’s afraid of, and that’s why she’s denying they even spent any time alone together. Maybe she thinks she can avoid his retribution if she just won’t name him at all. I don’t think she meant to bring up his name. Right after she did, she kept trying to steer Rawlins away from him. But she was attacked. High or not, there was a witness and Tildy has injuries she can’t explain.”
“I don’t know how helpful a real statement would be from her,” Caleb admitted. “We might be able to catch him, if she heard or maybe saw something, like a scar or a tattoo on his hands or arms. Or she might not be able to give us any leads at all. But right now there’s nothing we can do, since she won’t even talk about it.”