Still Waters Run Deep

Chapter 16: Criminal Justice

Chapter 16:

Criminal Justice

Emily didn't say a word during the drive to the station. Ali said plenty. And every other word was basically an expletive. She varied between complete shock and total rage. The police had continuously painted a pessimistic picture about not being able to find the other driver, which is exactly how Emily knew it was some kind of set up.

She knew at this point that there was no way the same person who had put a hit out on her had screwed up. And she was even more doubtful when Toby told her it was some random sixteen-year-old that had been arrested last night after an anonymous tip. She knew damn well where that anonymous tip had come from. She knew that the people really responsible would do anything to keep the heat off of them. If the cops had a suspect they would stop looking altogether, though they practically already had. Maurice had warned her that this might happen. The real culprit had found their fall guy.

As soon as Emily had gotten off of the phone with Toby, they had taken Lily to Aria's house so Aria could give her a ride to school with Fiona and Kai. Ali had nearly exploded in anger the second they pulled out of Aria's driveway. She ranted about how she was going to strangle the other driver. She didn't care that it was a kid. She spouted out angry nonsense about not only ripping him to shreds, but his parents, too, for not having better control of their son. By the time they got to the station Ali was more fired up than she'd ever been in her entire life. She was so blinded by rage that she barely even waited for Emily to park the car before she charged out the door and made a beeline for the station. Emily raced after her.

They saw Toby and the Police Chief talking in the hall. Ali barely even registered that Spencer was a few feet behind them or that Eli was in a chair eating a bagel down the hallway. Spencer saw the look in Ali's eyes and told Eli to go wait in his dad's office with his sister. Spencer hadn't known that all of this was going on until she'd arrived at the station with the kids to have breakfast with Toby before Harper and Eli went to school.

Eli grabbed his things to do what his mom said, but then accidentally knocked his drink over, so he put everything down to start cleaning it up. Out of his peripheral vision he saw Ali racing towards his dad and the Chief of Police. Spencer was pacing towards Ali to try and calm her down. She saw Emily right behind her, getting ready to do the same. But neither one of them reached her before she reached the Chief and Toby.

"Where is he?" Ali snapped. "Where is the little jackass who did this to my family?" She glanced around frantically.

"Ali..."

She heard Emily's voice and was getting ready to turn around and face her wife, but then she saw a uniformed officer leading a teenager into a room with three adults, most presumably his lawyer and his parents. Ali stared at him. He looked over and met Emily's eyes for a brief second.

When Emily looked at him, she knew it wasn't the right person. There was no way that gangly teenager was the same person who had gotten the better of her in the alley. The night that the bar had been shot up she'd felt something when the attacker outside had stopped to stare at her. There was an odd connection they had to one another. She'd felt the other driver's hands against her throat and a strange familiar sensation had come over her. It felt personal, like whoever was after her was doing more than just cleaning up now. They wanted her to submit her control.

"That's him, isn't it?" Ali asked, glancing at the Chief.

"Alison..."

"Why the hell is he not in handcuffs?" Ali interrupted Emily. She'd been handcuffed for much less when she was that boy's age. It pissed her off. Why should that stupid affluent boy who killed her child not be paraded around like the criminal that he was? "Are you really that fucking inept!?"