Chapter 05: Goes Unpunished

“Police are asking for your help locating two suspects who may have been involved with the events that took place Wednesday near the St. Claire Civic Center. These sketches were taken of two individuals seen fleeing the area just moments after an unidentified man was brutally gunned down on the corner of Market and Parke. If you have any information or know the identity of these individuals, please contact the St. Claire Police Department at the number provided on the screen.”

“Oh no,” Kasper cussed under his breath as he saw the rough sketches of his and Alexa’s faces plastered all over the morning news. Grabbing the coffee from the counter, he paid for the small breakfast of bagels and fresh fruit and hurried back to the hotel. 

The door swung open and he dropped the food onto the counter-top and hastily searched the room for Alexa. “Have you seen the news? Our faces are on wanted posters.”

“Yeah I saw. I don’t think that artist is any good though. He didn’t get me from my best side.”

“You’re making jokes? How can you be so calm about this? They have our faces which means it’s only a matter of time before they put names to them, A. Probably sooner for you.”

“K, you really need to try and relax more. All this stress is going to give you wrinkles.” Alexa pulled an Everything Bagel from the bag and took a bite as she sat atop the counter. “The police have our sketches, which, by the way, look NOTHING like either of us. Either way, what I know about how these things work is they won’t go public, or rather national, with our faces unless they think we’ve fled the city. So what we need to do is keep this local, we’ll be able to better control the outcome.”

Kasper’s mind went to work as he listened to Alexa’s reasoning and he raced to his laptop. “I can manipulate the tip line. Plant multiple false sightings of us around the town; keep the police busy for a while.”

“Perfect. That way they’ll continue to believe we’re somewhere in town and it’ll give us plenty of time for damage control.”

“Damage control? Like what?”

“Like destroying whatever evidence they might have on us from that scene.”

“That’s a pretty tall order, A. How are you going to manage that?” Kasper asked, his fingers methodically maneuvering over the keyboard. He’d already covered the downtown area and was working on the Southbridge and Fairview areas.

“Trojan horse,” she smiled, hopping down from the counter before disappearing into her room.

“Gavin?” Travis stopped in the lobby of his office as he watched his eldest child enter the building. “What are you doing here?”

“I just came from the police station filing a missing person’s report on Hannah.”

“Why would you do that?” he asked, walking a stack of paperwork to the print room.

“Because, Dad, she’s been gone for three days and I haven’t heard from her since the night of the shooting. This isn’t like her. She’d have at least checked in by now, I know she would. Something’s happened to her.” 

“Gavin, I hate to be the one to break this to you but, Hannah’s not missing. The police were given video that shows two people exiting her car at the time of this shooting, one of them a blonde woman.”

“Which means what exactly?” 

“Come on, son, do I really need to spell this out for you?” Gavin shrugged and waited on Travis to continue. “Hannah’s behind this whole thing.”

“What? That’s absurd! Hannah saved your ass…she saved all of us.”

“Pretty conveniently I’d add. Think about it: this woman just shows up out of nowhere, works her way close to you and this family. Next thing you know we have the showdown at the Civic Center. It’s all connected.”

“That makes absolutely no sense and it’s circumstantial at best. You’re a lawyer, Dad, you know how these things work. First of all, that video is not clear enough to make out anything other than the color of the driver’s hair and her sex. That could be anyone. I believe they call that ‘reasonable doubt.’ Secondly, Hannah has been nothing if not loyal to you and this family not to mention she makes a ton of money, she’d have no reason to ask for a ransom! $1.5 million is nothing to her.”

“And what about the woman police interviewed this morning who says she remembers seeing Hannah and a yet unidentified white male exit the car and flee towards the strip downtown?”

“How reliable are eyewitness testimonies? Come on. Why are you so quick to convict a person you know is responsible for you drawing air today? She saved your life and you’re already condemning hers!”

“I’m simply following logic and the evidence. Occam’s razor, son. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.”

“Dad, you’re not hearing me!” Gavin shouted as he followed his father into his office. “Hannah is innocent! There is no way she’s responsible for what happened downtown. She’s probably hurt or worse. We need to find her, please!”

“Gavin, you have too much of a vested interest in Hannah’s return. I don’t think she’s who you believe she is. In fact, after what happened in our home, I’m positive she’s not telling you everything. You said she had an ex who was after her and yet the story she tells is that these—people were after me.”

“And you think she was lying?”

“Given the fact that she’s now running around town shooting people, yes, I have every reason to believe she was.”

“You admitted knowing that someone wanted payment. The phone call you received? If all these people wanted was Hannah, why attack at the house? Why not get her on her way to work or something? This was personal. It was meant to strike at you and what you cared about and you damn well know it.”

“Gavin…”

“NO! She was…she IS doing this to help us…to help me. She knows about the blackmail,” Gavin said, his voice changing to a whisper on the last part.

Travis eyed the door before circling around his desk and moving towards it. He shut it and walked deeper into the room, speaking very low and very stern. “We’re not talking about that, Gavin, especially here. Now I don’t know what Hannah knows or what she doesn’t. My main concern is keeping this city and its residents safe. All I can go off of is the information I’ve been given which states, in no small terms, that Hannah Taylor and her accomplice are responsible for the deaths and destruction that occurred downtown.”

“Dad, please…”

“I can assure you, Gavin, I will do everything in my power to protect her if she’s proven innocent but right now my hands are tied.” 

“Are you serious, Dad? You’re trying to handle me right now? You forget who you’re talking to. I know all of your tricks. I know you well enough to know to never trust a politician and believe me, you’re not getting my vote. You cheated on your wife on multiple occasions and started this whole mess and now you’re throwing my fiancée under the bus to save your own ass? You’re a real piece of work.”

“Goddammit, Gavin, you…” Travis paused, trying to compose himself before speaking. “I’m sorry you feel that way, son, but this whole thing will be over soon enough. Hannah has been suspected of these crimes and because of that, a warrant has been issued for her arrest.”

“What?! Are you fucking kidding me? When did that happen?”

“Earlier this morning before I got to the office.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before you left the house?”

“Gavin, I’m running for the office of governor. I’ve made a plea to deal with corruption no matter where it takes me. I cannot be seen showing sympathy towards someone simply because of her connections to me and my family. I’m sorry.”

“Right. How could I forget? It’s all about image with you isn’t, Dad? Forget that she’s innocent. Forget that she’s my fiancée. As long as you’re ready for your close-up it doesn’t matter who gets caught in the crossfire.” Gavin turned to leave, stopping as he opened the office door for one last word. “I wonder how Mom would feel knowing she’s married to such a defender of the people…except when it comes to his own family, right?”

“I’d like to state, for the record, I am very against this. It’s dangerous and stupid.”

“Shut up, K,” Alexa said, adjusting her earpiece. “Everything will be fine.”

“How can you be so calm? You’re breaking into a police station. What if you get caught?”

“I’m not breaking in, I’m walking through the front door. And I won’t get caught. Just be ready.” Patrolling the lobby, Alexa waited until the front desk clerk had his hands busy with a woman making a report against her neighbor who had apparently been stealing her freshly planted begonias and selling them. 

“Cameras have been temporarily disabled. You have three minutes before the system automatically reboots.”

“Thanks, K.” Heading up the stairs, she paced herself behind another officer as he entered the detective’s bureau before breaking away and moving down the hall to the right.

“In the next hallway, stay to the left. The offices up there appear occupied. One more turn and you’ll be there.”

“What about the guard on duty?”

“I am sending him an urgent notice to head down to the front desk. He should be receiving that right about…now.”

The gate to the evidence lock up rattled and Alexa watched as an officer headed down the stairs ahead of her and she quickly hurried to the room. “It requires a five-digit code.”

“I got you,” Kasper said and moments later the gate buzzed. Alexa placed a card between the lock and started inside. Moving to the computer, she pushed a thumb drive into an available USB slot and turned for the shelves. “You’re looking for boxes 050712 and 050711.” She could hear his fingers frenziedly typing as he hacked the GlobeNet system the department used. 

And while Kasper busied himself with destroying all records of them and the video they had on the shootout, Alexa located the evidence boxes and placed a small device inside them. “Are you sure these will work?” she asked, inspecting the metallic object in her hand before dropping it into the second box.

“Positive. They’ll destroy everything in that box and burn out before they reach anything else.”

“Good. My main concern was not allowing any other evidence to become tampered and inadmissible. I’d hate to help the bad guys get away.”

“Um…technically in this instance, A, we ARE the bad guys.”

“You know what I mean, K. How’s the hack coming?”

“Thirty seconds and I’ll be done.” He counted down for her as she waited to retrieve the thumb drive. Voices in the outer hallway drew her attention and she quickly pressed herself against a wall.

“The evidence guard is returning, K!”

“What? Shit, A. Give me a sec. I think I can…” An alarm sounded and the lights dimmed in the room with her. Emergency lights flashed red and she heard an announcement on the loud speaker asking people to remain calm and head for the nearest exits. The two voices in the hallway soon disappeared and Alexa breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you done?”

“Yes. Grab the drive and get out of there.”

Snatching the small device from the computer, Alexa checked around each corner and calmly started out the door with the other police officers and civilians. Continuing around towards the alley, she hopped the chain-linked fence and rushed towards Kasper and her awaiting vehicle. “That was close,” he said, catching the thumb drive as she tossed it at him.

“Yeah it was. Let’s get back to the hotel.”

Kasper placed his laptop on the desk near the window as Alexa started into the bedroom to change. “So now what?” he called to her as he sat down and went over the thumb drive.

“Now we work on finding out anything we can about the men who attacked us. Who sent them? How many more are there? When will they try again? We need to remain vigilant so we can stay one step ahead of them because one thing is certain,” she said, stepping out of the bedroom in a light purple sweater and white nautical shorts. “These people want us dead which means this isn’t over.”

“Oh, fuck,” Kasper gasped, staring at his screen.

“What’s wrong now?”

“A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Hannah Taylor.”

“WHAT!?” she exclaimed and moved towards him. He turned the monitor to give her a better view and she read over the details of the warrant. “In connection with the Civic Center shootout. Terrorism? What? Are they serious? Where’s the picture? There’s no picture?”

“No. Which is a good thing. No photo provided means they don’t have one on file for you. I assume they didn’t photograph you for a badge at any point for the State’s Attorney’s office?”

“No, they only ran my prints but, I was wearing those fake latex things you gave me so they don’t have those either.” 

“Ok, and what about Gavin?” Kasper asked, turning around to face her.

“What about Gavin?” Alexa asked defensively. She hadn’t noticed the way her breath hitched at the mention of his name or the quickening of her pulse.

Kasper narrowed his eyes in examination before pursing his lips and continuing. “Did you two take any candid selfies or did you at any point pose for pictures for him?”

“Well, yes. We did—I did but, I always deleted them later on.”

“And you’re sure you got rid of all of them?”

“Of course I am. I’m positive I did, Kasper.”

“Good. We wouldn’t want any surprises, especially nude ones.”

“Who said anything about nudity?” Alexa asked to which Kasper only nodded. “Besides, Gavin would never share pictures of me; nude or not. He’s not like that.”

“I’m sure that’s true. He seemed like the perfect gentleman,” he replied with derision. This time it was Alexa who narrowed her gaze at Kasper at the implication.

“What exactly are you getting at, Kas? I’m telling you Gavin would never do anything to hurt me. Just trust me.”

“I do. You knew him a lot better than I did,” he answered with a sigh. “It doesn’t matter much now anyway. We never have to see him or his family again.”

“Yeah,” she sighed and shuffled her weight on her feet. “Anyway, the only image I can think of would be at the various news stations. If they saved any of those recordings from outside the courthouse after my first big case.”

“I told you I took care of that.”

“All of them?”

“Every last.” Alexa nodded and Kasper went back to his screen. “As long as Hannah Taylor remains faceless, we can continue operating as normal.”

“I don’t know about that. A warrant changes the game completely. We won’t be safe until we get the hell out of Dodge,” she said, starting for her room. “Come on, get your stuff. I know a place we can hide.”

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 **Author’s note: Image credits: Male from wanted poster by Eruwen, Female by Wibs. **

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