HIS Choice: An H.I.S. Novel (H.I.S. series Book 2) by Sheila Kell Read Free Book Online

busy.” That was close to the truth. She just left off that she wanted to avoid them if at all possible.
    She should’ve known that wouldn’t happen since it involved Magic Shop. Publishing a prominent city official looking as if he was committing a crime, along with exposing a dealer who hadn’t been pulled off the streets, made it appear the police weren’t doing their job. If they had been, she wouldn’t have been successful.
    “Uh-huh. Did you take the pictures with your cell phone?”
    “Yes,” she said hesitantly. Where was this leading?
    “Then it’s obvious your phone was functional. Is there a reason you didn’t call the crime in? 911 isn’t hard to dial. It’s just three digits.” He waved the newspaper. “It appears that you had plenty of opportunities to call us if your article is accurate with how many transactions you witnessed.” The longer he spoke, the louder his voice rose.
    She hadn’t considered calling the police when she’d been on the street. She’d been concentrating on her investigation. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen even one police car at any time. “I didn’t think about it at the time.”
    He leaned toward her. “You realized a crime was being committed, and you didn’t think about calling the police? I find that hard to believe. You thought it was important enough to photograph it and take notes for your article. Here’s what I think. I think you just wanted your story and knew the police would break up the party and you’d have nothing. You wanted to make us look like fools again,” he said sharply.
    She shook her head. Okay, he wouldn’t be the policeman to help with her investigation. “No, I didn’t think about it at the time.” This was not going well.
    “You are no different than any other reporter. The story is first for you, no matter how you get it.”
    Getting the story was a reporter’s job. “I just didn’t think about it at the time.”
    He stared at her as if assessing her. The anger slowly dimmed from his eyes. “Next time call the police first. Don’t just stand there watching and taking pictures. Let us do our job. You’ll still get a story out of it.”
    She nodded. “Yes sir.” Did he really think she’d not take an opportunity when it arose? Ha. He didn’t know journalists very well.
    “I want a witness statement from you. Let’s start with how you came to observe all you did. What were you doing on that side of town? It can be dangerous, especially in the evening.” He placed the newspaper on his desk.
    She summarized her time on the street, skipping the fight she’d witnessed and the exchange with the possible police officers. They were hers to expose.
    “How long were you there?”
    “About two hours each day.” Two hours of shivering and wishing for her fireplace and hot cocoa.
    “Did you photograph every exchange?”
    “Yes.”
    “We’ll want a copy of all of the pictures, and I don’t want to hear of any confidentiality bullshit. I hope you’ll save me the trouble of getting a warrant,” he flatly stated.
    She’d expected that request. “I brought you the photos on a thumb drive.” She reached into her purse, removed the storage unit and handed it to him.
    He closed his hand around it. “I’m keeping this.” He didn’t ask, he dictated.
    She smiled sweetly, adding her Southern charm. “No problem. I made it specifically for you.”
    He snorted, and it almost made her laugh. She hadn’t expected that sort of sound from this starchy detective. He hadn’t mentioned any charges against her, and she didn’t ask about them. Her tension eased, the tightness in her shoulders slowly relaxed.
    It finally hit her. They’d been bluffing to get her to the station.
Dang it all to hell
and back.
    “You need to remember that we do the investigating. This is our case. We don’t need reporters getting in the way of justice.”
    Fisting her hands to stop her temper from rising, she responded, “We fight