CHAPTER THREE - HOUSE INSURANCE PT 1.
After another five minutes of the interview Jeff had had enough. It was going round in circles filled with hidden accusations that were never directly said. Finally Jeff gave up.
"Look, I've had enough, and the way that I understand it is that you have to either charge me with something or I'm free to leave. Are you going to charge me?"
"At this time we have insufficient evidence."
"Well in that case I'm going. Thank you for wasting my afternoon." Jeff got to his feet.
"Thank you for your help. We'll be in touch." The officer held out his hand to shake but Jeff used his blindness to ignore it.
"Hey bro, where are you?" Matt addressed his brother when he picked up his cell phone.
"Hey." Matt heard his brother talking in the background. "We're about 3 minutes from the arena."
"I'll see you in a few minutes then." Matt hung up and flopped back into his chair. The moment his past had come crawling out of the woodwork, he had felt that familiar feeling grow inside his stomach. It was the feeling that told him that he had to protect his family no matter what. He thought of Mollie, the daughter that Jeff had given him. All his love for her flowed through his veins; giving him the determination to go on and cope with this. He knew what he had to do. He had to get Jeff out of it. He'd made the mistake once of bringing him into it and was never going to repeat it. There were so many complications and only one way out that he could think of, but that involved his father. He wanted to keep Gil Hardy out of it, but it was his only choice. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialled his father.
"Dad."
"Matt."
"Will you do something for me? Something important."
"Of course."
"Will you have Mollie and Chloe at your house for a bit? A few days? A week?"
"I'll be glad to have them for as long as you want, but what is this about? Is this to do with the newspaper story?"
Matt paused before he spoke. He knew he couldn't lie to his dad but he also knew that he had let him down the first time and he didn't want to repeat the past. "Yes."
"You know how I feel about that Matt, but I will support you in whatever you need to do. I know you've changed; you've grown up, but promise me that you will only do what's needed to get out of the mess. Nothing more, nothing that could cause more problems in the future."
"I'm going down after this, Dad, I know I am. I just hope I have enough time."
"Good luck son." Matt listened to the silence for a minute, before dialling Chloe.
"Chloe."
"Matt."
"I need you to do something."
"uh huh"
"I want you to go to my dad's and stay there until I tell you that you can come home."
"You're scaring me Matt."
"I'm sorry but this is important. Everything's messed up and this is the only way I know to keep you out of it. Please just don't ask any questions. You've gotta trust me. Take Mollie and stay there."
There was a pause in the conversation.
"Ok I'll do it."
"Thank you."
"Matt?"
"Yeah."
"Be Careful."
"Shit, shit, shit, shit." Matt waited quietly for Jeff to stop swearing. It was a habit he seemed to have continued from his angry days after the accident. "Shit, shit, shit, shit."
Matt got fed up with waiting. "Stop swearing, Jeff, and tell me what happened."
"They know. they know it was me as well."
"But they can't prove it."
"Shit man, they can't prove it but they're about to use anything to try. They brought up that time I fell on the fence. They seem to think I wasn't an accident. Christ! They think you let me bleed for 2 hours before you took me to a hospital. They think I was with you. They kept trying to trick me into saying stuff."
"They have no proof."
"They kept asking me questions about it. I tried to tell them I didn't remember much but they kept asking me, so I told them what I could and every time I misjudged something or remembered it wrong they made me feel like I'd given them a real gem. Like I'd revealed something I didn't want to. Given them evidence against me."
"They didn't charge you?"
"No. Said they didn't have sufficient evidence and they would be in touch."
The brothers sat in silence for a minute. Jeff's face was a picture of concentration as he followed a train of thought in his head. Something was niggling at him. He knew there was something important he knew. Something he'd heard. Today. At the police station. As he was leaving.
"Matt, is there anything at my house? Anything dodgy?"
"Probably, you still got that porn?"
"This is serious Matt. I heard them. They're after a warrant to search my house."
It was Matt's turn to swear.
"Christ Matt! You kept that stuff at my house. Jeez how long has it been there?"
"Since you moved in!" Matt tried to laugh but his heart wasn't in. Things were going to get much worse and Jeff was becoming too deeply involved. He pulled out his cell phone and then thought better of it. He left his dressing room; he turned back to Jeff at the door.
"You've got house insurance right?"
"Yes. Why Matt? What are you gonna do?" Matt left without responding. "Matt? My House!"
After another five minutes of the interview Jeff had had enough. It was going round in circles filled with hidden accusations that were never directly said. Finally Jeff gave up.
"Look, I've had enough, and the way that I understand it is that you have to either charge me with something or I'm free to leave. Are you going to charge me?"
"At this time we have insufficient evidence."
"Well in that case I'm going. Thank you for wasting my afternoon." Jeff got to his feet.
"Thank you for your help. We'll be in touch." The officer held out his hand to shake but Jeff used his blindness to ignore it.
"Hey bro, where are you?" Matt addressed his brother when he picked up his cell phone.
"Hey." Matt heard his brother talking in the background. "We're about 3 minutes from the arena."
"I'll see you in a few minutes then." Matt hung up and flopped back into his chair. The moment his past had come crawling out of the woodwork, he had felt that familiar feeling grow inside his stomach. It was the feeling that told him that he had to protect his family no matter what. He thought of Mollie, the daughter that Jeff had given him. All his love for her flowed through his veins; giving him the determination to go on and cope with this. He knew what he had to do. He had to get Jeff out of it. He'd made the mistake once of bringing him into it and was never going to repeat it. There were so many complications and only one way out that he could think of, but that involved his father. He wanted to keep Gil Hardy out of it, but it was his only choice. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialled his father.
"Dad."
"Matt."
"Will you do something for me? Something important."
"Of course."
"Will you have Mollie and Chloe at your house for a bit? A few days? A week?"
"I'll be glad to have them for as long as you want, but what is this about? Is this to do with the newspaper story?"
Matt paused before he spoke. He knew he couldn't lie to his dad but he also knew that he had let him down the first time and he didn't want to repeat the past. "Yes."
"You know how I feel about that Matt, but I will support you in whatever you need to do. I know you've changed; you've grown up, but promise me that you will only do what's needed to get out of the mess. Nothing more, nothing that could cause more problems in the future."
"I'm going down after this, Dad, I know I am. I just hope I have enough time."
"Good luck son." Matt listened to the silence for a minute, before dialling Chloe.
"Chloe."
"Matt."
"I need you to do something."
"uh huh"
"I want you to go to my dad's and stay there until I tell you that you can come home."
"You're scaring me Matt."
"I'm sorry but this is important. Everything's messed up and this is the only way I know to keep you out of it. Please just don't ask any questions. You've gotta trust me. Take Mollie and stay there."
There was a pause in the conversation.
"Ok I'll do it."
"Thank you."
"Matt?"
"Yeah."
"Be Careful."
"Shit, shit, shit, shit." Matt waited quietly for Jeff to stop swearing. It was a habit he seemed to have continued from his angry days after the accident. "Shit, shit, shit, shit."
Matt got fed up with waiting. "Stop swearing, Jeff, and tell me what happened."
"They know. they know it was me as well."
"But they can't prove it."
"Shit man, they can't prove it but they're about to use anything to try. They brought up that time I fell on the fence. They seem to think I wasn't an accident. Christ! They think you let me bleed for 2 hours before you took me to a hospital. They think I was with you. They kept trying to trick me into saying stuff."
"They have no proof."
"They kept asking me questions about it. I tried to tell them I didn't remember much but they kept asking me, so I told them what I could and every time I misjudged something or remembered it wrong they made me feel like I'd given them a real gem. Like I'd revealed something I didn't want to. Given them evidence against me."
"They didn't charge you?"
"No. Said they didn't have sufficient evidence and they would be in touch."
The brothers sat in silence for a minute. Jeff's face was a picture of concentration as he followed a train of thought in his head. Something was niggling at him. He knew there was something important he knew. Something he'd heard. Today. At the police station. As he was leaving.
"Matt, is there anything at my house? Anything dodgy?"
"Probably, you still got that porn?"
"This is serious Matt. I heard them. They're after a warrant to search my house."
It was Matt's turn to swear.
"Christ Matt! You kept that stuff at my house. Jeez how long has it been there?"
"Since you moved in!" Matt tried to laugh but his heart wasn't in. Things were going to get much worse and Jeff was becoming too deeply involved. He pulled out his cell phone and then thought better of it. He left his dressing room; he turned back to Jeff at the door.
"You've got house insurance right?"
"Yes. Why Matt? What are you gonna do?" Matt left without responding. "Matt? My House!"