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Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

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Chapter 397 Tara's Story

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After Tara finished throwing up, Hale showed her where the bathroom was so she could fix herself up. She rinsed her mouth with water and splashed some more on her face.

This was her worst nightmare. She had the good girl's terror of making a mistake or getting into trouble. She couldn't stand the idea of being punished for killing Josh Kohn. She couldn't imagine going to prison. Being locked up and forever labeled a criminal would cost her her medical license, her freedom and her reputation. She wasn't like Jax. She saw being sent to prison as something shameful. For the guys in the MC, it was a badge of honor and a status symbol.

She was still struggling with her co-workers at the hospital. It had gotten a little better since the night Gemma attacked her and no one had helped her or even called security. This would give them fresh gossip and the entire town would know probably by morning that she'd killed a man. Who knew how the story was going to get twisted as it made its way through town?

Returning to the interview room even just facing Hale filled her with dread, but she forced herself to return. She couldn't run away. She would get through this. For a moment, she wished she hadn't killed Kohn.

What would have happened if she hadn't killed Kohn? He would tell his story and she would tell hers. Scarlett did have a point that it would be her word against his. She would still have had to go through the whole nightmare of dealing with the police only she would have had to fight to have him arrested and prosecuted. And he probably would have gotten off if he'd even been charged. She'd done the only thing she could—she'd saved her life by taking his. He'd earned his death.

She returned to the interview room and sat down. She just needed to get through this and then it would be over. She would get her life back. Hale would see her side of things.

"How are you feeling?" Hale asked.

"A little better."

"Do you know how Kohn got into your house?" Hale asked.

She shook her head.

"He was always bragging about all the skills he had being an ATF agent. I thought he probably picked the lock or something."

"He broke a window in the back. We'll board it up when we finish the investigation. Did he say anything about Chicago? He called me from the airport."

"No, he called you and played airport sounds in the background to fool you. He was laughing about outsmarting you."

"What about his job? Was he just going to walk away from it?"

"He said something about a stress disability retirement claim. He was going to take me—kidnap me—he had a cabin for two weeks," Tara said, her voice shaking. Her eyes filled with tears.

She imagined two weeks as Kohn's prisoner and the things he would do to her. Hale thrust a clean trash can into her hands and she threw up again. Ten minutes later after another trip to the bathroom, Hale began to question her again. This time he asked her to just tell her about what she'd done that day beginning with leaving work.

It helped her to calm down by letting her begin her story at a part that wasn't emotional. She talked about Scarlett picking her up and them having dinner. She described buying new scrubs and leaving them in Scarlett's van. If she hadn't done that, she wondered how things would have changed.

She explained that she'd left the front door unlocked and told Scarlett to come on in because she was going to be busy making cookies. She was going to bring them to work in the morning. She wondered out loud if she would even be going to work in the morning. The hospital might want her to take a leave until everything got resolved.

Hale let her talk only asking a question here and there for clarification. Tara explained that knowing Scarlett was going to come by gave her hope that she could escape Kohn. She knew she couldn't fight Kohn and win. He was larger and heavier with ATF fight training.

Her best hope was manipulating him. Her goal was to keep him from kidnaping her before Scarlett got there. Scarlett carried pepper spray and she'd used it before on Kohn.

She relived those moments trying to hold him off. When he put his gun on the nightstand, she saw her chance to save herself. If she could get it, she could hold him off until Scarlett got there and Scarlett could call the police.

When she got to the second shot, she followed Scarlett's suggestion. She had actually walked through that second shot so she was recalling a real memory. It was easier than making up a lie. She just left out some of the parts with Scarlett and Kohn—especially the part when he tried to convince her not to shoot him.

When she finished, Hale asked her a few more questions and then it was finally over. After concluding the interview with Hale, she felt like the nightmare was over and she could begin her life again.

Hale turned off the recorder.

"I'm sorry for what you went through. I should have checked with Chicago to find out if Kohn had turned up to work. He outsmarted the hick cop," Hale said.

"You thought of him as normal."

"I'll have patrol give you a ride to the motel."

"Could you take me instead?" Tara didn't want to have to ride to the motel with a stranger.

"It's better for someone in patrol," Hale said gently. "I know this is an ordeal, but we're going to have to do this investigation right. I'll talk to Unser in the morning and get his opinion. I didn't like Kohn and I've known you for many years as has Unser. We don't get many of these kinds of shootings. You don't want anyone ever questioning that Kohn's shooting was entirely in self-defense. You don't want that cloud over your head. We don't want anyone to say that this investigation was biased in any way. I'm going to recommend to Unser that we ask the Sheriff's Department to take over this investigation."

Tara had just gotten to her feet, but she sat down quickly. The nightmare wasn't over. It might be just beginning.

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Author's Note: There's a tiny surprise in the next chapter.