Chapter 29: Lewis

My feet stuck in the thick, gooey mud as I walked to the police station. The sky leaked heavily. There was a lump on the ground, a human sized lump that was partially covered by a cardboard box. When I stepped closer I could see the rise and fall of his chest. Either he was asleep, or he was merely just closing his eyes. I wondered how long a homeless man could survive on the streets.

The sky had changed quickly, from a calm blue to a very dark, almost black grey. It was like the sky wept dearly for the loss of the sun. The rain drenched my clothes; my T-shirt was now see-through and clung to my body in the most unbecoming way. I sighed, wishing Caspian had driven me to the police station; but he was convinced that Victoria Herim was the key to getting Lewis out of jail. I wasn't disagreeing with him, I just highly doubted Victoria was innocent in this whole mess.

I stopped outside the police station. The beige paint glared back at me, reminding me of desert sand that caused the type of illusions which put reality to shame. The building itself was small, but it was encased in a wrap-around garden; disguising it as an enchanted garden instead of the hall of mystery that it was. I wasn't sure if I wasn't supposed to knock, or walk straight in. I decided to play it safe and just knock. No reply. Ok, plan B. I gingerly opened the door, just enough for me to fit through. The door was unlocked, yet not a policeman was in sight. My eyes scanned the area for Sheriff Matson, but he was nowhere.

"Madelyn," a husky voice breathed.

I turned my head and realised why the voice sounded so off. His top lip was swollen and bleeding.

"Lewis?" I asked, having trouble recognising the face covered in blood and bruises. The end of his beard was tinged red with blood. The skin on his knuckles had ripped away from the bone, leaving his fingers raw and prone to infection. His dark eyes were almost lifeless.

"Yeah," he wheezed. "I look like crap."

I wasn't sure if it was a question or if he was just stating a fact, so I chose not to comment.

"What did they do to you?" I enquired, although it was clear that had they tried to make him confess to the crime he didn't commit.

"Whipped me, cut me, pointed a gun at my head," he replied, resting his head against the wall behind him. "You shouldn't be here,' he added. "The Sheriff will be back soon."

I ignored his comment. "Where is he now?" I asked, moving towards the jail cell that held the man I barely knew, but considered a friend.

"What do cops do in their free time? Eat doughnuts." He didn't succeed in his efforts to lighten the mood. He grimaced as he tried to stand up.

"Nobody stayed to watch you?"

"A broken, black man in a cage, with no hope of getting out," he replied. "Not worth looking after."

"Do you know where the cell keys are?" I asked. This was the plan. The plan was to get him out of jail, by proving his innocence. But seeing the way he was treated here put a whole new spin on things.

"You can't break me out."

"Yes, I can," I argued. I knelt down beside the steel bars and put my hands through, trying to convince him to trust me.

"You can't," he persisted. "You don't want to be here when the Sheriff gets back."

He was surprisingly moral for a car-lifter. "Who do you think would frame you?" I asked.

He shrugged.

"Do you know Newton Wes?" I enquired.

"He's long dead."

"Missing."

"If he hasn't shown up by now, he's dead." He seemed pretty confident about this.

"Do you think the same person who killed him framed you?" I enquired.

"The Swift girl killed him," Lewis told me. "I shouldn't have said that." He realised his mistake and closed his eyes in both physical and emotional pain.

"You mean Janet Swift," I asked, remembering how I had suspected her of Asher's murder.

"Please," he pleaded. "You have to leave."

"How do you know she killed Newt?" I enquired, not willing to let this go so easily.

He sighed. "Newt liked her, loved her. All he'd talk about was Janet; Janet this, Janet that. She stayed at Stinger HQ one night, the night Newton went missing. I thought he had eloped with her. That was until I saw her attend Asher's funeral."

What he was saying made sense. If Janet killed Newt, she could have killed Asher as well. Was Levi also somehow involved with Janet, and what about the Mayor? From what I could see, Janet tricked men into falling in love with her and then did away with them. Buy why? It couldn't be for money, since Asher didn't have much. Maybe Victoria was innocent in this case. It looked like Janet was the mastermind. 

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