Page 89 of Keeping Secrets

He had taken his freedom for granted, after a while. He supposed everyone did, at least until they were on the verge of losing it.

Well, life would be that much sweeter if he came through this without a harsh sentence. He still nursed some hope of that. He could get manslaughter again and serve a short sentence, then come back to work at the Bottlenose. He had been defending Rachel, after all, and he felt certain that she would show up and testify on his behalf. Assuming the guys Adam was involved with didn’t come for him, he’d still have a shot at a good life.

Possibly it was that hope that gave him the courage to do what he was about to do and finally turn himself in.

When he reached the police station, he paused in the shade of a tree and pulled out his phone. He texted his parents to say that he loved them, even though they hadn’t spoken to each other in ages. He texted Nick, telling him to live a good life and look after the people they both loved.

And then he texted Keely.

I’m sorry for not being fully honest with you sooner. I should have picked one side or another, either stayed away from you or come clean from the start. I wasn’t strong enough to do either. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I’m going to do my best to make things right. I swear I won’t say a word about Nick. What I want most is for you to put this mess behind you and live a good life.

He typed out I love you, then chickened out and erased it.

What good would it do her for him to send those words now? Getting them off of his chest wasn’t worth causing her any additional pain.

He hesitated, then sent the rest.

Still stalling, he turned his phone off and stuck it in his pocket.

Then he summoned his courage and walked to the police station.

He stumbled to a stop when Keely walked out, hair shining like polished copper in the sunshine. She was so gorgeous and bright and shining that for a split second, he thought that he was imagining her. What’s more, she was smiling.

Then she saw him, and her smile disappeared. There was a flash of confusion on her face followed by horror. She knew what he was here to do, or at least she guessed.

But why was she here?

“Can I help you?” asked the police officer who was holding the door open for Keely. He looked down the steps at Travis with a scowl.

“He’s my boyfriend,” Keely said quickly, flashing the young officer a beautiful smile. “He’s just picking me up.”

“Oh.” The guy was visibly disappointed. “Okay. Well, have a good one.”

He walked inside, and the door swung shut behind him.

Keely closed the distance between them, took Travis’s arm in a vise grip, and dragged him down the steps.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, dumbfounded.

“Get in the car.” She shoved him toward the passenger-side door of her car and then looped around.

He was silent as she started the car and drove him away from the police station. He felt lightheaded with relief but also confused. Keely seemed unsteady herself. She only drove a few blocks away from the station before pulling to the side of a quiet street and turning the engine off again.

“You were going to turn yourself in,” she accused.

“Well, yeah,” he admitted. In this moment, sitting so close to Keely and looking into her bottle-green eyes, he couldn’t imagine what he had been thinking.

“You idiot.” She hit him in the shoulder, then fisted his jacket in her hand and pulled him in for a kiss. His mind went blissfully blank for a moment, and then she shoved him away again. “What if you had gotten there before me? You weren’t even going to talk to us first?”

“We talked yesterday. I didn’t see another way out.”

“So you just gave up?” She shoved his arm so hard that he bumped into the door.

“I was trying to protect Nick.”

“So was I! But I was doing it without any of us having to go to jail.”

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