Page 91 of You're the Reason

“He was holding two thousand dollars for me. He was going to bring it to me when the fight happened.”

Her vision began to tunnel. How could she not have seen it? She’d been pulled into his lies just like she’d been pulled into Gabe’s lies in the past.

“I don’t want to believe it either, but I found this in his apartment last night.” He pulled a baggie from his pocket. “It’s an ecstasy bag. I found this and a pill in his apartment last night.”

“Check his pockets. He’s got a bag of?—”

Of ecstasy. He had it on him at the fight. Grace’s stomach turned over again. Then she’d sent him home. Had he taken a hit to relieve the pain? She knew it wasn’t a far jump from an addict’s “one hit” back to where they had once been.

Jon’s phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket. “This is Jon.”

The guy’s jaw tightened as his gaze flicked to Grace.

“Is it him?” She mouthed the words more than spoke them.

Jon nodded and Grace reached for the phone. “May I?”

He passed it over and she drew a slow breath. “Why did you say I would know where the cash box was?”

There was a long pause before Seth’s voice—stretched thin—came over the line. “I didn’t. I said you might have seen it. The last I saw it, it was on the car before the fight. Please tell me you saw it.”

The desperation in his voice nearly broke her.

“Is the baggie that Jon has the bag Gabe was talking about in the parking lot when he suggested you had drugs in your pocket?”

“Yes, but?—”

“What about the drugs in the car? Were they yours? Did you use my money to buy drugs?” She didn’t know what she was looking for. Denial or just honesty? Because how could it not be? When he still didn’t answer, she pushed. “Are you going to answer me?”

“If you’re really asking those questions, then my answer doesn’t matter... and there’s nothing more to talk about.” With that, the line went dead along with everything inside of her.

Had she been wrong? Or was he so deep in his lies he couldn’t see out? She thought she’d known him better than that, but once she’d thought she’d known Gabe better than that, and he’d snowed her.

She handed Jon back his phone. “Thank you. I need to go.”

Her parents must have heard her because they had the door open before she even got over there.

“No. I will go to Chicago. But I will go by myself and on my own schedule. Sunday is soon enough. I have a few things I need to do here first.”

Nothing made sense anymore. Her only hope was redemption in Chicago. But first she’d follow through with her girls’ show.

This wasn’t the first time Seth had slept in this jail cell, but it was the first time he’d done so while innocent of any crime. Not that it mattered. Once a criminal, always a criminal, at least in Heritage. He couldn’t believe he’d thought things would be different this time. That Jon believed in him. That Grace believed in him.

“Trust that I won’t abandon you.” She wouldn’t abandon him until it was uncomfortable, that was.

Seth stood and paced the ten feet of cell. His muscles, still sore from the fight, protested the movement, but it was better to keep moving. There were two cells in the precinct, and he’d been the only resident last night. At least he could be thankful for that.

The outside door opened, and Hammond walked in with a tray of food, then passed it through the bars. “You sure there’s no one else you want to call?”

Seth shook his head as he took the food. Who would he call? Twenty-four hours ago, he had a whole list of people he’d call in a bind. Jon had thinned that list to one last night, and today’s phone call had dropped it to zero.

Hammond offered him a sad smile, then disappeared out the door again.

“I had to fight the board. The town. Even Grant wasn’t sure you were ready. But I went to bat for you.” Those words were on a nasty little repeat in his head. Maybe he wouldn’t feel as stupid had he known. But the fact that the whole diner event with the furniture had all been nothing more than a theatrical production for his benefit, he couldn’t swallow that. He was the town’s little charity project. A charity project no one believed would succeed.

He plopped down on the bench and eyed the bologna on white bread with a side of applesauce. Could be worse. He downed the food and set the tray aside as the outer doors opened again.

Gabe, with his hands cuffed behind his back, was led to the neighboring cell. He glared at Seth from his non-swollen eye then turned away as they uncuffed him. In addition to the swollen eye, Gabe sported a bruise on his chin, testifying to their fight yesterday.

---