Page 17 of The Heir

“Out of town,” My voice raised a bit more than I was proud of.

He laughed, “I thought you were the country boy?”

“Who told you that?”

“You’re from Georgia, right?”

“We lived in the city, dude. Atlanta until last winter.”

“That big?”

I froze and stared at him.

“You ever been out of Illinois, May?”

“Sure, I've been to St. Louis. Broke my arm once as a kid. Had to go have it set at the kid’s hospital.”

“St. Louis… that’s what an hour?”

“About that.” He nodded, leaving me wide eyed and understanding just a little more about him.

He stuck his arm out in a motion for me to hold. I did, and a car whizzed by about twenty or thirty yards away.

“Told you.” he announced, before marching out of the woods.

He crossed the parking lot with a swag in his step. I slowly weaved between the cars, taking in the big blinking lights.

“Welcome to Steel Cages,” a beauty in a neon dress bid as soon as the door opened.

May tried to shoot past her without a word. It almost worked, since she’d turned her smile my way.

“You old enough to be here, son?” an officer stepped in front of May.

The question wasn’t shouted, but it sounded as amplified as the click of the door behind me. The cop’s eyes widened, and he reached for the radio on his shoulder.

“Got the Aviston boy out here at Steel Cages.” His gaze shifted to me, and he clicked the radio again, “Second suspect in tow.”

The door jerked open, and despite the heat, the breeze that washed over me felt like ice when I heard the bleep of the radio behind me.

“Fuck,” I whispered.

“Put your hands on your head for me, Sir,” a female officer ordered.

I glanced over my shoulder to discover she was only about five foot-two. I could elbow her in the nose and run.

My eyes widened and I sucked in a breath, ashamed that I’d even had such a thought. As if she’d read my mind, the woman grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back with lightning speed. Her other hand found a sweet spot on my spine, and I was face down over the receptionist's cubicle before I could comprehend what had happened.

The wind rushed out of my lungs and cold steel wrapped around my wrist for the first time in my life.

It was sobering. Instantly sobering.

So was the ride to the station. I closed my eyes, a headache already brewing as I imagined the bitching my mother would do.

Fuck. My. Life.

There was no way I was going to suffer that all the way back to Georgia.

That was a hard and swift nope. I just didn’t know how the fuck I was going to avoid it. I was still inwardly turning it over in my mind while they fingerprinted and booked me. May and I hadn’t said a word to each other in the car, he was quietly sitting on a bench in a holding cell when I was escorted there.

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