Page 19 of Proof

I removed the arm I had around his waist but didn’t fully lower it. I shifted my body so I was facing JJ. He still had hishand pressed against his eye and temple. His skin was ashen but with every deep breath he pulled in, the color began to return. I still had my arm behind him to catch him if he started to fall. I was surprised when his fingers wrapped around my other arm and squeezed it so hard I was sure I’d have bruises later. I didn’t give a shit. My discomfort was a drop in the bucket compared to what he was dealing with.

“The kid?” JJ grated.

“He’s fine. Gunman’s down,” I added.

He should have asked me what I was doing there, but he didn’t. He remained silent, his fingers still clutching my arm.

“Are you hurt?” I asked and then cursed myself for my own stupidity. “Anywhere besides your head,” I clarified.

I’d already checked JJ over when I’d reached him and hadn’t seen any external wounds, but what if he had internal ones? Was the pain in his head a result of hitting it at some point or something else?

JJ didn’t answer me but after a handful of seconds, his breathing became less labored. The sirens were closer now. I knew what would happen next, but I didn’t care. I just needed JJ to be okay.

“Where’s your ID?” I asked.

“Left inside pocket,” he bit out.

I grabbed his official Targes ID and put it into his free hand. I bent enough that I could place his weapon on the ground several feet in front of him. I did the same with mine.

“Hold it up,” I said to JJ as I turned him so we’d be facing the police cars when they arrived. “Remember to keep your arms up so they can search you,” I added before I grabbed my own ID. Since every officer on the force likely knew my face, I wouldn’t need the damn thing. The authorities didn’t and wouldn’t see me as an innocent man. I was still the murderer who’d gotten off on a technicality caused by one of their own and now theyhad the reason they needed to put me back where they thought I belonged.

The idea of handcuffs being slapped on my wrists had me shaking.

“Hold it together,” I whispered to myself. I couldn’t lose my shit right now. I needed to keep it together for JJ. I needed to make sure he got the attention he needed.

Despite the thought, I could already hear my cell door closing behind me. There was only silence.

I shook my head and forced the thoughts away. It didn’t matter. JJ was safe. I could survive in a world in which all of my rights and freedoms were taken from me. I couldn’t survive in one that didn’t include JJ.

He shifted next to me, his side briefly brushing mine. I thought he was going to collapse so I grabbed his arm, but he pulled it away.

“JJ—” I began as the scream of the sirens grew closer and closer. The cops were just seconds away.

“Shut up,” he responded, his voice sounding weak and tired.

Before I could say anything else, JJ did something I never would have seen coming. He stepped forward and swapped our guns so that mine was in front of him and his in front of me.

JJ quickly stepped back and held his arms up, his ID in hand. Whatever pain he’d been in seemed to have eased enough for him to be an active participant in what was happening.

“What are you—?” I began as I tried to make sense of what he was doing.

“Is your gun registered?” JJ asked.

“What—?”

“Cass, is your gun registered?”

“Yeah, it’s the one I owned before I went in.” I was sure JJ flinched when I mentioned the start of my incarceration. I had no clue what was happening. What I did know was that hehad the perfect opportunity to do what he’d wanted to from the moment he’d confronted me on the canyon road.

Even though I knew JJ was going to let me hang out to dry, I couldn’t make sense ofhowhe was planning on doing it.

JJ’s safe. He’s safe.

I couldn’t get the image out of my mind of JJ standing point blank in front of the gunman and not even attempting to defend himself. My heart was still beating so hard that the pulse point at my jugular actually started to hurt.

Too close.

It had been way too fucking close.

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