Page 54 of Volatile Vice

“Sure,” I finally say. “Let’s go.”

He looks at me then, meets my gaze, and his own dark eyes are so beautiful and troubled. I want to lean into him, lean against his hard body, show him that everything will be okay.

But I don’t know that it will be.

And neither does he.

If only we could go away. Far from here. Start over.

I open my mouth to say as much, but then I close it.

“What do you want to say, Raven?” he asks.

“Would anything I say make a difference?”

“You mean change our lives right now? Make it so we can be together?”

I nod.

He sighs. “I wish I could say it would, Raven. You have no idea how much I wish that.”

“So that’s your answer?”

“You want me to be specific about it? No, Raven. Nothing you can say will make any difference.”

“Then I suppose there’s nothing to say.”

And there isn’t. We don’t speak for the rest of the drive.

* * *

I wakeup the next morning in one of the guest bedrooms in my mother and father’s house. I can’t stomach the thought of being in my own room—where a man was found bleeding out on my bed.

It’s still a crime scene anyway. It will be until the police close the investigation.

So far, the police aren’t questioning my parents and me any further.

I don’t know whether that’s because they believe our alibis or because my father is who he is.

He’s a good man. He doesn’t own the police station or anything.

But he does know them all. The two policemen who were here the other day—Detective Harrison and Officer Martinez—are young. Probably about my own age, though the detective may be a few years older.

My father has contacts everywhere, so it’s reasonable for me to believe he has contacts with the police who will see that no charges are levied against anyone in my family.

But then I wonder…

If my father had that kind of power, why did Falcon go to prison?

We were told at the time that two factors were in play. Number one, the Bellamy name. It was a good chance to make an example of Falcon, to show that no one is above the law, no matter what his name is.

But more so, it was because a young rookie cop was dead. Not only that, but Jaden Perez left behind a pregnant wife.

Public sympathy had never been higher.

It was around ten o’clock when Vinnie drove my car into my parents’ drive.

No kiss good night, though he did walk me to the door.

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