Page 57 of Rescue Me

Reid lets out a sharp, bitter laugh, drawing all eyes to him. “Her emotional state?” he repeats, his voice dripping with disbelief. “You mean the state she put herself in by treating me like a damn servant for months? By accusing me of assault when all I did was exist in her presence?”

“Reid,” I say softly, squeezing his knee.

He shakes his head, his hazel eyes blazing as he glares at Jackson. “No, Zana. Let’s not pretend this is anything other than what it is—a pathetic attempt to cover their asses because they know they’re in the wrong.”

Lyle stiffens, his jaw clenching, but Jackson’s smirk only deepens. “Careful, Reid. You don’t want to make things worse for yourself.”

“Oh, I’m so scared,” Reid shoots back, his tone mocking. “What are you going to do, Jackson? Hit me again? Bruise a few more ribs? Sorry, I forgot—you can’t. Not with people watching.”

The tension in the room spikes, the air crackling with unspoken hostility. The detectives exchange a glance, the woman scribbling something in her notebook while the man clears his throat.

“Enough,” the man says firmly, his gaze sweeping over all of us. “We’re not here to litigate personal grievances. We’re here to determine the validity of the accusations made against Mr. Camden.”

“Which are baseless,” I say, my voice steady despite the anger simmering beneath the surface. “Hailey Wilhelm has a history of manipulating situations to her advantage. This is just another one of her games.”

“And you can prove that?” the woman asks, raising an eyebrow.

I meet her gaze head-on. “I can try.”

Jackson chuckles. “Good luck with that, Alpha. You’ve already overstepped once. How much more are you willing to risk for a Beta?”

“As much as it takes,” I state.

Reid glances at me, a flicker of something unspoken passing between us. I lean forward, my elbows on the table, my gaze locked on Jackson. “Why would your Omega make a claim like this when Reid was practically dying under your roof?”

Jackson’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t respond. His silence only fuels my anger, and I push harder. “Even if—let’s entertain the lie for a second—even if Reid had assaulted her, and you retaliated, you’re telling me you just left him to waste away in that hellhole you called a bedroom? No hospital? No proper care? Nothing?”

“Zana,” the male detective warns, but I wave him off without looking.

“You don’t get to play the ‘we were protecting our Omega’ card when you didn’t even have the decency to treat your Beta like a living, breathing person,” I snap. “You threw him in a closet and forgot about him until it suited you. So tell me, Jackson, what exactly were you protecting? Because it sure as hell wasn’t Hailey.”

Jackson’s lips press into a thin line, his hands tightening into fists on the table. He doesn’t look at me, doesn’t look at anyone. His silence is deafening.

And then Reid speaks, his gaze falling on Lyle. “You knew the contract was forged.”

Jackson’s head snaps up, his eyes narrowing. “What are you talking about?”

“I told you,” Reid says, his hazel eyes blazing with fierce determination. “Before I left, I told you the contract was forged. That I never wanted to be a pack Beta. I did it because my parents needed the money, needed to save face. I told you that, Jackson. And you didn’t care.”

The air in the room shifts, the weight of Reid’s words sinking in like a stone. Jackson’s face twists, his usual mask of arrogance cracking, but he doesn’t deny it. He doesn’t say anything.

Which means he knew.

But then Reid’s gaze flicks to Lyle, and his next words make my breath catch. “Unless you didn’t know. Unless Lyle knew and just didn’t bother to tell you.”

All eyes turn to Lyle and the room goes still. The detectives straighten in their seats, their pens hovering over their notebooks.

“Is that true?” the female detective asks.

Lyle shifts in his seat, his posture stiff. For a moment, he looks like he might deny it, like he might spin some elaborate lie to cover his tracks. But then his gaze flickers to Jackson, to the rage simmering just beneath the surface of his Alpha partner, and he falters.

“I—” Lyle starts, his voice cracking. “It’s not—it wasn’t like that.”

“Oh, but it was,” I cut in, my voice cold. “It was exactly like that. You knew. You knew Reid didn’t want this, that he didn’t sign that contract, and you let it happen anyway. Because what? You needed someone to clean up Hailey’s messes? Someone to take the fall for her tantrums?”

Lyle’s face pales and he stammers out something unintelligible, but it’s too late. The damage is done. The detectives exchange a glance, their pens moving furiously across their notebooks, and I can feel the tide turning. Jackson wanted this unorthodox meeting so that we could settle out of court, so that he could strong-arm me with this fake claim but it’s only blown up in their faces.

“I—I thought it was handled,” Lyle stammers, his confidence crumbling. “We needed the Beta, Jackson. You know we did. Hailey—”

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