Page 85 of My Brother's Best Friend

I slapped my hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. Everyone knew that the Redwood Police were corrupt. We had seen instances of it about a million times in the past four months of school, but nobody dared say it out loud.

“Do you want to be next?” I whisper-yelled, dragging her back to her car and smiling at the officers so they wouldn’t hurt her. “Don’t worry, Officers. She knows you’re just doing your job to the best of your abilities.”

Maddie slithered out of my hold and sprinted at them. “You are fucking li?—”

Before she could get halfway there, I seized her waist and threw her over my shoulder, holding on to her body as tightly as I could so she wouldn’t escape again. And then I walked all the way to the football field at Redwood Academy, a few blocks away, with her in my arms.

“Let me down!” she shouted, banging on my back. “They took my brother!”

“I know,” I whispered.

“They took my brother,” she cried, her voice beginning to tremble. “They took him.”

“I know,” I repeated. “I know they did.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” she sobbed, her body shaking violently now.

“Because I don’t want them to take you too,” I said, holding on to her tighter because I fucking loved her and I never wanted to see her cry.

She had held me this tightly when I needed it the most, and I had promised myself that I would be there when she needed me.

“Alec”—she sniffled—“what if … what if Spencer kills him?”

“Spencer isn’t going to kill him.”

Though, as the words left my mouth, they sounded like one big, fat lie. Spencer was unhinged and would do whatever it took to take Maddie back. If he had to kill Oliver to get Maddie in a vulnerable state, then he would.

He knew that Maddie would do anything to find Oliver.

Anything.

Even drive to his house in a rage, all by herself, to rescue him.

“We’ll find him,” I murmured. “I promise.”

CHAPTER53

MADDIE

“The police are in on this!” I cried, falling to my knees and running my hands through my unruly hair. I shook my head from side to side, sobbing as Alec picked me up. “They’re fucking in on this, and they … they don’t care that my brother is gone!”

As annoying as that asshole was, he was the only family that I had left who cared. I wanted to kick his ass myself and not let Spencer do it because Spencer … Spencer might fucking kill him. And if Oliver died in my ex-boyfriend’s hands …

I would never forgive myself. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

Every single officer left the scene. Like nothing had happened. Like my brother wasn’t missing. Like my psycho ex wasn’t taunting me and threatening to kill my brother.

When the last one drove away, Alec released his grip on me. I dropped to the grass in the middle of the football field and slammed my fist against the ground over and over until my skin split open and my knuckles began bleeding.

“Maddie, stop it,” Alec said, sitting behind me and pulling me into his lap.

“They don’t care,” I sobbed. “Oliver is going to die.”

“He won’t die.”

“That’s a lie,” I said, snotting everywhere and curling into his lap. “And you know it.”

“Maddie!” someone shouted behind us.

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