Page 77 of When It Rains He Pours

Chapter Twenty

Liam

“Come on, let's go.”The guard stood outside my cell, his face straight as an arrow.

Pushing up on the thin mattress, I swung my legs off the bed and placed them on the floor. “What's going on?”

“You need to come with me.” Stuffing the key into the lock, I heard the metal click. Sliding the bars open, he turned sideways and nodded his head. “Any time would be good.”

Standing up, I timidly walked towards the door. “What's going on? Am I going to see a judge or something? Did my case get moved up the list?”

“Something like that,” the guard said, shrugging his shoulder.

Curling his hand around my forearm, he led me towards the main lobby.

I was being held without bail, awaiting a court date that hadn't been set yet. No one wanted to hear a fucking word I had to say. And believe me I tried. I tried until I was blue in the face. It did nothing. No one wanted to listen, they just glared at me like I was lying through my teeth.

My lawyer advised me to shut up, he told me not to say another word until he had gathered enough information that worked in my favor.

As far as the police were concerned; I was a flight risk, I was an arsonist, I was a vandal and violent. And I had nothing to prove otherwise.

My brother had royally fucked me.

The fight we got into only gave way to him being able to press charges against me for assault. Next thing I knew I was being tossed behind bars, facing an up hill battle I wasn't sure I'd win.

He had planned it all, every last detail. Somehow, someway, he was able to link me to every little thing he did, either with a story or some form of proof that the detective saw as viable.

“How come I'm not cuffed? Aren't you suppose to cuff me before letting me out of my cell?”

“I don't cuff innocent men.” His voice was soft as the corner of his lip twitched into a slight grin.

“What did you just say?”

Stopping at a small window, he grabbed a clear bag from the ledge and slapped it against my chest. “You can go change.”

“I'm confused, I don't understand what's going on here. What is happening right now?”

“Mr. Barnes,” Detective Glenn said, coming up behind me and resting a hand on my shoulder. “I owe you an apology. We know the truth, we know everything about what happened, and I'm so sorry for not listening to you in the first place.”

I didn't know what to say.

At first I was angry, enraged by the fact that they just took what Jacob had hand delivered without giving me a platform to speak for myself.

But I didn't feel that right then. I was still confused, taken by the drastic shift in events.

Gripping the tops of my shoulders, the detective shook me lightly. “Relax, this isn't a trick. You can go get changed and walk right out those doors.”

“You're serious?”

“Absolutely.”

“What happened? How did this happen?”

Smirking, Detective Glenn rocked back and forth on his heels. “Well, we found the real bad guy. Jacob might have been able to pull the wool over our eyes for a short time, but he couldn't do it forever.”

“Is he. . .” Pausing, my eyes darted between his.

“He is, we grabbed him earlier this afternoon.”

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