Page 29 of The Moments You Were Mine
Confusion and alarm had won out as the detectives had railed at me until I’d finally croaked out that I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. Horror and dread had me asking for my dad. I needed someone who could fix this. Someone who could see the truth.
They’d refused to let Dad into the room, but he’d done something my frozen brain hadn’t thought to do. He’d gotten me a lawyer with a speed and ease only my father could finagle. Money talked, and sometimes, it was a good thing. In this case, I’d never been so grateful in my life to see a lawyer walk in and demand a moment with her client.
The tall, dark-haired, dark-skinned woman had introduced herself as Kenya Block and asked me softly if I was innocent or guilty. Then, she’d called the detectives back into the room to demand answers. What proof did they have that I’d been involved in any of this?
Instead of answering, they’d tossed the same questions at me over and over again.
For the most part, Kenya had let me answer. But occasionally, she halted them or me to clarify something I’d said so it couldn’t be used against me later.
I was sure my words had been jumbled and incoherent.
I shivered as the vent above me kicked out the same cold air it had been emitting for hours. I must have made a sound, because both detectives looked over at the same time. When they saw I was awake, they cut off their conversation and joined me.
“Where’s my lawyer?” I asked.
“You said you didn’t need one,” Detective Lake replied.
“I don’t. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“The box of cash and drugs we found in your hall linen closet say otherwise,” Detective Lake said dryly.
My mouth dropped open. They’d found drugs? In our apartment?
The dread I’d been feeling since I’d been shoved into the back of a police vehicle with my hands cuffed behind me returned in full force.
Tears threatened, but I held them back as best I could by biting my cheek. I picked at my nails, fighting the temptation to chew on them.
What the hell was going on?
“Don’t respond to that,” Kenya commanded, coming into the room with a folder tucked under the arm of her expensive black suit, two paper cups, and a sweatshirt thrown over her shoulder. She glared at the men as she set one of the cups in front of me and then handed me the sweatshirt.
My fingers trembled as I shoved my arms into my equestrian team hoodie, pulling it over the blue dress I’d been wearing when they’d arrested me. They’d arrested JJ too, reading us our rights on the landing outside our apartment like some bad, B-movie scene. I’d never been so humiliated in my life. Not even when I’d offered myself to Parker, and he’d rejected me one final time.
But the real alarm hadn’t kicked in until I’d been here, until Detective Lake had kept coming at me with his asshole attitude while his partner watched from the sidelines.
“We’ve been at this all night, gentlemen. My client has told you everything she can about working at clinic. She knows nothing about the drugs or cash.”
The two men exchanged a look. It sent another round of chills up my spine that had nothing to do with the cold air blowing on me.
“We told you the first person to talk was the one who’d get a deal,” Lake said, crossing his massive arms across his chest and leaning back with a smug smile. “JJ has had some interesting things to tell us.”
I turned to Kenya, and the seeds of fear that had taken root inmy stomach instantly grew into mammoth trees. But she just shook her head before searing the detective with another glare. “Nice try, Lake.”
Harris pushed a yellow notepad toward me. On it was writing I knew well—JJ’s slanted print in all caps. It was how he wrote everything, as if he’d never learned the lowercase letters. At some point, I’d been enchanted by it, thinking it was unique and classy.
The writing blurred in front of me momentarily before some of the words popped off the page, making my chest burn and tears flood.
“What the hell?” I hissed. “He’s saying they’re mine?”
All night, I’d insisted I didn’t know what had happened to the drugs and that neither JJ nor I would ever steal from Dr. Walters. The doctor was a true mentor and treated his interns and staff like family, opening his home and his offices to us for barbecues and holiday dinners.
“Jasper isn’t exactly saying you’re responsible,” Lake said dryly. “But he is saying you were the one with the key to the drug cabinet.”
A memory flashed—JJ’s irritated face after Dr. Walters had entrusted me with the keys to the entire office, including the drug cabinet. I hadn’t been careless with the keys, but I hadn’t kept them locked up in a safe either. They’d been buried in my backpack.
God. I’d been an idiot. Had JJ done this? I’d defended him, and he’d pointed the finger at me. Why? Was he this angry at me? He had a right to be, but— My stomach lurched uncomfortably, and goosebumps ran up my spine as Rae’s words from yesterday hit me.
“Ace.” I barely got the name out over the lump in my throat. “Ace Turner.”
