How long we sat there was beyond me. I’d been stuck in this place all afternoon and night. I was hungry, tired, and bored. It was all just blending together at this point.
“All right then,” he repeated and got to his feet. I waited patiently as he unhooked my handcuffs from the table. “Let’s go, son.”
Staying silent, he led me out into the hallway. We made it as far as the elevator hallway before he stopped.
“Ah, shit,” the detective muttered. He patted down his pockets before turning to a uniformed officer standing nearby. “I forgot my notebook. Will you stand with him for a minute?”
“Yeah.” The officer nodded and stood next to me like I needed some kind of babysitter.Yeah, yeah, police station and all that shit.The man looked about as thrilled with the decision as I was, but we both remained where we were stuck waiting.
I fidgeted with my fingers, restless and pent up. It wasn’t the handcuffs or the small building full of police. The air was too still—stagnant and gross. It made my skin crawl.And that was why I couldn’t go to prison.
Down the hall, Sam stepped up to the elevator. I frowned.He wasn’t in handcuffs.Why wasn’t he in handcuffs too? Hell, why was he alone? Something uncomfortable clawed its way into my chest.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he stared up at the elevator light. His gaze traveled along the ceiling while he bounced on his feet. When he saw me, he froze, and my chest constricted. He looked like shit—his blue eyes brighter as a result of the redness from being strung out and his chestnut hair a mess.
He hadn’t told them I did this… had he?
My gaze held his as I silently pleaded with him to say something—anything. He had to know what would happen if he didn’t. His jaw ticked, lips pressing together tightly.
My mind reeled with the possibility of what it meant.Why would he do this to me?We were two misfits. A drug addict and a thief. We didn’t fit in anywhere, but it didn’t matter. I loved him, and he loved me. We had each other, and that was more than enough. What else did we need?
At least, it was supposed to be.
Two men stepped up behind him. The first was some guy in a suit—probably another detective—but I recognized the other as Sam’s older brother, Cole. His brother had raised Sam and had been a royal pain in our asses along the way. Cole was tough. I couldn’t blame him too much, considering he’d had sole custody of Sam for years. A whole bunch of legal shit and all that. I didn’t really understand the details.
But I did know that if Cole was involved, this wasn’t good.For me.
“Just give me a call if you think of anything else I need to know,” the detective said to Cole, giving him a business card. To Sam, he added, “Get yourself help, kid. I’ll be in touch.”
The minute they were alone, Cole’s hand dropped on Sam’s shoulder hard enough to make even me flinch.
“In,” Cole ordered.
“Fuck off,” Sam snapped.
“Get your ass in the elevator or so help me, Sam, I’ll knock your ass out and drag you to rehab that way,” he growled, his voice so low I had to lean into my hunter senses to catch the words.Rehab?Cole was taking Sam to rehab, which meant I was left here. In handcuffs. “Your choice, boy.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me,” Cole shot back. The elevator dinged open, and Cole damn near pushed Sam inside.
And just like that, Sam was gone, leaving me to take the fall for the shit he’d done.
“Seems unfair, don’t you think?” My very own detective popped back up by my side.Well played, dick.Of course, he’d manipulated this whole shitshow. “He gets to go home with his brother while you stay here with me. You sure you don’t want to change your story? No new information you want to share with me?”
I stared at the closed elevator doors, willing them to open up again. Like Sam would come strutting back in and admit to the whole thing. My heart wanted that anyway, but my head knew better.
No one was coming to rescue me.
No one gave a fuck about me.
Not really.
I was on my own.
“You think I can get one of those fancy state lawyer people at my trial?” I asked, giving the detective my best grin. “Or is this one of those stand up there and defend myself sort of things? I ain’t finished high school yet, Sir. I reckon it’d be real fuckin’ dumb to let a kid like me do all sorts of talkin’ in front of a judge and all them people.”
The detective sighed, annoyed by me, and I just smiled wider.
