Page 86 of Sunshine
“If he won’t leave, we are.” I tug my best friend toward the front door.
“Tess didn’t even know I flew in.” Paige’s words come out in a rush as she tumbles along after me. “I surprised her. Ask Case.” She stops in her tracks, forcing me to stop too. “And murder is a far cry from some silly pranks. We’re the shenanigan sisters, not a murder duo, buddy.”
Mack’s brows raise. “Buddy?” His mouth hooks up on one side. “I am not your buddy, or your pal…” He gets close to her. “But if I were your Daddy, I’d put you across my knee right now for lying.”
Paige’s face is flushed when I turn around. Narrowing my eyes on the big man, I curse. “Are you insane? Jesus. Or do you miss the power of MC life so much you’ll bully my friend to get off?”
His eyes flick to mine, and cool instantly, but I don’t let him speak.
“First you accuse Paige of something heinous and then you treat her like a naughty little girl. She’s not capable of any of this and accusing her is deplorable.” I know there’s something loaded in that statement. The unsaid implication that accusingmeis far less of an offense spins in my head. I look to the floor. It seems everyone thinking I’m capable of something so horrendous isn’t the biggest problem. It’s that I think it’s reasonable that they do.
“How dare you fuck upmybest friend’s life.” Mack snarls at me.
“Check my airline ticket.” Paige reaches into the pocket and produces her phone. “If this whole thing hinges on me being involved, check my damn ticket.” She shoves the phone at Mack.
“Paige, forget it. We’re leaving.”
Mack shoots me an annoyed look and then he focuses back on Paige, the hard edge of annoyance falling away. “Show me.”
Paige taps on her phone, swipes a few times and gives it to Mack. When he hands her back the phone, I sigh, part in annoyance, part in defeat.
“See? I drove straight here from the airport which took fifty minutes. I literally dropped my bags at the door and walked through the house looking for Tess. When I didn’t find her, Iimmediately went out back. That’s where I found the three of them.”
“Thanks, Paige.” He gives me the side-eye. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
I roll my eyes, and Mack sits his ass on the arm of my grandmother’s floral couch.
“Tell me, honey, why’d you come here?” Mack’s voice is soft and reasonable now.
Paige plops down beside him.
“God, stop answering him,” I urge, but Paige shakes her head at me.
“It’s fine.” Looking at Mack, she says, “To celebrate Tess finishing the final book for her publisher.” She crosses her arms and shoots me a hard look. “And to tell her she’s an idiot for not wanting to publish the other book she wrote.”
Paige’s mouth lifts into a soft smile. “It’s good, Tess. Damn good. Your best book actually.”
“Mack, mad as you are at me, even if there’s a tiny possibility in your mind that I didn’t do this, then the real culprit is out there. And Reece is on her own. You two have enemies, and I’m not one of them.”
Mack’s head snaps to the door and he rises as if he just remembered he’d let Reece leave alone. He turns back to me, his eyes narrowed. “We’re not done. And if you want to make up for all the shitty things you’ve done, call that judge that’s got him by the balls. Go tell her that whatever you two got caught doing was consensual. It’s the fucking least you can do.”
I roll my eyes. “Sure. Whatever. Come back and interrogate me again any time. Just go take care of Reece. She shouldn’t be anywhere alone.”
“Judge Ellen Hortense,” he barks. “It’s the only way he’ll get custody.”
When the door slaps shut, Paige rises to her feet. “Let’s pack you a bag. You can stay with me in my room at parents’.”
I nod, suddenly too exhausted to argue. Maybe I should be fighting, driving to the police station to fix this, talking things out with Case, but I don’t have the energy.
But when I do, I’ll find that judge and do whatever I can to help Case get his daughter. Mack is right, it’s the least I can do.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Case
The kid, Jimmy Nobbes, now fourteen, sits slumped in the plastic chair. When I saw him last time on the courthouse steps, his hair was long, messy and in need of a wash. His face, too much like Slash’s, was pale and gaunt. Now, he had a good haircut, although it could still use a wash. He looked healthier, too—wore better clothes and shoes. I couldn’t remember much about the kid, other than his mother was Slash’s sister and she loved crack more than anything else in the world, but it seemed by the look of the kid, he’d been doing better.
I stepped out of the observation room, not wanting to hear the details of his confession, knowing it would likely give me nightmares. He’d already confessed he’d been watching me for a month, that he’d been trying to exact revenge for his uncle dying in prison. I hadn’t even known Slash had died.
