Page 88 of Sunshine
I rise, heading to the door. Jimmy lowers his face to the table, his sobs like blades to my heart. This wasn’t a bad kid. A screwed-up kid, yes, but not a bad one.
I step outside the small holding room and pull out my cell phone. I make three calls. And wait for one return call.
Opening the door to the holding room, I hold out a palm to the cop waiting there. “Key.”
I’ll be working here soon. This cop will be under my orders on the regular and it shows in the way he looks at me. There’s a respect in his expression that I hadn’t thought I deserved until right now.
Taking the key, I walk back to the kid and remove the cuff holding him to the table. I watch as he rubs away the bite. Sitting my hip on the table, I tower over the kid. I’m a big man and it’s clear he’s afraid.
Reaching out I put a hand on his shoulder.
“Listen, I’m not RCMP anymore, but I’m still a cop. In fact, this precinct is going to be home soon.” I look around as if I can see more than just three walls and a mirror. “I’ve got friends, Jimmy and they’ve agreed to help me help you.”
Jimmy’s brows crunch together, and he looks at me in confusion. It’s like a punch in the gut. Had no one ever offered this kid a helping hand before?
“How?”
“Well, first. I had a friend find out where your sister is. And had her promise she was going to arrange some visitation for you two. I also talked to the Crown Attorney about your mom’s case. And she’s going to investigate it a bit more, no promises there, but she’ll try. And finally, I’ve gotten you a good lawyer. I’ll talk to the Crown here too, but for now, I want you to know I’m going to try to get you help rather than punishment.”
“But why?”
“Because yeah, you did a piece of shit thing, but it doesn’t make you a piece of shit.”
He may as well have swallowed a bowling ball with the way his throat works at my words.
“I think you’re a good kid who was given a bullshit start in life. But this is it, kid. This is your one chance. Fuck this up and no one’s going to care where you end up. You’ve got four years to get your head on straight, work hard, and get your shit together, then you can get custody of that little girl you love so much. Can you do it? Can you be the best man for her?”
Again, he swallows what looks like a bowling ball of emotion. “I… can… try.”
“There’s no trying, Jimmy. There’s doing it, or not doing it. Nothing in between.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll become the kind of man my sister can depend on and trust to take care of her.” He rises to his feet, lunging into my arms like a child. “And I’ll tell her you’re the one that gave me the chance to become that man.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tess
“I think you better tell me everything before we go inside,” Paige says as we both sit in the car in her parents’ driveway.
“What?” I ask as I turn to face her, confused. My brain feels like it’s been flooded with murky liquid and thinking is as difficult as running under water. “Are you asking if I did it?” I swallow hard, praying her answer isn’t yes.
“No. God, no. I know you’d never do something like that.” She reaches out to take my hand which is lying limply on my lap.
“I’m asking what the hell happened between you and the biker.”
I tell her everything, from the hot few weeks of sexual bliss and budding relationship goals to the text that brought it all crumbling down on my head.
“He’s married with two kids?” Paige’s eyes are wide.
I shrug. “I don’t actually know because Mack implied he led me to believe something that wasn’t true.”
“Well, you have to find out.”
“That’s easier said than done. Since I’m the number one suspect in an arson case involving his house.”
“He loves you. He’ll believe you.”
“Firstly, no one loves anyone. It was sex. We had a fling to scratch a biological itch?—”
