Page 41 of Always Red (Chasing Red 2)

I didn’t need this right now.

“I have the right to refuse,” I said.

“You do,” Popeye replied, smirking. “Sounds like you have something to hide.”

I took a deep breath. “Go ahead and search then,” I told him as I slid out of the car.

It took a while, but Levi managed to get out of the car. They asked us to step away from the vehicle and wait a few minutes. Levi slumped on the ground. I had a heavy feeling in my stomach as I watched them search my car.

I knew the moment they found something. And I knew in the pit of my stomach that it was bad.

It was really bad.

Officer Popeye walked up to me. “Want to explain what this is?”

He dangled a small bag filled with white powder in front of me.

Fuck.

Chapter Fourteen

Veronica

A few minutes after Cameron phoned Kara, he arrived to pick us up. I was thankful. We asked him what happened, but all he would say was that Caleb was unhurt, safe, and would explain everything later.

Kara hounded him nonstop for more information, but he wouldn’t budge. He never gave in to her insults. In fact, he was smiling. I would have appreciated and paid more attention to their banter if I hadn’t been worried to death about what could have happened to Caleb.

I wrung my hands during the trip to the station. Kara noticed and tried to lighten the mood.

“By the way,” she chirped, “Caleb might take you to an exotic restaurant and feed you fried alfalfa sprouts.”

“What?” I asked, distracted.

“I gave him false information this morning when he asked me to spill the dirt on you. Just pretend everything I told him was legit until he gives me my payment, okay?”

I nodded absently and heard Cameron’s quiet laugh.

“Was it a Stella McCourtney gift card?” he muttered, chuckling.

“Stella McCartney. You never get anything right, do you?” Kara glared, crossing her arms and turning to look out the window.

“I did one thing right,” he replied after a moment, his voice solemn. I saw him glance at Kara longer than necessary.

I blocked their conversation after that. It took forever, but we finally arrived at the station. Stomach rolling, I went inside with Kara and Cameron. Her hand squeezed mine as we saw the police officer standing behind a messy desk.

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait in the car? I can bail him out by myself,” Cameron offered.

Kara shot him a glare. “Are you saying that because we’re girls, we can’t handle something like this? That we’re weak?”

I heard Cameron sigh. “Not at all. Come if you want.”

“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”

“Careful, Sunshine. Your words could draw blood,” Cameron warned.

“Then I hope you bleed to death.”

Cameron fell silent. I gave him an apologetic look.

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