Page 17 of Never Trust the Living (Battle Crows MC 7)

She went to one corner, and I went to the other, but both of us were bathed in the shadows of the shitty courtroom.

There we sat for hours while the jury deliberated after closing statements were given.

Hours that felt like long days and even longer nights.

And, when the jury finally came out and resumed their seats, and the one stood up to speak, I didn’t have to be a genius to know what he was about to say.

“We find the defendant not guilty by reason of insanity,” the juror said strongly.

It wasn’t the words that the juror said, though, that had my skin crawling. It was the way that Amon looked at Dorcas so triumphantly that did it. Anger and disgust dueled through my veins, and I wanted nothing more than to pull out a gun and shoot him straight through his smug face.

But, surprisingly, it was Dorcas that stood up and turned, catching my eye.

I knew she wanted me to follow, so I did, which saved me from doing something completely stupid.

I heard the judge talking about facilities and lengths of time, but I didn’t stay to hear it all.

I followed Dorcas out until we were standing in the afternoon sun.

“He won’t stay in there forever,” she said stiffly.

“I know,” I said.

And I did.

“He’ll find a way out, and I’ll just have to deal with this nightmare all over again.” She looked to something behind my back, and I turned to see what she saw.

It was just a man leaning against his car, smoking.

But the way Dorcas was looking at him…

“Dorcas…” I said.

“Don’t call me that,” she whispered pleadingly. “Don’t ever call me that.”

My brows rose. “What would you like me to call you then?”

She never once looked away from the man across the street when she said, “I don’t care. Piece of shit, trailer trash, ugly bitch. Anything but Dorcas.”

Then she turned to leave, and when she looked back, it was definitely not at me.

But at that man again.

I waited until she was in her car, and about to leave before I turned back and found the man that she’d been staring at.

He was still staring at her. And since my ride wasn’t here…

I thought… why not?

I walked across the parking lot to him, and the bad thing was, he was so focused on her leaving that he didn’t notice me coming until I was right on top of him.

He startled, looked at me, and blinked.

“Why are you staring at her like that?” I asked.

The man opened and closed his mouth, looking scared.

“Um…”

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