Page 91 of Hold

Jake looked a little panicked at his mother’s tears, and his gaze went to Liam. “You came,” he said.

“You asked.”

“Yeah.” Jake was silent for a second, then he looked at his aunt and uncle. Thea moved away to sign the papers. “When did you get here?”

“Couple of minutes ago,” Kane said. “What happened, Jake? What was so bad you couldn’t call your mom?”

“It’s not that, it’s…” Jake looked at the police behind the counter. “Just… some sh—stuff was going down I didn’t like. Ethan Standish had the party, but before that, we…”

He looked at Liam for help. “You may as well get it all out now, bud,” Liam said. “Better now than later when someone else tells the story for you.”

Jake’s tone had kept the officers attentive, and now they both lasered in on Jake. “You want to make a statement, son?” Tyrone said in a kind voice.

Jake looked at Liam, then his mother. “Can I be with him?” Thea asked and was assured she could.

“And Liam?” Jake asked.

“One parent only.”

Liam’s stupid heart tugged for a second. But he had no time to indulge it. Thea and Jake had already disappeared into the room.

Chapter 26

The officer led Thea and Jake into an interrogation room—really not the most soothing of titles—and went to one side of the utilitarian metal table in the middle of the room. She and Jake sat on the other side. Jake was hunched in on himself, not looking at her or the police officer, just at his hands hanging between his knees.

Thea wanted to say so much, but didn’t know where to begin. She thought she knew why Jake had called Liam instead of her. Her last words to him had been ringing in her ears ever since the phone call from Liam.

“Sometimes, with the best will in the world, you can end up in situations you can’t control.”

“I won’t.”

“But you might.”

“I won’t, Mom.”

Yet it looked like he had. And since he couldn’t admit it to her, he’d gone to the next adult he knew he could trust. Her heart swelled with the knowledge that he trusted Liam more than any other man in his life. Even his own uncles. Because Liam had earned that trust.

The officer turned on the tape recorder fastened to the table and gave it his initial speech with the date and time. He asked Jake’s name and Thea’s.

“How old are you, Jacob?” he said next.

“Fifteen.”

“What is your address?”

Jake gave it.

“Okay, Jacob. What did you want to say?”

Jake hadn’t looked up from his hands. Thea didn’t speak, but she willed the strength into him.

“The swings. In the playpark,” he mumbled. “I cut them up.”

Thea closed her eyes. She’d known it. She’d ignored it. She hadn’t wanted to deal with it, so she’d just let the kids do without their swings. Swings she’d pushed her own boys on a million years ago.

“And I was there when Zach cut the fence at the baseball field. But I didn’t help.”

“Zach?” Tyrone asked.

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