Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“How you been, girl?” he asked. “I missed you.”
I still hadn’t gotten used to my brother being back.
Every single time I found myself in his arms, it was like a dream come true all over again.
This time was no different.
I held on a little longer than I thought he might have wanted, but like always, he didn’t complain.
“Great,” I told him honestly. “I had a lot of fun. Though I’m dying for a hamburger.”
He chuckled lightly, but that chuckle was cut off when I heard Big Papa’s reply to Tobias’ question.
“We’ve had some bad shit go down while you were gone,” he wasted no time vocalizing. “And all of it centers around you.”
“For what?” I barked before even Tobias could react. “He’s done nothing wrong! Not to mention he hasn’t been here in a week!”
“You’ve been suspended. You’ve also been put under investigation,” Big Papa continued, glancing at me like I’d never said a word. “I tried to get Mickey to give me more info, but since I’m a member of The Dixie Wardens, and obviously biased, he’s given me limited information. In fact, I have little more than what the fuckin’ papers have.”
Tobias lifted his hand, and using his thumb and pointer finger, rubbed his eyes tiredly.
“What’d they say I did?”
I’d love to know the answer to that, too.
I was getting all worked up on Tobias’ behalf.
“Be easier to show you.”
That came from my brother who’d never left my side.
I looked over to find him pulling out his phone and typing something into it with one large thumb before he handed it over.
“Here,” he said.
Tobias took the phone and held it in a way so that I could see it, too.
“And, of course, they don’t see the whole video,” someone rumbled from across the room.
I didn’t understand what they meant.
Then again, my eyes were glued to the screen, so it was hard to comprehend much of anything but what I was seeing.
“Get out!” I clearly heard Tobias yell over the screen.
Then I watched in sickly horror as the screen played the entire two-minute video from start to finish.
“Did they release my dash cam?” Tobias’ eyes flicked up to Big Papa once the video was over.
Big Papa shook his head, unaffected, while I suddenly found it hard to breathe.
“Apparently, there was a malfunction.”
“Of course there was,” he swore. “What about my body cam?”
Big Papa was already shaking his head.
“Negative,” he answered. “Same thing. Mysteriously not working.”
“There were about fifteen people there that night,” Tobias grunted. “One of them is going to have the full story.”
“That’s the thing,” Aaron grunted. “There’s no one. All the named parties in your report have been contacted, and none of them corroborates your story.”
“Now’s probably the time to mention that Mr. and Mrs. Shaw have been this kid’s biggest freakin’ advocate, too,” the man who I’d only seen at a distance, Finley, grumbled. “It’s like the kid’s their fuckin’ child, reincarnated. They’re doing everything but putting ‘em up in their fancy smancy house.”
Tobias threw his head back and groaned in derision. “Of fucking course they are,” he grumbled. “Where there’s a stink, there they are, right in the thick of it. Why the fuck can’t they just fuckin’ leave already like they’d threatened to do so many times?” He leaned his head back down and stared straight at Big Papa. “They probably paid off every single person who was there that night. Either forced them to delete whatever video, pictures or recordings they had, or they got them to willing volunteer by offering up a large sum of money. What did Mickey say when he heard this?”
“Nothing,” Big Papa answered grimly. “He heard that they were involved, and he’s made no move to reconsider the facts. Or, at least, that’s what he appears to be doing. From our vantage point, anyway. He may be firmly on your side in this, we just haven’t received any evidence of that fact yet.”
Suddenly, I found my gaze solidly resting on Tobias’.
“I think it’s time for you to leave.”
I was already shaking my head before he’d explained why.
“No.”
He smiled tiredly. “You don’t get a choice in this, darlin’,” he informed me. “The people in question are the Shaws, the boy I was telling you about this week, the one that assaulted my sister; they were his parents. They’re rich, and they’ll do anything they can to ruin my life. I should’ve remembered that before even befriending you. They’ve ruined everything that they could. Followed me here from fuckin’ Texas just to make my life miserable. Trust me, they won’t hesitate in doing the same to yours if they know that you’re with me.”
My chin rose even higher. “Well, they can just do their worst.”
Tobias started to laugh but it wasn’t with humor.
No, the laugh rang of something that sounded similar to defeat.