Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 94546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
I shake my head at him, silently pleading for him to return to Jess’s apartment or, at the very least, wait until he has a lawyer present before handing himself over, but my pleas come too late. The officer has noticed his approach, and with his hands and face still bloody, he draws his gun and demands for Jack to lay on the ground face-first and intertwine his fingers together.
“Retain your right of silence,” I suggest to Jack when he is handcuffed and read his rights, ignoring how eerily similar my father’s voice sounded when my grandfather was arrested partway through a sermon.
No one would believe he was guilty, not even when a member of their own blood came forward as a witness for the prosecution.
Time moves at a snail’s pace when medics and a handful more officers flood the hallway outside my apartment. Jack is carted away by two plain-clothes officers a second after Caleb and Jess join me by a still motionless Silas.
After throwing his arm around my shoulders like my shakes are because I’m cold, Caleb asks, “Do you know where they’re taking him?”
I shake my head, my shock too high for words.
“It will probably be the southwest precinct,” Jess replies on my behalf. “It is the closest.” Caleb locks his eyes with Jess. He doesn’t speak, but Jess has no trouble understanding his request. “I’ll meet you out front in five.”
With a smile bigger than the sun, he tosses her a set of keys before spinning me around and directing me to my room.
“Where are we going?” I ask when he commences yanking down pants and a shirt from my closet before snagging a pair of panties from my bedside table.
Caleb tosses my clothes onto my bed before turning away so I can get dressed in private. “If you want to help Jack, you need to tell them what Silas did and said.”
While tossing on sweatpants sans underwear, I say, “I can’t do that. Jack doesn’t want it disclosed.”
“Not what he said about the past.” His voice exposes he heard Jack’s shouted words today. “What he said now. How he’s stalking him and shit.” He quickly glances my way to make sure I’m covered before he turns around and says, “This isn’t the first time Silas has broken the restraining order. He’s had multiple infractions.” His voice softens a little along with the unease on his face. “This is the first time Jack has reacted, though.”
“Jack has a restraining order against Silas?”
Although I will happily go without underwear, my breasts are too heavy to consider not wearing a bra, so I move to the drawer to switch out my panties for a bra while Caleb nods.
After clipping my bra together underneath my oversized shirt, I twist the clasp around to the back, then shimmy it up my chest. “How do you know all of this?”
“It is part of my job. Silas is trouble. He wants to make Jack’s life a living hell.” He hands me a pair of shoes from my closet while disclosing, “That’s why I was assigned to be Keira’s date at the gala. Jack didn’t trust that Silas wouldn’t turn up. I was to watch Keira, and Fitz was assigned to Marissa.” His eyes are neither humored nor angry when he mumbles, “No one anticipated for you to throw a wobbly.” When I shoot him an angry glare, he cocks his head and smiles. “But the good thing about you being a stubborn witch is that it exposed Silas was already aware of your influence in Jack’s life.” His smile sags when he confesses, “I also think he might have been who stole the files from my bedroom.”
“What! Someone took our files?” His head barely bobs an inch when I slap him across the chest. “You were meant to destroy them!”
“He took them before I could.”
“Goddammit, Caleb. If that gets out… if the world learns what Jack went through, he will never forgive me.” That shouldn’t be my first concern. Getting Jack off manslaughter charges should be my first worry, but for some reason, the prospect of him never speaking to me again seems more urgent. “Did you tell anyone that it was taken? Does Fitz know?” My chest sinks lower and lower when he shakes his head to each of my questions. “We need to fix this.”
“That’s why I’m taking you to the police station.” When I peer at him, lost as hell, he adds, “I can’t say anything. Jack’s NDAs are tighter than a nun’s cu—” My narrowed glare has him swallowing the remainder of his reply before he says, “Fitz and I can’t say anything…” He demands the attention of my wandering eyes before adding, “But you can.”
I wish what he was saying was true, but it isn’t. “I signed an NDA too. To the world, I am simply Jack’s employee.” Probably even less than that now to Jack.