She smirks. “I don’t have time for bullshit.”
“Well, neither do I,” I say bravely. Her partner next to her regards me with impressed eyes, hers however, manage to narrow further. “So you either get to the point or leave me the hell alone.”
Tilting her head to the side her eyes assess me in a new light. If she wants answers about Oak I’m not going to give them to her. I’ll never do anything to put his life or his brother’s lives in jeopardy. I’m no snitch.
“Do you really know the man you’re romantically involved with?”
Her question is supposed to make me doubtful and falter, yet it has the opposite reaction.
“I do,” I answer confidently.
“You sure about that? Because I wouldn’t want my little brother around a known killer.”
The mention of my brother has me ready to erupt. “You leave Connor out of this,” I spit.
Her eyes flash with victory and I realize I’ve made a grave mistake.
“He’s still under custody of your mother, am I correct?” The question is rhetorical, her face smug. What a fucking bitch. “You keep men like that in your life you’ll never gain custody of him.” The fact that she sounds exactly like Steven infuriates me.
They know nothing of Oak’s character.
They don’t know the pure heart of gold that he has and his undying loyalty.
They don’t know that he’s a man worth the entire world.
Through clenched teeth I ask her, “What exactly are you getting at?”
“We need a confession, Ms. Vale. A solid coherent confession from Ethan Barrington that he killed Chris Townsend.”
And I know in my heart that Oak had very good fucking reason to kill that man.
I’m a woman who believes in forgiveness, this is true, but I also believe that some acts are unforgivable.
I already know the answer but I need to actually hear it to believe it’s true. “And what does that have to do with me?”
She glances over at her partner and gives a subtle nod of her head.
He then takes over. “If you get him to confess we can help you gain custody of Connor.”
There it is.
“I don’t see how you can help with that matter. Connor has a social worker. And even then, you’re not a judge and you’re both not lawyers.”
“We both know the social worker on Connor’s case should have either reported your mother unfit or have presented a case to the judge to give you custody.” My breath lodges in my throat because what he’s saying isn’t untrue. It’s the fear I have every visit that Steven will take Connor away from me because of mom. It’s the battle I keep fighting because I can’t be separated from Connor. Not ever. “We can assign you a social worker of our own and rectify the situation.”
Rectify the situation.
Although the phrase might seem innocent to him it has my eyes seeing red.
“Connor is not a situation,” I reply in a deathly low voice.
He holds his hands up in a sign of surrender as a guilty expression fleets across his face. “My apologies, I didn’t-”
“I don’t care what you meant,” I tell him, my voice harsh. I then look back over at Agent Astrid who has decided to play bad cop to her partners good. “You can’t intimidate me.”
“We aren’t intimidating you, Gracie Mae.” Her voice is condescending, and it feels like a bitch slap to the face.
I roll my eyes. “Then what would you call it?”
