Carter stepped close to Jase, but he shoved him off like an animal and stalked back and forth in front of the bars that separated me from freedom.
"You can't leave me in prison," I said.
"This isn't prison; it's a holding cell. You watch too many movies," he snapped.
"I'm in here with prostitutes and strung out crack whores," I hissed, eyeing the three passed out women in the cage with me.
"Yep. Make yourself at home." He looked past me into the cell and smiled, "I'm sure you'll fit right in."
More chaos erupted when a huge guy stormed into the holding cell area and started screaming at Jase. "Do you want to lose your shield? Do you? Walk it off, Detective. Is she worth your pension? You can't just throw people into holding cells without..." his voice splintered off as he dragged Jase down the hallway into another closed off area.
Carter opened the cell and gestured for me to come out.
Hesitantly, I walked toward him.
Brooke, a girl who came into the tat parlor every once in a while, was behind him.Why was she here?And Carter?I've seen him inside Bren's apartment at his parties. What the hell was going on here?
I was given a hot cup of coffee and asked to sit in one of the interview rooms. It was definitely different than anything I'd ever seen on television or read about in one of my books. It was depressing. Long drawn out faces, little patience, and exhausted, haunted eyes were everywhere I looked.
After waiting alone for an hour, Jase and Carter walked in and sat opposite me at the metal table.
Both men had legal pads and pens in their hands.
I shivered. Truth was, I hadn't stopped shivering since I saw him.
"Miss Stone. What's your relationship with Brendan Laux?"
My eyes never looked up at either of them. I focused on the cup of ice-cold, stale coffee, and answered. "Hewasmy boyfriend."
"Was?" Jase asked, angrily.
"Yes," I said quietly. "I broke up with him a few days ago."
"Oh, shit," Carter hissed, which made my eyes snap up—just as one of the metal chairs smashed into the wall.
"You were mine.Mine. Why the fuck are you with him?" Jase screamed.
"His mother took me in. I had no one," I yelled back.
"You had me," he said.
"No I didn't, I had no one," I whispered, shaking my head.
"I went back for you and you were gone," he said, standing over me.
"I stayed as long as I could for you, and you never came back. Auburn took me in, taught me everything, and even put me through school. She made me promise I would take care of Bren."
Carter pulled him away and threw him into one of the chairs, almost toppling it over. "I need the name of his supplier," Carter said.
"His supplier for what?Iget all the inks andIbuy all the sanitizing supplies for the store. He does nothing! We get inspected all the time. I do everything by the book there, Detective. Everything." I balled my hands into fists and pounded on the table. "All the permits are in my name from the New York State Department of Health under the statutory authority of the Public Health Law Article four-fucking-A! My supplier, for all my equipment, is PermaInk Suppliers, right in Jersey City!"
Jase launched forward and both his hands slammed down on the table in front of me, "I'm talking about the pharmaceuticals that your boyfriend has been selling me for months!"
"One, he's not my boyfriend anymore. Two, seems like you have the drug problem, not me," I yelled back.
The large black coffee that was given to me when I first came in was thrown and splashed across the wall.
The woman, Brooke, ran into the room and tried to calm Jase down.
