“She’s Delta,” Beck said over the top of me.
Both officers eyed me with new interest. “Why are you arresting him?” I said quickly. “You can’t have any evidence.”
“How about the threats he made toward the victim earlier in the night?” the young officer said. “Or the fact that he was found with multiple blades illegally concealed on him.”
“Were any of them the murder weapon?” I asked, almost terrified of the answer.
The officers exchanged a look, and I figured they weren’t going to tell me anything more, until Beck cleared his throat. They met his gaze again, and then immediately answered. “No. None of them match the blade marks, but we only have preliminary forensics. For now, Dante will need to answer some more questions down at the station.”
It took everything inside of me not to reach out and try and yank my friend out of their hands. “I didn’t do it, Riley,” he said, his eyes boring into mine. He was imploring me to believe him, and in this regard, I pretty much did.
“I know,” I said quickly. “We’ll get lawyers for you. Don’t say anything until they show up.”
Dante nodded. The officers started to lead him away again, and I would have faltered if Beck hadn’t kept me upright. Dante looked back. “I’m so sorry, Riley. So fucking sorry.”
I didn’t know what he was apologizing for exactly, but it was destroying me nonetheless.
“Dante,” I called, crumpling forward.
He was almost at the closest police car then, and I could only just see him when he shouted. “Stay away from Catherine. Don’t trust a thing she says—”
Anything else was muffled as he was pushed down into the back of the car.
I broke apart then, and it was only Beck’s arms around me that kept me standing. He held me while I sobbed against his shirt.
“Dante works for Catherine, doesn’t he?” I said, choking on the words.
Beck didn’t speak. “How long?” I said, pulling back, my hands twisted in his shirt front. “How long has he been working for her? From the start?”
Beck hesitated. “It would make sense. She probably never wanted to lose touch with you, just in case. Dante was the perfect mole. Who would have expected a kid to be a double agent?”
All a lie.Every fucking moment with Dante from the first time he “found me” in his neighborhood had been a lie.
But … could it all be a lie? He’d expressed real emotions to me more than once; demonstrated his caring. He loved me in his own way, I was sure of that.
He’d have to be a damn good actor if it wasalla lie.
And maybe he was. Maybe it was naive of me to think that this was anything other than a careful ruse orchestrated by my fucking bitch of a birth mother.
Another way for her to control my life. To control me.
I was still holding onto Beck, staring up at him, tears filling my eyes. I wasn’t really seeing him though, stuck in my own head, as I tried to comprehend it all.
“What’s wrong with Riley?” Dylan asked from nearby.
Beck didn’t answer him, his dark gaze still on me, murder in his eyes.
“Riley,” Dylan said, closer to my face. “Snap out of it for a minute, because if you don’t, Beck is going to go postal and start hurting people.”
I swallowed hard, trying to stop the rapid in and out breathing I was doing—sounding like a dog panting. I couldn’t seem to get myself under control.
“Dante,” I choked out. “He’s been Catherine’s mole the entire time. All the fucking time. My entire fucking life. It’s all been a lie.”
How much more could Catherine take from me? How much more could she extract before there was nothing left inside?
Beck made a low rumbling sound, his chest and arms shaking, and I somehow managed to calm my own freak out, so I could wrap my arms around him. “It’s okay, Sebastian,” I said, using his name in an attempt to snap him out of it. “I’m okay. We’ll figure this out.”
His hold was rough, almost painful as he yanked me into his body. “It’s going to be okay, Butterfly,” he said close to my ear. “I promise you, Catherine will pay.”
