I pace the bathroom, my anger needing to go somewhere. But I’m caged, blocked in from every angle. No wonder Layton was so smug. He must know I can’t go to James, otherwise he would have already been shut down. He’s obviously done his research, if him knowing I can represent Kira is any indicator. All he needs is one hair fiber, one skin cell, and he can bury her. There’s no way there isn’t a fleck of dried blood in the bed of that piece of shit truck.
Why did no one tell me? Why did they let me take it to Marley’s? If I wasn’t so fucking distracted with Kira, with trying to make her happy, it would have burned right next to the house. But I saved it. For her. The one nice thing I tried to do, and it’s going to be the thing to rip her from me.
But I didn’t know.
Marshal died in Nix’s bedroom. They were at Horizon Bluff in Caleb’s car. How was I to deduce they first put him in the truck? But not knowing doesn’t save her. Ishouldhave known. From the beginning, this has been nothing like my usual jobs. I never leave a stone unturned. Because of my preoccupation with Kira, I should have gone above and beyond. I should have fucking grilled them all more. But that’s not usually my job, is it? James normally gives me all the information I need, his cold and cruel appraisal with the clients something I don’t have to bother myself with.
Fuck.
All I’ve done is promise Kira, again and again, that I’ll handle everything, but I’ve let her down.
“There must be something we can do…” Caleb says.
“Likewhat?” My tone is sharper than intended. “They already have the truck. The time to get rid of it has passed. Layton has a fucking hard-on for us, for whatever reason—the fucking boy scout. And I can’t go to the captain without James’ finding out we’ve brought an investigation into his house. We’re lucky enough as it is that he wasn’t here for the parade of cops in his drive.”
“But—” Caleb starts.
“I don’t know!” I growl. “Let me think.”
Massaging my temple with one hand, I let my hand rest on the gun in my waistband. That comforter they wrapped Marshal in had blood all over it. And if they put that in the bed of the truck… Layton has all he needs. There will most likely be a trial, because there’s no way I’m letting Kira accept a plea deal. It wouldn’t be anything less than twenty years anyway, since Marshal was a cop. She also wouldn’t get bail. Even if I somehow convinced a jury of reasonable doubt, she would be sitting in a cell for months.
And that can’t happen.
I can’t be away from Kira Noland for more than an hour without my skin crawling, and that’s even when I know she’s safe. If she’s in prison, she’ll be subjected to all sorts of vile things—from the other inmates, from the male guards. And they would definitely want a piece of her. They would have her on her knees, their filthy fucking—
I throw my fist into the bathroom mirror to stop the thought. The glass shatters, my knuckles splitting with hot blood.FUCK.
“Jax—” Caleb tries.
“DON’T.” I stab a finger at him, barely restrained, my world crumbling.
He doesn’t know what they do to you in prison. He hasn’t had the bandaid ripped off yet. My first year at Columbia, James had me fielding every complaint from represented inmates at the firm. I spent more time at Rikers than I did in class. The abuse some of them experienced… no amount of money could protect them. And James’ clientele isn’t exactly low on funds. They’re the richest of the rich, flush with dirty cash, but it still couldn’t help them in that hellhole.
“Just don’t.” I lower my hand, my anger melting into despair as droplets of blood hit the white marble.
I don’t know what to do, how to fix this. I’ve failed her. I want to drop to my knees and beg her to tell the truth, that it was Nix, just so I can keep her. But I know she would never let her sister go to prison. And she would likely still do time as an accomplice.
“Can we flee?” Nix looks up at me. “Like to Mexico or—”
“They likely already flagged her passport, if she has one,” I cut her off. “And I don’t know anyone that can get her a fake identity with a two-day turnaround that won’t alert James.”
“Two days?” Kira’s eyes are rimmed red and puffy. “Why two days?”
I grimace and hang my head. “That’s when you’ll be charged and arrested.”
There will be a rush on the DNA considering the circumstances of the case, and I don’t doubt that Layton will be bearing down on the forensics lab. She has two days max, three if whoever’s in charge doesn’t like Layton.
She makes a noise in the back of her throat, an attempt at swallowing a whimper, and my chest tightens. I want to tell her that we’ll figure it out, that I won’t allow it to come to that, anything to take her pain away. But I don’t make false promises.
And I don’t see a way out of this.
Chapter Fifty
Kira
The sun’s been down for hours, but my mind won’t follow it into darkness. I have my arms wrapped around Nix, big spoon style, as Caleb and Jax bicker near the fireplace. Their voices are a comfort against my thoughts—one of which is that this will be the last few times I can hold my sister.
The pain of such a notion brings a fresh set of tears to pool in my already raw eyes. I try to convince myself that she will be okay. She’ll go to college, and all her room and board will be covered with financial aid. At least I did it. I got her this far. I’m not leaving her to be taken into the system.
