“I’m looking for Makhai Matthews. He was brought in the night before last…”
“Yeah, we looked him up before I came out here and have no record of that name in our database.”
My brows dipped. “The rapper Loco,” I clarified. “He was picked up from my house by one of your officers.”
“Hm, I don’t know about that,” he replied nonchalantly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “If he was brought in here, both of us would have been able to look him up.”
My eyes narrowed into slants. They were trying to play me and play with Makhai.
“Where is Collin Arnold? That’s who brought him in and that’s who I want to speak to.”
“Yeah, well, Collin isn’t here right now, Miss Scott.” He smirked.
“How convenient,” I snapped.
“Well, I wouldn’t sayconvenientbecause it seems your loved one is missing, but that’s been happening a lot lately.” His smug ass had the nerve to try and look concerned. “But Loco’s name is attached to a lot of them, so maybe he was the one that wasn’t so lucky this time.”
“Ha! We both know that if anyone wasn’tso lucky, it was one of yours, definitely not Makhai,” I spat. It probably wasn’t the best thing to say considering they were trying to pin murders on him that he may have very well committed, but in that moment I didn’t care. “Collin’s bitch ass is probably in the hospital with his soft ass. That’s why he isn’t here, huh?”
The sergeants smug smile faded quickly. “I think it’s time for you to leave, Miss Scott.”
“I’ll gladly leavefor now, but you better believe I’ll be back with Makhai’s attorney. You can’t violate his rights the way you have.”
“Have a good day, Miss Scott.”
“Fuck you,” I seethed before quickly leaving.
As soon as I was out the door, the tears I’d fought to hold were flowing freely. There was no telling what they’d done with and to him, and I could have just made it worse, but I couldn’t help it. They were prideful bastards, mad that their officers had failed to do their jobs.
I went to a nearby bench where I took a seat and tried my best to get myself together and check on Keona. She was still fast asleep, so I wiped my tears and took a few deep breaths to calm myself down before calling Makhai’s mom.
“Hey, Diamond,” she answered.
“Hi, Mrs. Marge,” I sniffled.
“Are you crying? What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
“No,” I answered honestly, voice cracking. “It’s Makhai…”
“Makhai?!” she repeated. “What’s wrong with Makhai? James!” she called for her husband who I heard seconds later asking what was wrong. “I don’t know. This is Diamond. She’s crying saying something is wrong with Makhai.”
“Diamond, sweetie, what’s going on?” he asked.
“I-I don’t know,” I whimpered. “He got arrested two nights ago. I’m sorry I’m just now calling, but he asked me not to. They took him, but he’s not in the system and he hasn’t called me. Has he called you?” I stupidly asked.
If they’d talked to him, he wouldn’t still be in there, Diamond!
“No, he hasn’t called us either.”
“I don’t know who his lawyer is,” I admitted. “I looked some up in Crescent Falls, but I don’t even know where to begin. I also thought about calling one here, but if he has someone on retainer there already…”
“He does, I’m about to call him now, but where are you?”
“Sitting outside of ACPD,” I answered. “I can’t leave him up here. There’s no telling what they’ve done to him, and I know he’s here despite them telling me he’s not.”
“They said he’s not there?” Mrs. Marge asked.
I nodded as if she could see me. “Yes, but I know they took him. I know the officer that arrested him.”
