Braden gets up. “Why? What happened?”
“Two cop cars are in his driveway.” He smiles. “Guess they got their killer.”
“You don’t know if he’s being arrested,” Braden says.
“They could just be there to interview him,” Brock says. He turns to Braden. “Keep your distance from him. You don’t want to give him anything he could use against you.”
“Like what?” Braden glances at me. “I didn’t do anything.”
Why was he looking at me when he said that? Does he think I assume he’s guilty?
Brock gets up from the couch. “It doesn’t matter. You are not to talk to him.”
“I already did,” Braden mutters.
Brock races up to him. “Youwhat?”
Braden looks up at his dad. “I panicked. The investigator called and said he wanted to talk to me, and I didn’t know what to do.”
“So you asked Novak?” Brock yells, his face getting red. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t. I was out all night. I hadn’t slept. My knee was fucking killing me. And you wouldn’t answer your damn phone!”
He grips Braden’s shoulders. “What did you say to him? Word for word. I need to know.”
“I just told him I got a call from the investigator and told him he’d probably be getting one too. Then I asked him what I should do. “
“Why would you askhimof all people?”
“Because he knows shit. He knows what to do. He doesn’t have parents taking over and dealing with it. He deals with it himself.”
“And? What did he say?”
“He told me to call you and if I couldn’t reach you to call the lawyer I worked with before.”
Brock lets go of Braden. “That’s it? That’s all that was said?”
“Yeah. Then I left.”
“I’ll be in my office.” Brock storms off.
Trystan plops down on the couch. “What’d the lawyer say?”
“Not much,” Braden says. “He said we need to wait and see what the evidence is and go from there. The cops haven’t charged me with anything so there’s not really anything to do but wait.”
“The whole thing might be over if Jackson’s being arrested.”
I need to find out if that’s really happening.
“I’m going to my room,” I say, hurrying off.
After shutting the door and locking it, I text Jackson.
What’s going on? Are you okay?
Minutes slowly tick by as I wait for a response.
My phone finally dings.
