Chapter 6
Donovan
ThishadtobeLevi, Jaime’s son. His voice cracked with fear and his hands shook, but he didn’t lower the gun and his finger hovered dangerously close to the trigger.
“My name is Donovan,” I replied, my hands in front of me. “We didn’t hurt your mom.”
“Then what are you doing here? And don’t try anything stupid. I already called the police.”
He was a terrible liar, which was the only thing keeping me from grabbing Alex and making a run for it. Fuck. This entire night was turning into a massive disaster.
“Levi, it’s Alex Copeland,” Alex said softly, stepping forward just enough to let the light from the window hit his face. “You guys used to come into my bookstore a lot, remember?”
Levi hesitated, the muzzle of the rifle drooping a little when he recognized Alex. “What are you doing here?” he repeated, sounding close to tears.
“It’s going to sound crazy, but I promise we didn’t hurt your mom.” Alex took another step forward and my heart leaped into my throat, every instinct screaming that I needed to protect him, to get him away from the clear danger.
“Is it—” Levi’s voice broke and a stifled sob escaped. “The guys at school said you found that dead body back in December. Is that what you do? Is… is that why you’re here?”
Please, just lie to him, Alex. Come up with something. Please.
Alex nodded and it took everything I had not to groan.
“Is my mom dead?”
“I’m sorry, Levi,” Alex whispered. Levi dropped the rifle, his shoulders curling in, his skinny arms wrapping around himself as though he could hold in the pain.
I couldn’t stand there and do nothing. Pausing only to nudge the gun out of arm’s reach with my foot, I went to Levi and carefully wrapped my arm around his shoulder, leaving him plenty of room to get free if he wanted. Instead, he collapsed into me, his whole body shaking as he cried, desperately trying to hold back his sobs. Belatedly, I remembered his sister still slept in the other room. This teenage boy was trying to contain his cries so it didn’t spill over and wake her.
I held Levi through the storm of his grief, only releasing him when he stepped away. Tears mottled his face, his eyes red-rimmed and raw, but he pulled himself together in a way most people three times his age would envy.
“What do I do now?” he whispered, voice broken and rough, but steady.
“If people know we were here, they’re going to ask questions,” Alex said softly. “No one knows about me. I hate to ask you to do this, but do you think you can wait until we leave, then call 911?”
Levi nodded, his breath shuddering as he fought back tears. “I-I had a feeling,” he admitted, eyes dropping to the ground. “She always acted different when she started using again.” The words were strained, a terrible truth he hated to reveal, but a truth nonetheless. “She’s a good mom,” he added immediately. “She tried so hard…”
“Do you two have somewhere to go? Do you have any family nearby?” I didn’t know the families of Lowery’s Crossing like Alex did, not yet.
“My aunt. I’ll call her after,” he whispered.
“I don’t want to leave you, but we have to go,” Alex said, wincing, but Levi nodded his understanding.
“I just…” He paused, blinking back more tears. “When did you get here? Was she a-alone?”
“We were with her after. She stayed until she was sure you and your sister would be taken care of.” Alex paused, waiting until Levi looked up at him to continue. “Your mom didn’t want to leave you. She didn’t mean for this to happen, but even in the end, she wanted to protect you. She kept telling me how much she loved you two. Don’t ever forget that, okay? She loved you so much.”
His words nearly crushed me, but Levi held himself together, managing a tight nod. Anything more and I knew his facade would shatter, leaving him in broken pieces on the floor.
“Don’t go into her bedroom, Levi,” I said, gently clasping his shoulder. “As soon as that front door closes behind us, call 911 and your aunt. Let them take care of her. You focus on yourself and your sister.”
Leaving Levi Smalls standing alone and grieving in the middle of his living room while his mother’s body lay only feet away went against everything in me, but what choice did I have? I wanted to protect him, but I also needed to protect Alex. Maybe it made me a terrible person, and it certainly felt that way, but I did just that, escorting Alex out the front door. He stopped just long enough to return the extra key, then we were gone, ducking between two neighboring houses.
By unspoken agreement, we lingered around the block until we heard sirens. If I remembered the schedule right, Ginny Lake was on duty tonight, so she’d be arriving alongside the paramedics. Will and I shouldn’t be needed for this one, which meant I could get Alex home.
“We’ll take the side roads,” Alex muttered. He took off walking before I could reply, leaving me jogging to catch up. The sickly yellow glow of the streetlights washed out what little color remained in his face, but I could tell Alex was pale. He kept his eyes straight ahead, a clear indication that he didn’t want to talk. Since I didn’t know what to say, I accepted it and walked in silence. For now. It gave me the time I needed to organize my thoughts, but did nothing to cool my anger.
I could understand where Alex was coming from, to a degree. He knew far more about this than I did, no question, and if I were in his shoes, I’d be pissed at anyone trying to tell me how to do my job. On the other hand… he’dpromisedme that he’d never go out alone and he’d attempted to break that promise the very first time it happened.
