“You will watch your tone when you’re talking to me,” she snapped. “I told you that I am dealing with a problem, and that is all you need to know right now.”
“I don’t know what that means,” I repeated. “What problem?”
Some part of me had a sinking feeling that I knew what she was referring to.
“The one you created,” she clipped and walked away.
Maverick. She meant Maverick. I don’t have a clue what she was planning, but I just knew it’d be bad. Whatever it was, I couldn’t let it happen. I couldn’t let it ruin us.
I pulled out my phone and called Maverick.
Nothing.
It went straight to voicemail.
I kept calling and desperately hoped he’d answer.
CHAPTER 41
maverick
Jesus fuck, Harley,” I grumbled as banging on my door pulled me out of an unsettled sleep. I glanced at the clock. It wasn’t even ten in the morning yet. Harley had been gone for maybe an hour. There was no way in hell he’d made it there, talked to his mother, and come back—not unless something was wrong. And if something was wrong, he would’ve blown up my phone.
Ignoring the banging, I grabbed my phone.Dead.Shit, I’d forgotten to charge it—something I did way more than I should’ve. As I rolled out of bed, I plugged it in real quick. All the while, the noise at my door didn’t end. If anything, it grew more incessant and aggressive. I had no doubt that Aidan was at the door, pissed off and being a dick, with some kind of demand he expected of me. Knowing him, he wouldn’t stop until I answered the door.
I was halfway to the door when I heard it.
“Maverick Fox, this is the police,” a rough voice called out. “We know from your car outside that you’re in there. Open up.”
I froze, my heart practically dropping out of my chest as my blood ran cold.Police?What the hell were the police doing here? They weren’t breaking down the door, so that was a good sign. At least, I was hoping it was a good sign.
“Fuck,” I let out. I ran a shaky hand through my hair while my pulse jumped in my neck, wild and unsteady.There was no good reason for the police to be outside my door.Rushing back to my room, I grabbed a shirt and made sure to button my jeans. I didn’t need to answer the door half-naked.
I rubbed my sweating palms on my thighs as I went to answer the door, trying to calm my nerves.It’d be okay.Everything was okay.Two police cars and four officers stood outside my home. The one closest backed up slightly as my screen door swung outward.
“Can I help you?” I asked, doing my best to sound normal.
“Step outside, please.” The first—Officer Johannson, by his name tag—made a small gesture for me to join him outside.
“I’d like to know what this is all about,” I replied. Even still, I stepped out. As soon as my feet hit the grass, I was ushered away from the door by two of them.
“Hands on your head,” Johannson ordered as he turned me around. I did what he asked, my body functioning on autopilotand going through the motions, even as my mind struggled to keep up. “Maverick Fox, you are under arrest for burglary.”
The world came to a screeching halt around me as my heart damn near stopped in my chest.I had to be hearing things.I couldn’t be…
“What—”
“You have the right to remain silent,” he continued over me. I moved with him as he arranged my hands behind my back and handcuffed me. They weren’t overly tight, but they were suffocating nonetheless. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
“Who the fuck did I steal from?” I demanded as I tried to get a word in edgewise.This had Aidan written all over it.This had to be something he did—some mistake of his that I was paying for. “I haven’t done anything! You want my brother—”
“If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you,” he cut me off once more. “Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”
“Yeah, but you’ve got the wrong—”
“Are you waiving your rights to an attorney?”
“Yes! No! I just… who the hell are you saying I robbed?” I was practically pleading at this point. My mind raced as I tried to keep up with the conversation—tried to make sense of everything—but it was all too much at once.There had to be some kind of mistake.
