He gave a little sigh. “Thanks. I just... I had to call the police on my own mom. She completely lost it after my dad left her. They’d been together since high school and she’d never been on her own, then she called me to tell me she couldn’t take it anymore. She had a knife, and she tried to slit her wrists in front of me when I got there. She’s in a psychiatric hospital right now, and I’m not sure she’ll ever get out, but I also don’t know if I could handle her if she does. Even though I miss her, I’m kind of dreading the day she fakes it enough that they let her go, because I’m not equipped to deal with that. You know I never have the right things to say. I feel so guilty for letting her get to that point. It’s just... hard.”
I stood and walked over to him, leaning down to give him a hug. I felt the sob he tried to stop as he hugged me back. “Hey,” I said softly. “It’s not your fault she got to that point. None of it’s your fault. They’ll help her there, so don’t worry about the future, and your friends are here for you now, and later, whenever you need us. Even if I’m back in Chicago again, I’ll only be a phone call away. I promise. I won’t stay away like I did before.”
His voice shook as he said, “Thanks, Mason, I really appreciate it.”
We went back to fishing in comfortable silence, occasionally coming up with an old story that was funny, or something pleasant that had happened in our lives, trying not to dwell onall the bad stuff. I caught a few fish and threw them back, but he was obviously fishing for food, and I got a little worried because though I knew he was tight financially, I wondered if he was worse off than he was letting on. I tried to hint around about it, but he told me he was fine. He did ask why I wasn’t keeping my fish, and I told him my mom didn’t like them. Then I offered him the next one I caught, but he refused. “I only keep fish I’ve caught fair and square,” he laughed.
We were thinking about heading back into town to grab some lunch when my phone rang. I answered it when I saw it was Chris. “Mason, I need you at the station.Now.”
“What the hell happened?” I demanded, instantly on edge at the urgency in his voice.
“I wasn’t there, or I would have done something. Something of Elijah’s was identified at the crime scene and they arrested him at work. I don’t know what to do. I need his alibi here, right now. You’re going to have to tell them, man. I can’t get him out of this on my own.”
Oh, I’d tell them alright. “Fuck,” I said. “I’ll be right there.”
Derrick looked over at me curiously. I hadn’t mentioned my current state of affairs with Elijah, and I was pretty sure he hadn’t suspected back in high school. Even though he was my friend, and one of my closest, I wasn’t quite sure of his opinion on it. I was ready to go blow up in the police station, though, not giving a fuck if word got around town. Some of the cops were old and homophobic, and some of them were my old classmates, like Chase, whose current opinion on the matter I also didn’t know. But I didn’t care what they thought or what they said about me. Derrick and I had had such a good visit that I didn’t want to go into all of it right now, and I didn’t really have time anyway. It was a long story.
“I have to go, Derrick. I’m really sorry. There’s an emergency and Chris needs me. Can I get a rain check on lunch? It’ll be my treat since I have to cut out.” I hoped I’d found a way to get him to let me buy him food.
He nodded. “Yeah, sure, sounds good.” His brow wasfurrowed but he smiled. “We’ll catch up more soon,” he added as I folded up the chair I’d been using and started trying to help him pack up. He stopped me. “Nah, man, it’s alright. I’ve got this. I think I’ll fish a little more. I like it out here, it calms my soul.” He’d always loved coming out to the lake when we were teenagers. “You go take care of whatever. I’ll text you about lunch.”
I just looked at him gratefully and told him goodbye, heading off to my car with my dad’s pole. I hoped like hell Elijah was alright, and that they’d actually listen to me.
Chapter 14
Elijah
Ibit my nails way too short as I stared at the two-way mirror in the room. I had no idea if someone was back there, watching me. All I really knew was that I’d been locked in an interrogation room at the police station, and no one had come back in to tell me what the hell was going on.
I was working when they came right into the vet clinic and asked for me. My boss had to pull me from an exam room, and I walked out to the lobby that was decidedlynotempty to find two police officers waiting for me. Chase was there, which was fantastic, because I wasn’t sure if he’d changed since high school. The other one was older and I didn’t know him, but he was the one who read me my rights.
Rory ran her mouth incessantly as my boss tried to get her out of the room, since she was using colorful language to make sure everyone knew they had the wrong guy. The people in the waiting room with their barking dogs and cat carriers watched in horror as I was handcuffed right in front of them. It was probably the most humiliating moment of my life, or at least a closesecond behind Chris staring at the dildo in my bed.
Chris had yet to show his face, and I wasn’t sure where he was, but I had a feeling that since he was one of the two detectives in town, the reason I hadn’t been interrogated yet was because he wasn’t here. I took a slow breath as I fought off panic while I sat there for what seemed like an eternity. I had no idea why I was here. I knew about Brock, but while Chris had mentioned questioning, he certainly hadn’t made it seem like I’d be arrested. Especially not atwork.
I finally heard a distant commotion from what I thought was the direction of the lobby, but I couldn’t tell what was going on. A few minutes later, the door to the interrogation room burst open. Chris stepped inside, out of breath and looking pissed. “Elijah,” he said. “Fuck, I’m so sorry. Come on. You’re free to go. Just don’t leave town, okay? I told them you wouldn’t.” He was shaking his head.
I stood up, confused. “We still might need to question you,” he said gently. “But not like this. I went the hell off on them for doing this, especially for the way it was handled. I’ll talk to your boss, okay? I’m going to make sure everything gets smoothed over.” I was grateful to him but still uncertain, until he said, “Heads up, several people in the department know about you and Mason now. Um. Quite graphically. He even offered up his handcuffs for DNA testing, so...”
I walked over to the door he was holding open for me. “What the fuck is going on?” I cried. “You didn’t seem to think it would come to this just a few hours ago.”
“I’m sorry,” he said again, walking with me into the hall. “I wasn’t here when it happened, or I never would have let them do this. They found something of yours at the crime scene. I didn’t know about it.”
I looked at him, even more confused. “I never left anything at his house,” I said. “I’m sure of it. But even if I did, so what? They already know we fucked a few times. I mean, I’ve been to his house.”
He glanced around and lowered his voice. “Listen, I’m notsupposed to be saying anything yet, but it’s a bracelet. And it has your name on it.” I started to speak but he stopped me. “It had Brock’s blood on it. It was found in an area of the house where there was no blood, so it was moved after the murder. It’s broken, and itappearsit was dropped on the way out. So you can see how this looks. That’s all I can say right now. The bracelet is in the lab and they never should have arrested you, but we have a few hard-asses who think they know everything and don’t give a fuck about due process.” He looked so annoyed that it almost made me feel better.Almost.
“What the fuck?” I hissed. “You don’t understand. I’ve only ever had one bracelet with my name on it, and I lost it over a year ago! I never had it at Brock’s house. I lost it before I ever hooked up with him, and I’m sure of that.”
Chris looked intrigued, but he paused as we reached the end of the hall. “I’m going to talk to you about all of this later, alright? And it’s me, so if you need to go off-record when we talk, you can. But right now, I have to clean up this mess a little bit. You, uh, might get some weird looks. Mason went ballistic. I mean, he did what he had to do.” He gave me a pat on the back but turned into an office, leaving me to walk out to the lobby alone.
I hesitated in the doorway and peered into the room. It wasn’t too crowded, at least, and my arresting officers were nowhere to be seen. The first officer I made eye contact with stared at me with slightly widened eyes and I looked away quickly. There were only two other officers in the room—one male and one female—and a receptionist. A couple of them looked slightly traumatized, the others just looked amused. Mason was standing near the door in a wide stance, arms crossed and looking like a pissed-off bodyguard.
“Come on,” he demanded, in that cop tone of voice. “We’re getting the fuck out of here.” The occupants of the lobby turned their eyes from me to him, then averted them completely. I slunk through the lobby to meet Mason, who took my arm in a way that was gentle yet conveyed clearly that he owned me, and hepulled me through the front door.
I let him hold my arm until we reached his car, then I pulled back. He let go immediately. “What the hell is going on?” I cried, as the adrenaline and confusion wore off and the weight of the last hour’s events started to catch up with me. “It feels like this day has been fucked since the moment I woke up!”
Mason nodded. “It has,” he agreed. “Something’s going on in this town and it involves you, and I don’t like it. We need to have some serious talks. One as old friends, and one in which I’m a police detective shoving his nose into business outside his jurisdiction. Because, Elijah, this business is about you, and that makes it my business.”
