“A setup,” I say plainly.
Hayden screams at the top of his lungs, then turns to punch the brick wall. He comes away shaking his hand, blood dripping down his knuckles.
“Hayden,” Dante says carefully, shooting a frantic look toward me while obviously trying to calm Hayden down. “Hayden, come here, boss.”
“Don’t call me that,” Hayden murmurs in clear despair. “Where the fuck is Jacob?”
“He’s the fall guy.”
Hayden shoots me a glare. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
I press the heel of my hand against my forehead, urging my heart to calm, my brains to stay together, when all I want to do is fall to my knees in anger.
“Parker, what the fuck are you talking about?” Hayden asks, tone rising in hysteria. “What the fuck is a fall guy?”
“The plan has always been that if cops show up, if anyone starts sniffing around, Jacob takes the fall.” I flinch when Hayden slams his fist into the wall again, only stopping whenDante wraps his arms around Hayden and bodily pulls him away. I’ve never seen Hayden so angry; he’s always put together, always so fucking calm in the face of the worst possible news. “Hayden, Jacob knew going in. Why do you think he followed you around?”
Hayden heaves violently and vomits all over the ground. Dante gives me a disgusted look, and I think it’s because of the vomit, but when Reid grabs me and yanks me around, I know it’s because I’ve totally fucked up.
“Hey, watch what you say, you fucking asshat.” Reid shoves his fingers against my chest, boiling with fury. “Jacob protected Hayden because hecaredfor him, not because he was told to keep him safe.”
“That’s not?—”
“Parker,” Mason says, interrupting me. “Come here.”
I reluctantly leave Hayden to throw his fit in Dante’s arms and step over to the other side of the room with Mason. He looks sweaty and flushed, probably from the run, but also from the dilapidated old building we’re in.
“Are you okay? Sorry, what do you need?”
“Parker.” Mason looks so fucking sad, I don’t know what to do. “Parker, are you okay?”
I blink in confusion. “Me?”
Mason steps into my space, close enough I can feel his heat, smell the calming lavender dryer sheet scent of him, and that’s when it hits me. Jacob’s the fall guy. All of our crimes, every single one of them, will probably fall on him. When will I see him again? When will I hug him like I did last night?
“Oh my god,” I say with a choked cry.
Mason steps into my space and tightly wraps his arms around me. We’re both shaking when I wrap my arms aroundhim, burying my face deep against his neck to cry. I don’t know how long we stand there holding one another. I don’t know how we get back to the car, but we do. The sirens have faded, but we pass by the flashing lights on the way to the car, and my stomach turns. Is Jacob still there?
“I’ll drive,” Mason says, holding his hand out in demand for the keys.
I toss him the keys without a second thought. We all load into the car, me in the passenger seat and the boys each in their own seat in the back. Hayden keeps making pitiful crying noises. I feel like a total fucking asshole because all it does is piss me off. Mason is the most careful driver on the planet, hands at ten and two and going right at the speed limit. Which is the exact way someone with suspicious intent would drive.
I squirm in my seat as we head in the direction of the building we just fled from.
“Mason, there has to be a different way to get home,” Dante says, voicing what I’m thinking but too afraid to say.
“This is the only way to the main state road that’ll get us back home unless you want it to take over an hour and a half to get back.” Mason’s hands tense on the wheel. “Oh, fuck, a cop just turned around to follow me.”
“Fuck.” Reid glances back. “It’s two cop cars actually.”
“I cannot go to prison,” Mason murmurs, face turning ghostly pale. “What do I do?”
The question is clearly pointed at me. I do the only thing I can think of, which is distracting him from the entire situation.
“Baby, you’ve just got to drive like you normally would. Want to put yourD&Dpodcast on?”
Mason shakes his head. “No. No, it’s fine. I’ll go a little faster.”
