Gabe groaned around the bite of chicken in his mouth and swallowed. “I’ll try. The locals hate when we step on their toes, but if I can prove it does go outside Hawthorn Hills, my boss will be okay with it.” He kept eating. “Tell me everything.”
His appetite faded and Luke put the other half of his sandwich down while telling him the whole story. He started with Mom suspecting something was up and asking him to come home, to following Aaron’s late-night adventures and finding the drugs. Finally, he told him what happened with Mikey in the diner, and that Aaron refused to come clean.
“He’s my brother, but I can’t stand by and let him ruin lives like this.” Luke rubbed at a knot over his sternum.
“If we do this,” Gabe wiped his mouth with a napkin and tossed it on his empty plate, “you know it’s a felony, right?”
Luke screwed his eyes shut. He did know, but he hadn’t admitted it to himself. Aaron would go straight to federal prison. “If he testifies, could he get a lighter sentence?”
“All depends on whether the prosecutor is willing to make a deal. They might want to throw the book at him and make an example out of him, or they might take into account that it’s his first offense. Once we turn over the evidence, it’s out of our hands. You know how it is.”
Luke buried his head in his hands and fought the tears that threatened. “It’s going to break Mom’s heart all over again.”
The sympathy in Gabe’s face nearly broke him. “Does she know?”
“No,” Luke said with a shake of his head. “She suspects, but I haven’t told her. Mom has enough to worry about with her recovery.”
After all, I actually live here.
Aaron’s words invaded his brain while he finished his lunch. Was this partly his fault for staying away so long? Had he been here, could he have stopped him? Guilt made his fries turn to cardboard in his mouth.
Gabe nodded. “Listen, this can all fall under the cone of silence. If you decide you want me to look into this, fine. If not, I won’t say a word to my boss.” He held out his fist for Luke to pound. “Chestnuts forever, man.”
Luke bumped his fist against his former teammate’s and repeated their football mantra back to him, even though their high school team had the dumbest name ever. “Chestnuts forever.” He breathed deeply, then drained his water glass. It meant everything that Gabe was willing to look the other way to protect his baby brother.
He thought about it. He really did. But… Luke couldn’t live with himself if they ignored this.
“Don’t risk your badge, Gabe. Aaron is an…” He choked on his next words. “…an adult and made his choice. He’s going to have to live with the consequences.”
The folder weighed next to nothing, but in Luke’s hand it weighed a hundred pounds. He stretched out his arm, anyway. “Take it. See what your boss says. Can I ask a favor though?”
“Name it.” Gabe put his hand on the envelope but didn’t take it from Luke yet.
“Let me be there when it goes down. I have my own armor and firearm. I just want to be there for Aaron so he has someone…” Luke’s voice trailed off as his throat tightened up again.
“I’ll ask my boss. At the very least, I’ll make sure you’re called the minute he’s brought in.”
Luke released the folder and stood to hug Gabe. He should have kept in touch more, with Gabe, and with Felix. They embraced and Gabe patted him on the back.
“Take care, Luke. And tell your mom I said hi.”
“I will.” Gabe carried the envelope through the office door, and Luke felt the weight of it lift from his shoulders. He shuddered as he breathed a sigh of relief. It was out of his hands, now.
Lukewasn’tduefora couple of hours when he arrived with a sheriff in tow. Maggie had frozen at the sight of the uniform. Going into the office with them had been a test of her strength, but Shorty had mentioned that Luke and Gabe played football together in high school, and that reassured her.
She still hadn’t heard any news from Alex, and she’d been frightened Sean had made good on reporting her as a missing person. Perhaps at the county level, since Alex had spoken to his chief. But no, that clearly wasn’t why Luke had brought hisfriend in. She cashed table twenty out at the register as Luke emerged from the office.
“How’s it going, Maggie?” he asked as he reached for a bus bin behind her.
“Good! How about you?”
“I’m … good?” He paused. “Yeah, I’m good.”
He disappeared back into the office and Maggie raised an eyebrow. He’d had to think about it first. But it wasn’t any of her business. After all, he had a lot going on with Deb being out of commission.
He returned carrying a bin filled with the dirty dishes from their lunch. “I would have come back for those,” Maggie protested with a hand on her hip.
“You were nice enough to go out of your way. This is the least I can do.” He grinned and backed into the swinging door.
