Page 11 of Dirty Cops Next Door

5

Toni

“Yeah,that’s where the two hottest men on earth live,” I said to Bee standing behind me as we stared from my living room window over at Grant’s and David’s.

“I don’t think I could stand it, Toni. I’d be all over those two like white on rice! Girl!” She looked at me with a doubtful look. “Are you sure you’re straight?”

“As far as I know, yeah.” I laughed, my cheeks burning a little. “I’m just not, I don’t know, very good at flirting?”

“Me neither, but I think I’d have broken a cabinet door or something by now to get one of them over here at least.” She stepped away from the window and over to the couch, gathering her purse and coat. The nights were growing colder and I’d broken mine and Eric’s coats out from the box they were in a few days ago.

“You aren’t leaving, are you?” I asked, sorry to see my only real friend going already.

“I have to get home. Work starts early around here. My show will be on soon too, and I like to watch in bed before I go to sleep. I’ll give you a call tomorrow though. Oh!’ She paused as lights beamed into the window. “Someone’s just pulled into your driveway anyway. I’ll buzz you, okay?”

“Fine, leave me then! Go watch your show!” I said in a miserable voice before I gave her a wide grin. “I hope it’s good. Talk to you tomorrow.” I gave her a peck on the cheek as she opened the door to a very stormy looking David.

Bee turned to me with knowing, mirth-filled eyes before she gave me a slight wave and left.

“Hi, David, what can I do for you?” I kept my tone pleasant, trying to brush away my previous anger at the man. Something about him was making me bristle!

“I told him once that sometimes you have to pay for the company you keep.” David’s cold gaze and hard words drilled into me as I stared up at him, mouth agape.

“Pardon me?”

“Where’s Eric?” He pushed in, not waiting for me to move out of the way.

“He’s at his program, where he’s supposed to be! Grant knows he’s going, there’s no need to harass him about it. Why are you here?” I protested, following him into my living room. “Who said you could come in here, anyway?”

“This.” He held out a warrant, Eric’s name printed in uppercase letters. I scanned the paper, not a word of it making any sense.

“I thought you weren’t going to press charges against him? What’s this about now, David?” I pointed to the list of charges, around ten in total. I couldn’t believe it all.

“The chief says we have to. And what the chief says goes.” He wouldn’t look me in the eye. “Where is he, Toni?”

“He was with, well, he was out.” I wasn’t about to tell this man anything, even if he did stand over me in a way that made me want to curl into a ball and hide my head.

I stuck my chin out and met his hard gaze, the intense blue a match for my own.

I didn’t know what Eric had gotten himself into now, but the man standing across from me wasn’t about to hear a word out of me.

He glared at me for a moment longer, then took out his phone.

“Yeah, he’s at the center. Pick him up there.” He turned the phone off and turned to me. “I suggest you call a lawyer and go down to the station. Now.”

Without another word, David left, leaving me stunned. Eric was in trouble again, only this time it seemed to be much worse. I looked down at the jeans so old they felt like a second skin and the university sweatshirt I was wearing and decided it would suffice. Who wanted to show up at the local cop-shop looking like a million dollars?

I called the lawyer and talked with them for a few minutes before I grabbed my keys, slid on a pair of trainers, and left the house. This time there wasn’t anyone to calm the panic, there wasn’t anyone to tell me not to yell or to stay calm. I didn’t let it get to me as I drove through the evening traffic, wishing it was summer and not so dark.

David’s words played over and over again in my head: ‘Sometimes you have to pay for the company you keep’. I didn’t know who I wanted to rant at first, David for being such a complete dick or Mark for dragging Eric down with him. I relented a bit and admitted to myself that I wanted to yell at Eric too. He’d sworn to me he was going to pay back all the money he’d cost us, and as soon as he’d finished the program he was going to get a job and pay every cent back. Now it looked like he might not get the chance!

I knew he couldn’t have been involved in drugs; he’d only just met Mark on the first day of school. Eric was headed in the right direction before we moved here. He was already accepted into a good university, his grades were excellent, and he’d never been in trouble. This move had changed all of that. Instead of ensuring Eric had a bright and stunning future, the move to New Hope seemed to have ruined my brother’s prospects. And mine, if this kept up.

I tallied up the fee the lawyer had quoted me against my bank balance and almost hit the brakes on the car. I’d never be able to pay all of this! Tears of frustration stung my eyes and I pulled off the road in a wide spot, needing a moment. I’d scrounged together the money to pay for the program Eric had been blackmailed into and now I was going to have to pay lawyer’s fees, court fees, and who knew what else?

The world was crashing down around me and I didn’t even have a best friend to call to commiserate with! I had Bee, but would she understand when I was such a new friend? My thoughts shied around Grant, but I hadn’t seen him since we’d kissed in my kitchen last week. Plus, he was going to be on the team investigating Eric’s case. I let my head fall to the steering wheel, totally lost and overwhelmed. A sob wrenched from somewhere deep in my chest and I punched the dashboard, a scream of anger breaking forth.

“You’re supposed to be the ones doing this! You were supposed to be here for Eric and me! Why? Why did you leave me on my own with this mess?” I screamed at the sky but, as usual, I didn’t get an answer back.