Page 7 of Dirty Cops Next Door

“It’s okay, Eric, we’ll sort this out.”

He went to move and that’s when I saw his right arm was cuffed to the bed.

“What the hell?” I turned, glaring at Grant, but David walked in just then, his face grim as he looked between Eric and me.

“Seems your brother has brought a little trouble to our town. He’s ruined his whole life, you know? This is going to follow him around forever. Once he gets out of prison that is.” He looked rather satisfied with himself and I felt sick at how I’d been fantasizing about him only an hour ago.

“You’re crazy! He hasn’t done anything! What could you possibly charge him with? He wasn’t involved in any of that mess tonight!”

“So he says. I don’t believe him. You two move into town and within days we have an explosion, drug deals, and a dead man on our hands? It probably wasn’t the best idea to move next door to us. You have a good cover going, I’ll give you that, but teenagers never work out well as drug runners.”

His eyes told me he knew I wanted to slap him but I didn’t dare. He was a cop. I didn’t feel like sitting in jail tonight. I stared daggers at him instead, my jaw clenched in feral anger. I hated him!

“David, chill, brother. We don’t know any of that is true. Come on, outside.” Grant stood, his own countenance not allowing any argument.

I held my brother’s hand as the pair left the room, inspecting him for other injuries. He seemed to be okay but he was covered in ash and blood still. I wanted nothing more than to take him home but the doctor soon squashed the idea.

“We need to keep an eye on that head injury,” he explained. “Eric has a concussion and we want to watch him for infections. We cleaned the wound but with it being on his head, well, we need to make sure.” The elderly man in the long white coat checked Eric over once more before he left us in peace.

Grant came into the room, looking at me uncertainly.

“What’s happening?” I asked him.

“I think I’ve talked David down for now. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” He scrubbed at his jaw, which I noticed showed signs of needing a shave. His light brown hair was falling into his eyes and I wanted to brush it away. I liked that it was a little long on top, it made him sexier, in a boyish kind of way.

“Well, Eric’s not going anywhere tonight so he can just fu... uh, he can just leave Eric alone for now. Tomorrow is soon enough.” Barbara had sent me the number for a lawyer and I had it ready to call if I needed it.

I didn’t bother to ask how she knew Eric might need one. She was a reporter, the same as me. We had our ways.

“Right, I’ll let you two have some peace then. The cuffs have to stay on until we question him again in the morning. I’m sorry, I can’t take them off. Are you staying with him tonight?” He looked down at me, his eyes so tender it stole my breath away.

I turned away, not wanting him to see my response. “Yeah, I’ll stay here and get a taxi home in the morning.”

“No need, I’ll come and pick you up. Or I can take you now, and you can bring your car back.”

That actually sounded like the best idea, so I kissed Eric goodbye and told him I would be back soon. The two glasses of wine had worn off in all the panic, so I wasn’t worried about that.

The drive back to the house was quiet and Grant said little as I left him in his car. Exhaustion hit me hard as I walked into the house. I wished I had somebody to lean against, to hold me close, somebody like Grant, but right now he was more dangerous than any other man in the world. He held my brother’s future in his hands and that made him a very dangerous animal to mess with.

As I drove back to the hospital, a bag of fresh clothes and toiletries in the seat beside me, I tried to clear my head. I’d barely slept the night before, had a very stressful first day, and now this. I wanted nothing more than to sleep, but I wasn’t going to leave Eric in hospital alone.

He was asleep when I walked into the room, something that confused me as he had a concussion. A nurse soon came in and I asked her about it.

“Oh, we wake them up on a schedule to check them for developing symptoms. Eric was holding a conversation earlier and his pupils aren’t dilated so it’s best he rests. He needs it.” She patted Eric’s arm and wrote down some vital signs on the laptop she carried with her. “He’ll be fine, miss. Don’t worry.”

The small redhead in her late fifties smiled at me and stopped before she left the room. “I’ll bring you in a pillow and blanket in a bit. Want anything else?”

I told her no and thanked her. She left and I stared at Eric, the noise of the television becoming background noise. He was so young, so gullible. What had this other kid, this Mark, gotten my innocent little brother into?

I wasn’t stupid, I knew Eric could easily fall between the cracks, and without a father figure, he might turn to men that weren’t the best to be around, but I also knew that he had me. I always made time for him, I’d given him the best care I could and had always tried to steer him in the right direction. Had I failed?

Going back over our conversation, I knew he’d simply made the mistake of trusting a kid that probably didn’t deserve it. What had the little delinquent wanted to show Eric though? The drug deal? Something in the warehouse? What had it been?

I knew it was wrong to think so badly of a teenager but the boy had almost gotten Eric killed. I couldn’t forgive that.

The nurse brought me the blanket and pillow, though I doubted I’d sleep with the noises from the machines Eric was hooked up to. I looked at it all, wondering exactly how much this experience was going to cost us. I’d been able to scrimp together enough money to keep our health insurance up to date, but I was still worried. That started a new panic, and I closed my eyes, a headache starting to pound in my temple.

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