37. Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-eight
Summer
Sweat trickles down the back of my neck the further we drive in the direction of the commons. My throat feels like it’s closing in on me, nearly cutting off my entire air supply. The sun bores down, and the humidity only worsens the crummy feeling I have cramped inside me.
Breathe Summer.
I close my eyes, taking in a shaggy breath.
A warm hand squeezes my upper thigh, forcing me to open my eyes. My heart skips when I look into Alec’s soft gray eyes. The anger that coated them five minutes ago has slowly vanished, and now he’s left with unease and worry. I can’t fault him for feeling the way he does.
But I know that no matter the outcome of this… I will be OK.
Tyler sticks his head between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. “What do you think is going to happen?”
I roll my eyes, still in disbelief that we all are going.
From my peripheral, I see Samantha slap the top of his head. “Nobody knows what is going to happen, you dimwit.”
I bite back, the laughter rising from my lungs, and look at Alec. He makes a small glance at me with a sliver of a smile before focusing back on the road. “I’m really sorry.”
With slow movements, his hand moves back to the steering wheel, but the imprint of his hand still lingers on my thigh.
“I mean, you could have stayed home.”
He huffs. “Nice try.”
I roll my eyes. “Honestly, the company is rather nice.” There is some truth to my words, but that doesn’t get rid of the anxiety building inside me. In an attempt to ease it, I dig my nails into the palms of my hands to resist the urge of having a mental breakdown. The last thing I want is to ugly cry in front of the entire squad. It only helps a little bit.
Family.
They referred to each other as a family.
One that I’m now a part of.
I focus on that because the best feeling is being accepted into the family they have created.
I hadn’t noticed my good leg started to bounce until Alec placed his hand back on my thigh. We’re almost there, and my stomach twists the closer we get.
The car slows as Alec flicks the blinker on and turns into the parking lot. Chloe is hard to miss. She’s pacing back and forth, tapping her hand against her thigh. Her dark brown hair is neatly pulled back into a high ponytail, swaying with each step she takes. She’s panicking or in just as much skepticism as everyone else.
Once the car stops moving, I swing the door open without a second thought and step out of the car, using the door as leverage to pull myself up. The ace bandage and the aspirin I took helps a little, but the pain remains.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Alec says, rushing out of the car and around to help me.
I lean into him, limping around the car and toward Chloe. She wraps her arms around my neck and gives me a quick once-over.
“What happened to your ankle?” She looks at Alec. “I leave her with you for all of what… two days and you already broke her.”
Alec raises a hand in defense. “That was all her doing.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “It doesn’t matter.”
Chloe looks over my shoulder with furrowed brows. “You seriously brought everyone?”
“It wasn’t up for discussion,” Alec tells her.
She nods without question. “OK.”
I turn around to look at the car and see Tyler stepping out. James and Samantha stay in the back seat. Chloe’s bright smile doesn’t go unnoticed; her cheeks redden when Tyler approaches her and pulls her in for a long hug. The love between them is obvious.
Something in my heart flutters, seeing my best friend since high school happy is warming.
Chloe looks at me. “I suggested meeting here first to go over what exactly is going to happen.”
I pinch my lips together, looking down at the ground. Alec’s arm tightens around my waist as if he sensed the shift in the air. When my eyes meet back with Chloe, I sigh. “I’m going to talk to Allen.”
Chloe knows I’m referring to Officer Brentley, but what she doesn’t know is that he swapped to front desk and doesn’t have much involvement with cases and the police force anymore. He’s our only chance though. He’s loved me like his own since I was just a little girl.
“That’s a good start.” She looks at Alec. “I’ll follow you and we can go from there.”
Right before Alec and I walk back to his car, Chloe pulls my attention back. “Summer, hold up.” She pulls out my backpack I left at her house from the back seat of her Toyota and jogs through the distance between us, handing it to me.
“Thank you,” I sigh. “I’ll see you there.”
Chloe gives me a quick hug. “It’ll be OK,” she reassures me.
***
Alec helps me out of his car just as Chloe pulls into the parking lot and parks directly beside us.
She comes up to me, replacing Alec’s arm with hers. “I’d still like to know what you did to your ankle.”
I hop a little bit, doing the best I can to ease off any pressure I may need to put on my foot. “Another time. Let’s just… get this over with.” I steal a small glimpse of Alec, giving him a sympathetic smile, but he only grimaces.
“I should be going in with you,” he barks.
I nibble on my bottom lip, worried that I’m making the wrong decision by having him stay in the car. But that is washed out the moment I remember everything my father said.
I place a steady hand on his chest. “Nobody will touch me with Chloe here. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you may not be able to keep.” That’s all he says before getting back into his car and slamming the door shut.
I suck in a breath, trying my best not to let his reaction bother me as much. At this point, I shouldn’t expect anything less. He has every right to feel the way he does. The protective side of him is on high alert.
Samantha rolls the back window down. “Take care of her for him,” she says directly to Chloe.
“Always.” Chloe smiles and looks at me. “You ready?”
“Nope.” And I’m not. “But let’s go.”
I lean as much as I can against Chloe, trying not to take her down at the same time while holding onto the USB drive. We manage the best we can and make it across the parking lot to the front doors. We exchange worrisome glances before walking the rest of the way. My body feels weaker with each hop I take, and my throat feels like it’s officially closing on me. I stuff it down, reminding myself that the truth about my father’s corruption needs to be spoken about.
“Was it a sex accident?” Chloe asks.
I roll my eyes, groaning. “No. Which makes it all the worse.”
Chloe opens the first set of doors. “Ty said you fell out of the shower.” She wiggles her eyes.
“Fucking Tyler. No. We weren’t having sex. I literally slipped and fell out of the shower. OK. Can we get over my foot?”
“Suit yourself,” she says as if she doesn’t believe me. I ignore it, hopping into the tiny walkway.
Taking a deep, subtle breath, Chloe pushes the second set of doors open. My grip around the drive tightens as I leap through the doorway. The station mirrors the weight of the knowledge we’re sitting on. It’s dark and overwhelming.
As we make it to the desk, slow and cautiously, a sense of relief washes over me at the sight of Brentley behind the glass. However, I can’t help but notice the expression his face holds. It makes my stomach tighten. Something must be going on.
I shake off the curiosity inside me. “Hi, Allen.”
He looks at me and smiles, and then looks at Chloe, back at me. “Your father was called out on duty. He won’t be back until 3:30 or so.”
My throat dries, wondering if he even knows what happened. If he had, would that have been the first thing to come from him? I wet my lips, ignoring the discomfort.
“I… we are not here for my father. Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you.”
His thick brows narrow. “What is it?”
I open and close my mouth a few times, leaning farthing against the side of Chloe.
She sensed my struggles and took over for me. “Sir, we have a matter we’d like to bring to your attention. It’s regarding Alec Sokolov and Officer Raleigh.”
He watches me for any sudden change. “Summer, you know I’m not involved with crimes anymore.”
My heart sinks, thinking this trip was all for nothing. He’s not going to dive into this with a wife at home he has to be alive for.
“We think it may also be a step closer to Mrs. Raleigh’s murder,” Chloe adds.
The crease in Brentley’s brows deepens as he shifts his eyes between Chloe and me, stopping at me. “Is this true?”
I nod, unable to form any words at the moment. A few minutes pass as he considers his options. I can’t blame him there, either. The building feels like it’s getting smaller. The four walls closing in on me, trapping me in my worst nightmare.
Finally, Brentley presses his lips together and nods, grabbing the metal detector on the side of him. “Alright, you have five minutes. You hear?”
I let out a long sigh of relief. “Thank you,” I struggle to say.
Chloe helps me to the doors. As soon as Brentley opens the door, he goes through his normal routine, scanning the both of us. The beep sounds a prolonged sensation in my ears. My heart picks up the pace as Chloe and I follow close behind him. We do our best to keep up, but that’s hard enough when Allen takes long strides, and I’m limping and hopping around like a bunny who lost its tail.
I’m nearly out of breath when we reach the conference room doors.
“You good?” Chloe whispers.
“Yeah.” Besides my nerves and the anticipation that is fueling me. Not in a good way, either.
Brentley opens the conference doors, allowing us to enter first. When the door’s closed, he looks down at my foot.
“What happened to your foot?” he asks, concerned.
I groan. “I really wish everyone would stop asking me what happened to my damn ankle.” I push off Chloe, aggravated, holding onto one of the chairs with both hands and adjusting myself before I sit down.
“We appreciate your time, officer,” Chloe says, sitting on the side of me.
Brentley doesn’t say anything. He sits down across from us, waiting for us to explain. My eyes follow the movement of his chair as he rotates it from one side to the other. The ongoing silence is becoming a nuisance, ripping through me. Although I feel like I don’t have the strength to do it, I know I have to snap out of the daze I am in and pull myself together.
I turn my head to Chloe, and nod, that way she’s aware that I can in fact do this.
Breathing in a lungful of air, and exhaling slowly, I start from the beginning. Telling Brently everything that has happened, everything that my father has told me. Sobs break free repeating what he’s done.
Each word that flows out of my mouth only shatters me more than I already am.
When I finish speaking, Chloe passes me a small tissue she grabbed from the box in the center of the conference table.
Brently leans forward in his chair, placing his elbows on the table. His expression suggests that he may not be much help, and my heart drops further into my stomach at the thought.
“Listen, Allen. You know me. You watched me grow up. You know how close I am... Or was to my father. I wouldn’t be here telling you all of this if I didn’t think it could save an innocent person. A life. Please,” I say, opening my hand and placing the drive on the table to slide it across to him. “This drive. These are the words my father spoke the day I came here with Alec Sokolov. I know you remember. He had his hands wrapped around my throat and was so close to shooting Alec. One of his buddies barged in and covered up for him.” I’m not sure if that’s exactly the case, but it is the only thing that makes sense. Especially since my father clearly hasn’t been disciplined for his actions that day.
“I strongly believe he murdered my mother because of what he said in this recording. And if that is the case…” My voice cracks, but I shoo it away as much as I can. “If that’s the case, don’t let him be the culprit of someone else, too.”
Brentley stares at the drive for a long minute, his index finger dragging along the short stubble on his chin. With a long sigh, he takes the drive.
“Wait here,” he says as he pushes off the chair and exits the conference room.
Chloe looks at me with sincerity. “Do you think he’ll do the right thing?”
My lungs expand. “I hope so.”