Chapter Two
Rex
W hat the hell is this? Am I walking into the police station or a motherfucking zoo?
This is fucking insanity. I’ve never seen anything so unprofessional in all my life.
That’s fucking saying something considering some of the places I’ve worked throughout the years and the type of situations that I’ve had thrown in my lap.
I can’t help but shake my head at the sight in front of me.
We’ve currently got uniform officers running around like headless chickens and detectives either screaming down their phones from their seats behind their desks or at each other.
Which is the case with Moore and another detective that I can’t identify right now because he’s standing with his back to us.
Then you’ve got the poor soul working behind the reception desk, who just looks lost at what the hell to do about the situation currently going on around him.
Not that I blame him; it’s not a good look to have anyone walking in on this sort of pandemonium.
Thank god it’s us walking in on this and not someone actually coming here because they need the help of the police.
They’d have no faith in their abilities to do anything if they saw this madness.
“You’re the fucking new guy! You have no idea what the hell we deal with around here! Keep your mouth shut and your unwanted opinions to yourself!” Moore screams out. His loud booming voice travelling towards us through the open windows above the reception area.
“I might be new to the department, but I’m not new at this job, Moore.
I have more experience than you could ever imagine, and I also know when something isn’t adding up.
No judge in their right mind is ever going to give you what you want with so many fucking holes in the evidence.
Though calling what we have evidence is a stretch.
” The other man replies, his back still to us, but he doesn’t need to turn around for me to identify him now that I’ve heard him speak.
It may have been a while, but you never forget the voice of the only person your brother has ever loved.
My attention immediately shifts to Seth, who is standing at my left.
He looks like a strong wind could blow him over right now.
He’s in an absolute daze, and I can’t really blame him for his reaction.
The other man is none other than Everett Riviera, Seth’s first and only love.
The man who ripped his heart out when he left Devil’s Point out of the blue when they finished high school.
Flushing all the plans they’d made for the future straight down the drain.
I can’t even fathom what he must be feeling right now, seeing him here after all these years.
“Seth. You can leave if you need to. Austin and I can handle this just fine without you.” I say compassionately.
I need to give him an out. He needs to know he can turn and leave right now and not have to deal with Everett’s re-emergence in Devil’s Point until he’s ready. Though I can’t help but wonder if he’ll ever be ready.
My words seem to snap Seth out of his stupor, and he manages to tear his eyes away from where they’re glued to Everett’s back to look at me.
The level of pain in his hazel eyes hits me straight in the heartstrings.
I haven’t seen him look like this since Everett left him high and dry without any real explanation.
Losing Everett very nearly destroyed Seth all those years ago, and he has never opened himself up to anyone else in the same manner since.
When it comes to relationships and romantic feelings, Seth just doesn’t believe in them anymore. Not after the way Everett crushed him.
“I can’t do this, Rex.” He whispers out brokenly, looking very much like the heartbroken teenager he was all those years ago and not the grown man he is now.
It’s written all over him, the unimaginable pain and heartache currently bombarding him.
It’s not just his face giving away what he’s feeling; he looks absolutely devastated right now, but it’s in his body language too.
I can see him trying to retreat and protect himself from the pain he knows is coming.
He’s not ready to face Everett yet, and I can’t blame him.
Talk about being fucking blindsided by his past. There’s going to be a point where he has no choice but to deal with Everett being back, but that’s not going to be today.
Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the keys to my 1967 Ford Mustang, a car I worked meticulously on to get into its current shape. It was in a seriously bad way when I first got it, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at it now. My hard work definitely paid off. I hold them out for Seth to take.
“Go wait in my car; this won’t take long. Take the time to try and wrap your head around him being back and figure out what you want to do.”
“Thank you.” He replies, eyes starting to well with tears he’s refusing to let fall.
I fucking hate seeing him like this. If I didn’t have to deal with all this to do with Micah and Flash, if it wasn’t as big of a priority as it is, I’d probably just head in there and take a swing at Everett for all the pain he’s caused my brother.
Unfortunately, I can’t do that right now. Maybe later. Time will tell.
Austin and I watch helplessly as Seth rushes out of the station as fast as his feet can carry him, before Everett can turn around and see him. We both blow out a breath of relief when he makes it out of here without Everett catching sight of him.
“Do you think he’s going to be okay?” Austin asks quietly as we watch the argument still playing out on the other side of the glass, which cuts off the bullpen from the main reception area.
“I have no idea. I can’t even imagine what’s going through his head right now.” I reply just as quietly.
I have no idea what he must be feeling. I can guess, but unlike Seth, I’ve never been in love.
I’ve never had that connection with anyone, and I have no idea just how painful it must really be for him to be faced with the man I’m pretty sure he never stopped loving.
Even after what he did. I have no idea what’s going to happen when those two inevitably come face-to-face; it’s going to happen at some point whether Seth wants it to or not.
Devil’s Point isn’t big enough for them never to come into contact with each other again.
I know it’s just a matter of time. I just fucking hope Seth gets the closure he needs to finally move on with his life.
To close the door on that pain that still affects him to this day. I can only hope.
“Let’s deal with this and then get out of here. I’m sure Seth is going to need a drink or ten.” Austin says, and I don’t miss the worry coating his words.
“He’s going to need something, that’s for sure. I’m pretty sure he never expected to see Everett again. Not that I blame him for thinking that with the way Everett took off out of here. Destroying all their plans and Seth in the process.”
Austin shakes his head, no doubt remembering just what happened back then and how close we came to losing our brother to his heartbreak.
If it wasn’t for his ability to submerge himself in his work and his determination to help those who need it most, Seth would never have found his way out of the dark hole he found himself in.
“Come on.” He says as he starts heading towards the doorway to pass into the bullpen.
Before the poor guy behind reception can say anything about us skipping talking to him and heading towards the doors, which are locked with a keypad, Austin types in The Khaos Group’s code that gives us access to every law enforcement department within the USA.
The lock clicks, and Austin pushes the door open, stepping through with me right behind him.
“Moore! Riviera!” I bellow as I enter. Fuck if I’m going to wait around for them to finish their little squabble. My patience is already being tested just by the fact I not only now have to deal with Moore but Riviera too.
Immediately both of them turn their attention towards me.
Moore’s face starts to flame as his eyes narrow on me, clearly unhappy with my appearance and the fact I’ve interrupted whatever he’s arguing with Riviera about.
Riviera’s reaction is totally different.
He looks relieved for the interruption, probably enjoying his small reprieve from dealing with Moore.
Can’t really blame the man for that. Moore would test the patience of a saint.
His expression soon changes when he realizes just who is shouting for their attention.
Regret, worry, and pain flash in his eyes until he blinks it away, and a mask of indifference falls over his face.
If I hadn’t been watching him so closely, I’d probably have missed it.
The worry I can understand; he knows how protective we Knightlyes are of each other, and after what he did to Seth, it’s only to be expected that he’s on our shit list, but the rest of his emotions confuse me.
Actually it makes me wonder what the hell really happened for him to leave Seth and for him to be feeling regret and pain all these years later.
That’s a problem for future Rex to deal with though.
Present Rex has another brother’s problem to handle first.
“Conference room now.” I order, not giving either of them a chance to say anything in reply as I start walking off.
I know they’ll be following behind. Neither of them is stupid enough to ignore a direct order.
Especially from a member of The Khaos Group.
They’re both well aware of who I am and who I work for.
I enter the conference room behind Austin, who moves straight over to the side of the table that faces the door.
There’s no chance either of us would ever choose to sit with our back to a door; that’s asking for trouble.
You never know who could come up behind you in your blind spot; even here inside a secure law enforcement facility, we’d never take such a chance.
As soon as we’ve both taken our seats, Moore and Riviera enter, taking the seats directly opposite us.
Moore is in front of me, while Riviera is in front of Austin.
Moore does not look happy at all that he’s been summoned in here by me.
Tough fucking luck, really. If he’d have done his job right, I wouldn’t be down here all up in his business.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of a visit from the Knightlye brothers?” Moore asks sarcastically.
“Are you sure that’s how you want to play this, Moore?” I ask, tilting my head to the side and studying him.
It doesn’t take long for Moore to become jittery and uncomfortable under my gaze.
“I apologize for my partner.” Riviera says. No doubt deciding he needs to take control of this situation before it spirals out of control. “What can we do to help you?”
“You could do your actual jobs. That would probably be a good start.” Austin says sarcastically, earning a confused look from Riviera and a more sheepish, panicky one from Moore.
“It’s clear from your reaction you have no clue what we’re talking about, Riviera, while Moore here knows exactly what we’re alluding to.
The game’s up, Moore. You tried to play with fire and got burned in the process.
Shall we inform your new partner here about the information you’re hiding away about Micah’s case? ” I say, getting right down to it.
“What the hell is going on? I’m done with whatever the fuck this is. I’ve got a missing kid who I need to be focused on. Not whatever pissing match this is.” Rivera butts into the conversation.
“That’s the thing, though, isn’t it? Micah Williams isn’t missing. He never was.” I reply, dropping the truth of the situation on Riviera.
“Ex-fucking-cuse me. What do you mean Micah was never missing? Someone best fucking start explaining and fast before I lose my shit. A missing child isn’t something to fuck about with.”
“He isn’t missing. I don’t know how else to say it. Trish Williams doesn’t have legal guardianship over him and hasn’t since late last night.” I say as I slap down the paperwork we printed off in front of Riviera so he can see it there in black and white.
Riviera picks up the paperwork and starts scanning it.
I can see the anger in his eyes as he realizes how much of his time has been wasted on this case.
A case that should have never gotten off the ground the way it did.
All it should have taken was typing Micah’s name into their system for the information he’s looking at right now to appear.
If I were to take a guess, I’d say Moore is the one who did the system search and hid away what he’d found so he could use Micah’s case as an excuse to fuck with Devil’s Inferno.
Doing something that stupid is right up that fool’s alley.
“Moore, do you want to explain this? I know for a fact you checked the system before we even went over to The Devil’s Inferno Compound this morning. So how the fuck did you miss this?” Riviera asks, voice laced with suspicion.
“Obviously it wasn’t in our system when I checked. I had no reason to not believe a distraught mother when she came to us with claims of those fucking bikers holding her son hostage. They’re all fucking bad seeds and are a stain on our town.”
“Is he being serious with this shit right now?” Austin says, turning to face me as he speaks.
“He thinks we were born yesterday, bro. I don’t know why you’re surprised by the bullshit coming out of his mouth.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are? Talking about me like I’m not here!” Moore screeches out, slamming his hands down on the table in front of him.
“Watch your fucking tone, Moore. You seem to be forgetting who you’re talking to.
I have much more important things to be doing with my time, but instead I’m down here dealing with your ass because you fucked up again.
Unlike everyone you work with, my hands aren’t tied.
I don’t have to turn a blind eye to what you’re doing.
I’d be very careful who you try to fuck with in the future, Moore.
You never know who they’re connected to. ”
Moore starts to splutter, but no words leave his mouth.
There is nothing he can say right now to get out of this.
He’s been caught red-fucking-handed trying to hide information just so he can pursue his vendetta against Devil’s Inferno.
Honestly, I can’t work out how he ever thought he’d get away with hiding the truth behind Micah’s guardianship.
Probably because I’m not a total moron like he is, it more than likely never even crossed his mind that he’d be found out, far too focused on screwing the MC.