26. Poet
26
POET
Cop lights turn the night blue.
We keep Felix in place at the entrance of Caesar’s until cops show and arrest him. Wine shines across his face but it looks more like blood, and photographers swarm around us trying to capture the perfect shot for juicy news stories.
Felix turns to Bully. “This is no way to treat a brother.”
“A brOTHER?” The words gush out of my mouth.
This triggers the press.
“Oh my god! You and Felix are brothers ?”
“Brothers!” shouts a young presenter as her colleagues set up the camera. “Live at the scene. It turns out one of the bikers Zoe Fernando has been seeing is siblings with Felix. The billionaire realtor, responsible for Paul Royal’s murder, turned to his brother—we think his name is Bullwhip—to say, ‘this is no way to treat a brother.’ Twenty minutes ago this evening, Felix faced the music and was heard arguing with wife Zoe behind a curtain—both presumably thought it was a wall until he launched her into it and the fabric gave way. Check out this story in more depth over on our TikTok and Instagram page.”
“Brother?” Wrangler elbows Bullwhip in the side. Through gritted teeth to avoid anyone catching ear of the conversation, he says, “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“We’ll speak later.” Bullwhip eyes us both.
“Nice one, boys, thanks, we’ll take it from here.”
I don’t expect to lock eyes with the same FBI agent who took me in for questioning the other day. Two of his buddies lock iron cuffs around Felix’s wrists and begin to escort him away.
I set my eyes on the officer in front of me. “You said Felix always wins.”
“You proved me wrong.”
“He paid for your silence,” Wrangler butts into the conversation. “Didn’t he?”
I flick wine off my jacket. “So, you knew something was off all along?”
The officer shoots us a long look, and doesn’t open his mouth until his two buddies have escorted Felix into the vehicle parked outside. “I did. It was years ago when I caught him killing somebody. I was armed, yes, but in the middle of the woods, alone, with a serial killer who still had ammunition left in his gun to use up on me. He didn’t pay for my silence—he threatened to murder my family if I reported him. Something has always been suspicious about Felix, and a few officers on my team had started suspecting things these past few months. But the man has simply always been too powerful.” He grins. “There’s no getting out of it now, though, when every citizen in Vegas now knows his true nature.”
The officer looks around at all of us. “I’m sorry for the arrests, you’re all free to go, although I advise all of you to file your taxes to avoid further…investigation. Keep your hands to yourselves from now on. Make sure you’re only taking those Harleys out to simply run the engines. Harrison Reeves?” He turns to me. “They’ll be taking you into questioning when all of this quiets down, following Aaron Davidson’s sexual assault accusations.”
Fucking great.
I stifle an eye roll and nod. It’s not ideal, but at least Zoe and Felix are no more.
She stands outside in the dark giving a statement to the cops. Despite the circumstances, she looks hot tonight, and the red dress brings out the green in her eyes. My favorite part about the dress, though, is the fact that I’ll be removing it tonight, if she lets me.
And if the cops haven’t sentenced me to life for false accusations.
The cop dips a hand into his pocket and retrieves a tissue, which he gives to Zoe.
She pats her eyes.
I catch wind of the conversation. Something about her sister being safe.
“There’s a fleet currently on route to your father’s house now. Is Sammy with him?”
She nods.
“They’ll take her off him, and you’ll be able to collect her from the station. What about Fiona, your sister? You saved her from the tree. Where is she now?”
“At Wrangler’s house.”
“We strongly advise you take her to the ER. If she was minutes from death, a healthcare professional will need to check her over.”
The layers of voices grow louder, the conversation with Zoe and the officer dwindling away. Four microphones have been shoved inches from my face, and I don’t know where to look.
“Did you have a crush on Zoe back when she was your student, Mr. Reeves?”
“How are you feeling tonight?”
“Mr. Reeves, we have two million viewers watching this live stream right now. Are you able to spare two minutes of your precious time and talk us through your relationship with Zoe?”
“Do you guys all, like, do it at the same time?”
“Stop being such a prude and call it a foursome.”
A headache boils my sinuses.
How does Zoe do it?
I turn around and find her wrapping up with the officer. Red hair lifts in the wind and blows behind her like a flag. Looking at her makes off of the voice fade away.
In this world, it’s just me, Zoe, Sammy, and my two friends.
Nothing else matters.
Later down the line, she could break my heart and force me to clean up all of the pieces, and it’d be worth it for getting to be by her side. Yes, happiness is short-lived and not promised in the future, but you have to grab it with both hands. Embrace the journey instead of fearing the end—the threat of Felix Fernando has taught me that.
The officer leaves Zoe’s side, and she turns to look into Caesar’s, catching my eye.
We share a triumphant smile.
Until the officer takes possession of my hands and says, “Harrison Reeves, you’re under arrest for suspicion of sexual assault.”