CHAPTER 41
maverick
Jesus fuck, Harley,” I grumbled as banging on my door pulled me out of an unsettled sleep.
I glanced at the clock. It wasn’t even ten in the morning yet.
Harley had been gone for maybe an hour. There was no way in hell he’d made it there, talked to his mother, and come back—not unless something was wrong.
And if something was wrong, he would’ve blown up my phone.
Ignoring the banging, I grabbed my phone.
Dead. Shit, I’d forgotten to charge it—something I did way more than I should’ve.
As I rolled out of bed, I plugged it in real quick.
All the while, the noise at my door didn’t end.
If anything, it grew more incessant and aggressive.
I had no doubt that Aidan was at the door, pissed off and being a dick, with some kind of demand he expected of me.
Knowing him, he wouldn’t stop until I answered the door.
I was halfway to the door when I heard it.
“Maverick Fox, this is the police,” a rough voice called out. “We know from your car outside that you’re in there. Open up.”
I froze, my heart practically dropping out of my chest as my blood ran cold. Police? What the hell were the police doing here? They weren’t breaking down the door, so that was a good sign. At least, I was hoping it was a good sign.
“Fuck,” I let out. I ran a shaky hand through my hair while my pulse jumped in my neck, wild and unsteady. There was no good reason for the police to be outside my door. Rushing back to my room, I grabbed a shirt and made sure to button my jeans. I didn’t need to answer the door half-naked.
I rubbed my sweating palms on my thighs as I went to answer the door, trying to calm my nerves. It’d be okay. Everything was okay. Two police cars and four officers stood outside my home. The one closest backed up slightly as my screen door swung outward.
“Can I help you?” I asked, doing my best to sound normal.
“Step outside, please.” The first—Officer Johannson, by his name tag—made a small gesture for me to join him outside.
“I’d like to know what this is all about,” I replied. Even still, I stepped out. As soon as my feet hit the grass, I was ushered away from the door by two of them.
“Hands on your head,” Johannson ordered as he turned me around. I did what he asked, my body functioning on autopilot and going through the motions, even as my mind struggled to keep up. “Maverick Fox, you are under arrest for burglary.”
The world came to a screeching halt around me as my heart damn near stopped in my chest. I had to be hearing things. I couldn’t be…
“What—”
“You have the right to remain silent,” he continued over me. I moved with him as he arranged my hands behind my back and handcuffed me. They weren’t overly tight, but they were suffocating nonetheless. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
“Who the fuck did I steal from?” I demanded as I tried to get a word in edgewise. This had Aidan written all over it. This had to be something he did—some mistake of his that I was paying for. “I haven’t done anything! You want my brother—”
“If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you,” he cut me off once more. “Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”
“Yeah, but you’ve got the wrong—”
“Are you waiving your rights to an attorney?”
“Yes! No! I just… who the hell are you saying I robbed?” I was practically pleading at this point. My mind raced as I tried to keep up with the conversation—tried to make sense of everything—but it was all too much at once. There had to be some kind of mistake.
“We have a warrant for your trailer and your car,” he told me. “Do you have any weapons inside that we should be aware of?”
“I have a hunting knife under my mattress,” I mumbled. “And a pocket knife in one of the kitchen drawers.”
“Okay,” he said. He walked me over to a spot by the police cars. “Don’t move, do you understand? Don’t do anything stupid, son, and this will go by easily.”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “I won’t.”
And so I stood there, helpless, as they ripped apart my life without hesitation or care.
They tossed around my stuff like it was worthless as they searched through every inch of what little I’d built for myself.
Of what I’d bought with my hard-earned money.
What they were looking for was beyond me, but the damage they caused as they tore through everything would take me forever to fix or replace. If there was any fixing it.
When Johannson and some other officer turned their attention to my car, I watched them more closely and hoped to hell they wouldn’t treat it like crap, like they had my home.
Most of my money went into keeping that car running.
It was my lifeline. I didn’t need a bunch of cops wrecking it and costing me more money than I could afford.
I also knew I’d have to explain the hidden money in the trunk, which I knew didn’t look good, considering the circumstances. I was ready to cite a mistrust in banks, even though my mistrust was in Aidan going through my mail.
Their search of the interior was at least decent. They emptied my glove compartment and dumped the papers I had in there on the lawn.
“There’s a safe under the carpet,” I said when they popped my trunk. I wasn’t stupid. It was better to cooperate than hope they didn’t find it. “There are no weapons in it. It’s just money.”
“Okay,” Johansson replied. He flipped up the rug and found the compartment where I kept my safe. He pulled it out and set it on the grass.
“The key is with my car keys in the kitchen.” At least, they had been in the kitchen. Who knew where they put them as they moved everything around.
He just nodded. I waited as they tracked down my keys and flipped open the lid. A quiet exchange of words rolled through them. Or maybe they were loud as fuck. Who knew?
All the blood had rushed from my head the minute they opened it, and I saw what was inside.
The world tipped around me. My stomach turned violently, bile rising in my throat, and I dragged in an unsteady breath.
All the money I’d worked my ass off to save was gone.
In its place was a pile of expensive-looking jewelry.
Only one person would’ve taken my money and planted stolen jewelry in its place.
Aidan.
This was his way of making me regret my refusal to do his dirty work. This was payback for standing up to him.
This was going to destroy me.
“I think I’d like that lawyer now,” I whispered, my voice almost inaudible. Though I wasn’t sure how much good it’d do me at this point. The pile of jewelry was damning.
“What’d you say?” Johannson demanded. He stepped closer, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the safe.
“I said I think I’d like that lawyer now,” I repeated a little louder, feeling incredibly small as I watched my world fall apart right in front of me.
“Smart choice, kid,” he said. His hand touched my elbow. “Let’s get you back to the station to be processed.”
I barely heard him. There was no way I could talk myself out of this one. No one would believe me. I had no evidence. And fuck if I could afford a good lawyer. I was screwed.