Chapter 25
When the call comes over the radio about the chapel, I know it’s Z and Tate’s wedding. So, I respond. Will it look suspicious, maybe? But I need to make sure everything’s alright. Fuck, being transparent, I need to make sure Drew’s alright.
And because of what happened last night, I’m not sure anyone else would come. They all suspect Z had something to do with Darren’s murder, but they’re still trying to find any evidence to prove it.
“The fuck happened?” I shout at Zeke as I stand from my seat. His face relaxes as if when he realized it’s me and everything’s better.
My eyes search for her. Where is she? Is she okay?
“Ya know, the party got a little rowdy. What the fuck does it look like?” he snaps back at me, making me roll my eyes.
“Who was it?”
I’m not stupid enough to think he’ll answer me, but I have to save face.
“Zeke...” I trail off, lowering my eyes, I’m trying to tell him to let me help him, not as a cop.
“Do you think if I fucking knew, I’d be standing here right now?”
“Is it who killed Caroline and Ash?” I hear the tires of another car behind me, so I step in closer. “Is it who Ash was tracking down?”
“How the fuck do you know anything about my dad trying to find someone?”
The irony is, if I told him, he would never fucking believe me.
My mind blanks as I see her over Zeke’s shoulder moving closer to us. Her eyes lock with mine, and I can read the fear written in them, begging me to wrap my arms around her… or maybe that’s just what I’m hoping for. It takes everything inside me not to do just that.
“You okay?” I can’t help but ask her. Hopefully, it’ll come across as me just doing my job, and not how I’m concerned about her more than anyone else. But not worried enough to put in any more effort.
Drew rolls her eyes at me, not answering as Liv shouts from an approaching car, rushing over.
My eyes are still glued to Drew as Zeke says something, but I’m not listening. I can only imagine telling Liza to stay with Liv.
“No fucking way, I’m going.” Drew snaps, looking over at her brother.
Rolling my eyes at the obvious fight she’s putting up over her brother telling her to go back with the girls. Zeke and I look at one another for a moment, but he doesn’t seem suspicious, at least not yet. Maybe because he thinks the entire argument is just as ridiculous as I do.
“Damnit, Drew.” Zeke groans.
“No, they’re my family, too.”
“Fine!”
I want nothing more than to wrap Drew up, shielding her from it all, and make her tell me she’s okay. I can’t let her out of my sight just yet, so I continue. “I need to get a statement, so I’ll meet you guys at the hospital.”
She rolls her eyes this time before turning and walks back to the SUV.
“Just take this for a statement. It was my brother’s wedding; someone shot the fucking place up. No, I don’t know who fucking did it and no, if I knew I wouldn’t tell you.”
“Mature,” I grunt under my breath as Zeke follows her back to the SUV. Liza mumbles something about needing to grab her things out of Zeke’s car before walking back.
“I don’t like you,” Liv says.
“What?”
But she doesn’t give me a reason, just continues to glare at me.
“Shit,” I mumble, glancing around. “She told you?”
“Yeah, she did. And you don’t have a clue about the damage you did. Stay away from her.”
I’m not sure why I feel the rage elevating over her words.
“You have no idea of the situation.”
It actually makes her laugh this time. “I don’t know.” She steps closer to me, letting out a dark laugh before cutting her eyes. There’s no doubt in this moment that she’s Khan’s daughter. “I’m the one who was trying to pick her up in pieces as she was miscarrying —”
Everything surrounding us comes to a standstill. “What?”
“Shit,” scolding herself. “I wasn’t supposed to say that.” And she quickly moves away as Liza comes back over.
“Liv.” I call after her again, but she doesn’t acknowledge me. “Liv!”
I’m left staring off into the distance, stunned. I know I should stay here and finish the investigation, but as the SUV pulls out of the opposite side of the parking lot. I’m frozen starting at her silhouette through the tinted window before I move over to my car.
* * *
Leaning against the wall outside the waiting room, I see her.
My head is still trying to make sense of what Liv just dropped on me.
“Are you okay?” I whisper.
“Yeah.” She rolls her eyes as I nod to the side of the room, as far away from anyone as we can get. “I’m fine, Eli. Not the first time I’ve been around a shooting.”
“That’s not —” I stop, still not sure what to say.
“Are you asking me if I’m okay months after leaving me alone in bed?”
“No, uh.” I pause again, lowering my voice and leaning closer to her. “You had a miscarriage?” I whispering through a pained voice.
“Fucking Liv.” She scoffs, shaking her head.
“Don’t be too mad at her; she was yelling at me and it slipped out.”
“I’m fine.” She nods her head, but I feel like there’s something underlying she’s refusing to tell me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She doesn’t answer me, just refuses to look at me. “Sketch…”
“Don’t fucking call me that.” She hisses out.
That’s fair.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”
“Like you answered a fucking phone.” She lets out a sad laugh.
“Drew…”
“What?”
Just looking at her.
“I already told you.”
I see Zeke stepping around the corner as Drew’s about to say something else, but I cut her off. “Drew, come on, I need to tell you what happened today.”
I watch the confusion spread across her face.
“Is this an official thing?” Zeke says from behind her, causing her to jump slightly. Her eyes widen as she realizes she had almost said something damning in front of him.
“Maybe you shouldn’t talk to her all by herself.”
“Come on, Zeke.” I scoff out. It’s ridiculous how they treat her as if she’s still a child sometimes. “She’s not a minor.” Yes, let’s remind him of that in case he or anyone else might have heard anything. “In fact, I can actually interrogate her without either of you as well.”
Not to mention I can do a few other things with her without anyone knowing as well.
Scolding myself, I can’t think about those things right now… I’d be lying if I tried to say I don’t think about them at all.
“I was just telling him I didn’t know anything.” She huffs out before storming past him, his shoulder slightly jolting behind him as she hits it.
“I wasn’t trying to step on anyone’s toes.” I admit to him, my eyes finding her once again as she’s walking down the hallway. I can’t keep my eyes from watching her hips sway.
“No, just trying to get information out of my sister. What do you think — she’ll slip up ‘cause she’s the baby?”
I have to force myself from lingering on the word. “No. Not why. She was just the first person I ran into.”
Just leaving out how I intentionally ran into her, and really came by here just so I could talk to her because I just found out I’d gotten her pregnant.
The thought alone tugs at my heart.
“Sure. And what exactly were you asking her?”
“Ya know,” I try to quickly think of something, anything that I could have been asking her except for what we were actually talking about. “The typical shit, what she saw.”
“And what’d she say?”
“Zeke, you know I can’t tell you that. Why don’t you tell me what you saw?”
“What I saw was my brother and his fiancé trying to get married and someone shooting up the church. I saw her sister get caught in the middle. And I saw a bunch of cops not doing their fucking jobs and looking for them, but instead interrogating us over what we must have done to instigate this.”
If I were a good cop, I’d get defensive when he says I’m not doing my job, but I couldn’t give a shit. And honestly, I’ve rarely given any shits about this job.
“So why don’t you do your fucking job before we end up having to do it for you.”
“Ya know, we can’t really do anything if you guys don’t give us something to go on.”
“Fine by me.” He shrugs.
“Where’s your brother?”
“Where do you think? Consoling his crying fiancée.”
I hear Axe mumble something to Zeke as he walks towards him.
“I need to speak with him.” I tell them.
“Well then, follow.” Zeke calls out over his shoulder, not even bothering to look back at me.
Entering the threshold of the room, I watch Z’s eyes cut as he sees me. “What do you want?”
And here I thought we might have crossed into some sort of understanding…
“He needs to question everyone about what happened. He was out questioning Drew when I walked by.”
“What?” Z shouts this time.
“Zane, it’s fine.” Drew says from across the room.
“Don’t you see, Drew, this is what they do.”
“That’s not —” I try to interrupt him, but he just continues over me, taking out his frustrations on me.
“They pick the ones they deem to be the weakest link and try to weasel information out of them.”
“Goddamnit, Z.” I snap. “I couldn’t care less what bullshit you guys do.
If I did, don’t you fucking think I would question you guys about how they found a body this morning in the prison.
I don’t even fucking know how you pulled that shit off, but…
” shaking my head as I force myself back to the topic of…
Drew. “And if I were, why the fuck would I think Drew was the weakest one? She broke my fucking nose when she was 12.” I can see Drew smirking to herself as I shout it at them, in a way defending her.
“Plus, she’s been at school so long she probably doesn’t even know what you guys are doing.
I’m trying to do my fucking job.” Should I know she’s been at school for as long as she has, probably not, but I notice that no one in the room seems to pick up on it.
“Yeah, well, it seems like you’re too interested in what we’re doing. Why is that?” Zeke’s attempting to intimidate me.