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Something that I saw in my own eyes a time or two lately.
“Hayes relayed my last known location,” Malachi said. “A place that he heard though he thought it might’ve been a hallucination. The SEAL team that brought him out went to investigate and found me.”
“And obliterated the threat once and for all,” the commander added as an afterthought.
“Why weren’t you mentioned when we were told about Hayes?” I asked curiously. “Why not just tell me you were alive? You look like you’ve been out for a couple of days at least.”
Malachi shook his head. “I had a raging fever. Shit wasn’t good in my head. They were… I was on suicide watch. It was only after the fever subsided that I was able to debrief. Once that was done, I asked to come home. To find you.”
He rubbed his face as if he was trying to clear his mind. “There’s a lot more, I’m sure. But what is this about the cops that we heard on the way over here? Tim has an in with a few people. When we were trying to find you, we were told that you were out on bail for murder.”
I told him, the commander, Tim and everybody else what I’d learned in the last twenty-four hours, not leaving a single thing out.
Because honestly, I was so fucking tired of other people dictating my life.
I wanted to goddamn live it.
I didn’t want to play any games anymore.
Not only had I been held as a prisoner of war for over a year, but I also had to deal with this shit when I came home?
Yeah, this was a fuckin’ joke for sure.
“I…”
A polite knock sounded at the door.
We all swiveled our heads to find the repaired door swaying on its hinges.
It was repaired, just not very well.
Ember—my mom—got up to answer it, but my father pulled her back down and answered it himself.
I, as well as everyone else in the room, was surprised to find the detective who’d questioned me the majority of the time today and yesterday at the door.
He was looking quite sheepish.
“Um,” he said at seeing the room full of people. “Uhhh.” He licked his lips. “I’ve come to offer an apology.”
Malachi stood as well as me.
Frankie was soon to follow.
I felt her pressing up against my back as my dad let the detective in through the ruined door.
The detective took in the room full of men and two women, then flushed.
“Uhh,” he said again. “We had a man come in to offer a confession. You’ve been exonerated of all charges.”
He’d said that to Hayes of all people.
Or, more importantly, he’d said it to me, but had kept his wary eyes on Hayes who looked like he’d lose his shit at any second.
Malachi laughed darkly.
“That’s it?” he asked. “Are you going to tell us everything else?”
“You his twin?” the detective wondered.
Malachi crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, he’s my brother.”
And something felt so right about that statement that I felt it deep in my heart.
Hayes moved to my other side, and it was then I realized that it wasn’t only Malachi that I had.
Tim was fast to flank Hayes’ other side.
The detective stiffened at seeing four fucked-up Navy SEALS staring him down.
“The…” He cleared his throat. “There was this boat captain. Apparently, the kid thought to come back after an altercation. The boat captain witnessed him slap the girl he was with. The boat captain punched him so that he wouldn’t hurt her again. The kid fell and cracked his head on the side of the boat. The captain pulled him out of the water and tossed him on the beach next to his friend that apparently the kid had slapped the hell out of over something, rendering her unconscious.”
“What something?” Malachi asked.
My question exactly.
The detective’s gaze moved to look at Frankie.
I stiffened.
“Apparently the kid had a thing for her,” he said, gesturing to Frankie with a jerk of his head. “Some more things were said about a shooting near your place.” He gestured at Frankie with his head again. “About Brent getting jealous about this other kid that lived across the street from her. Watched her workout in a sports bra, how hot she is, shit like that. She accused him of shooting this kid. Brent didn’t take kindly to being accused. And when the girl called him on it, he hit her. When she woke, it was to find the captain running away. Her eyes were unfocused, and all she could see were the scars. She immediately thought of you.”
That simple.
A mix-up of epic proportions that had fucked up all of our day.
“You will fix this door,” my mom ordered. “And you’ll find a way for us to stay here for another week.”
The detective looked as if he was going to argue, but my mother wasn’t taking no for an answer.
