Page 100 of Cole

I unlocked the door and police immediately burst in. I raised my hands to show I wasn’t resisting, but regardless, they handled me like I was a ticking time bomb. They cuffed me, wrenching my hands behind my back. Isabelle never took her eyes from mine as Ronnie came in and huddled close to her, taking her hand.

“Cole Bailey, we are arresting you—” the arresting officer swore as he nearly tripped over a pile of boxes in the corner of the office.

I waited to hear what shit they were trying to pin on me after that article. It wouldn’t stick, there was no way, but the cops loved their performative BS.

He recovered and straightened up.

“We’re arresting you on the suspicion of the murder of Grant Elwick. You have the right to remain silent…”

Wait. What the fuck?

thirty-four

ISABELLE

Time seemed to stop. Everyone was moving in slow motion. Ronnie was grabbing me, trying to hold me back as I ran after the cops. They were dragging Cole outside. The bar was full of Hounds, watching silently as their Pres was marched out. They were all armed and dangerous men. I knew this could turn into a shoot-out at any second. Many looked like they were seconds away from drawing.

Cole looked around his bar and firmly shook his head. He didn’t want anyone doing anything. His word was so valued, no one dared to go against him.

They took him outside and put him in the back of the cop car.

“What the fuck did they say they were arresting him for?” Maddox demanded, coming to stand beside me.

“Murder. Murder of Grant Elwick,” I repeated numbly.

“Who the fuck is Grant Elwick?” Gage asked, looking like he was about to lose it. I knew the feeling.

“He’s… no one to Cole,” I muttered, pulling Cole’s truck keys from my pocket. “I need to go and see my parents.”

Ronnie followed me outside. “Don’t drive too fast, or anything. It’s the last news Cole needs. Go with Derek, Cole trusted him to watch your back. Derek, do your fucking job!” she shouted at a guy standing outside by the bikes. He stumbled forward and went for his bike.

I got to the truck and climbed inside. Hysteria bubbled up in my chest. I could barely keep it down. But I needed answers, first and foremost.

I started the truck, barely registering Derek driving his bike alongside me, and pulled out onto the road.

The drive to my parents’ house was done on autopilot. I was lost in my head, going over what I knew, which was far too little to figure anything out. The gate opened excruciatingly slowly, and I drove inside impatiently, quickly abandoning the truck and ignoring Derek, who pulled up and parked right behind me.

“Keys!” he shouted to me as I ran for the steps to the house.

I tossed him my keys and headed inside. I didn’t know exactly who he was, but if Cole trusted him, that was enough for me.

“Mom! Dad! Where are you?”

I walked through the first floor of the house, toward the kitchen. I found my parents in the orangery.

“Is it true?” I demanded, but as soon as I saw my mother’s face, I knew that it was.

She was sitting with my dad on a bench, blotchy and red, holding tissues.

“Yes, it’s true,” my father said grimly, standing up and shoving a hand through his hair.

“Grant Elwick is dead?” I said, needing to hear it to believe it. It was so sudden.

My father nodded. “Grant is dead, and our fucking shares are sliding into a black hole.”

“Shares? You’re worrying about shares right now?”

My father looked at me. “What should I be worried about? The fact that my daughter has been sleeping around with a murderer?”