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“Take him down the back stairs,” Compton instructed, “I don’t want my daughter to have to see this.”
Draco could only thank god for that. Lara wouldn’t be humiliated by the public scene involving her “boyfriend”, not unless her dad chose to do so.
While his arms were jerked behind his back, he stared at Compton, determined to face up to him.
He heard the clink of cuffs on his wrists.
His chest was tight, but for some reason all he could think of was Lara sitting there at their desks with two cups of coffee, looking out, waiting for him, and the image wouldn’t go away. Not during the slow walk down the stairs or when he was bundled into a police van, or even when he was locked up in the local constabulary holding cells.
Forget her, it’s over, he told himself. But it wouldn’t go away.
All he could see was Lara, waiting. Even when he closed his eyes.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Draco paced the small holding cell almost continuously overnight, but when he heard keys rattling in the door, he sat down on the edge of the bed—such as it was. The cold, concrete plinth jutted out from the wall, dressed in a filthy, slender mattress and a uniform grey blanket. The void inside him was twice as cold.
A police officer brought in a plate holding a mug of tea and a dry piece of toast. “Breakfast.”
“No, thanks.”
The officer put the plate on the floor and gestured at it. “Drink it, you’ll be leaving soon.”
Before Draco had a chance to ask anything, the officer turned away and was gone, relocking the cell door as he went.
Leaving? They were letting him out until he was charged.
Draco sipped the lukewarm tea and tried to decide what to do when he got out of there. He hadn’t considered it. The cold void of loss inside him hadn’t allowed him to do so.
Rory had texted his address to him a few days before, and made a big point of inviting him over to stay. It was a peace offering, because he’d been so much more agreeable about them seeing each other. Right now it sounded good. Sanctuary, maybe. He’d already had to give his home address in Wales to the police, and he
wasn’t ready to resort to going home as yet. Rowan had enough on her plate without him turning up like a stray dog that had been starved and kicked.
He’d let his previous room go when he’d moved into the apartment with Lara. He didn’t have a base in London now, but if Rory and Sky were really open to him he could go there, get his head together, and try to put this behind him. It wouldn’t be easy to do that, because of Lara. Draco simply couldn’t imagine not seeing her again. That’s exactly what he should do, to keep her safe.
Yes, Rory and Sky’s sounded good.
Beyond that, he couldn’t think straight. He’d spent the whole bloody night going back over what he’d said in his statement – double-checking he hadn’t in any way implicated Lara. Hopefully he’d kept his back up story straight, stating he’d ingratiated himself with her at college, and she knew nothing of his background and his relationship to Sean Rattigan and hacking.
It’d been hard enough to give his statement, and afterwards, alone in the cell, no matter how many times he went over it, it got harder to be sure. It didn’t help that the crackhead in the next cell kept shouting his mouth off and kicking at the walls. The noise and what was behind it rubbed Draco up the wrong way, shaving way too close to the bone of his childhood memories. It brought back the many nights he’d spent on the landing outside his sister’s door in case their mum lashed out at the girls. It also hammered home there would be more of the same ahead, once the courts banged him up properly for cyber crime at Compton finances.
Soon enough, the key in the door drew him to his feet. There were two officers standing there and one of them gestured for him to leave. The other guided him through the warren of corridors and out into the station processing area. Predictably, they double checked his place of abode and then returned his possessions to him.
“You’re free to go,” the desk duty officer said as he pushed the tray toward Draco.
Draco lifted out his belt and began to put it on. “Court date?”
“Charges have been dropped.” The policeman eyeballed him suspiciously. “You got lucky. This time.”
Charges have been dropped. Draco had to silently repeat the words several times before he realized the significance. What the hell?
The police officer nudged the tray containing the rest of his possessions toward him, urging him to take his stuff.
Snapping to it, Draco pocketed his wallet and phone and put on his watch.
A moment later, he heard the heavy bolt on the door behind him.
Beyond the open door, he saw Lara rising to her feet from the chairs in the waiting area. Lara. Looking pale and fretful, but it was really her. She was really here and waiting for him.
