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I reacted, struggled, tried to dislodge the cloth pressed firmly against my lips. An arm banded around my waist, pulling me back against something solid. My body grew heavy. Darkness converged around the edges of my vision, but still, I fought, digging my nails into the person who held me.
The more I tried to kick and scream, the weaker I got, until everything went black.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SHANE
Idecided to spend the night at Mom’s house and left in the morning feeling a little more centered after hanging out and talking with her.
Mom’s final words about Winter bugged me more than I let her know.Why would anyone think she killed her sister? Winter could be downright evil—I was privy to that knowledge when I was younger—but would she kill her sister?No. I couldn’t see that, not from the girl I’d gotten to know a little better this year.
Traffic was light as I drove to Thane. I couldn’t miss another one of my classes and should make it on time. I cranked the tunes and increased my speed to five over the limit. So many things weighed on me—Joe, Grandad, and of course, Winter. And the pending arrival of Phoenix and Aspen’s baby.
I moved over a lane and passed a slower car. It was hard to believe that in a month and a half, I would be an uncle. That little girl had no idea what kind of family she was about to be born into. We would spoil her and never let her date when she got older. No one would mess with her.
Good thing it was Phoenix and not me who’d gotten an instant family. He knew what he wanted and always had—to play in the NFL. And he was good enough to go in the first round of the draft. Adding a wife and kid would be challenging, but if anyone could succeed, it was Phoenix. I was so proud of my brother and hoped he knew it.
If that had happened to me, it could have been with Tracey—though I’d been aware of her gold digger ways, despite how I’d played it with my family—or worse, Professor Elian. I cringed at the reminder of the crazy I would have to deal with.
The cars around me slowed, and I glanced in my mirrors to see why. Two squad cars with lights flashing tore down the highway directly behind me. Turn signal on, I moved over a lane. They followed. Alarm spiked in my bloodstream, sending a jolt of tingles down to my hands as I gripped the wheel tightly.What do they want?I’d done nothing wrong.
One of the cop cars swerved and got in front of me, decelerating. I slammed on the brakes to avoid a collision. A fleeting thought ran through my mind that I wouldn’t be able to sell my SUV if I got in a wreck. It was stupid. I had much bigger things to worry about. With a flick of my fingers, I pulled over to the shoulder. The cops sandwiching me followed until we came to a complete stop. I put my SUV in park. Leaning forward slightly, I went for my wallet but found my pocket empty.Shit.It wasn’t there.Goddammit.I must have left it at Winter’s.
No driver’s license. I was so fucked.
Whatever happened, I wouldn’t take a chance and lean over to get my insurance card in case they thought I had a weapon in the glove compartment. I didn’t, but damn, it wasn’t good.
I lowered the window, my gaze volleying between the squad car in front and the car visible in my mirrors parked behind me. Car doors opened, and I stayed still with my seat belt on.
I rubbed clammy palms along my jeans. No way would I be getting out of the ticket they would give me due to driving without my license. It wasn’t what I needed. And I’d had enough of the police station to last a lifetime.
Guilt pierced me at that last thought. Luke lurked in the back of my mind at all times, how one mistake on my part had ended his life.He was messed up, but who was I to be his judge, jury, and executioner?It was a habit from high school I had to break. Something I’d learned the hard way.But have I grown at all from it?No. I hated to admit it, but with how things had played out with Winter, what I wanted to do, that told me I hadn’t.I need to be better.
I snapped back to the present. My gaze alternated from the car in front to my mirrors to see what was happening behind me. I watched as cops jumped out of their vehicles, guns trained on me. I flattened my hands on the dash.What the fuck is going on?
“Shane Bennett?” The cop behind me growled his question.
The officer stood at my open window, his hand resting on the butt of his gun. He had dark-brown hair cropped close, a slightly hooked nose that was too big for his face, and alert eyes locked on me with an intensity that said everything he wasn’t—accusation. I was guilty of something.But what? Were the Greens involved?
“Yes, I’m Shane.” I didn’t offer an excuse. I wasn’t speeding excessively, which made the dread sit heavier in my gut as to why so many of them had pulled me over. “Is there a problem, Officer?” There was no reason to have one until he asked for my license and registration.
“I need you to step out of the vehicle. Hands where I can see them,” the same guy commanded.
I wanted to argue. But things would have gone from bad to worse, so I complied. With slow, precise movements, I unbuckled my seat belt and opened the door.
As I followed the direction, I noted how the cars passing us on the highway slowed, gaping to see what idiot was being arrested. It was a fucking nightmare, and I was getting PTSD flashes from when they’d come and arrested me at Mom’s house for Luke’s death.
Hands raised to my shoulders, palms facing forward, I stood towering over the officer, my shoulders far broader than his.
“Step around to the back of your vehicle.” A muscle leaped in his jaw, and his eyes narrowed.
I did as he said, not liking the heavy tension in the air. Something was going down, and I had no clue why I seemed to be under suspicion. “What’s this about?”
“Hands behind your head.”
“What’s going on?” Beads of sweat edged my hairline. I hadn’t done anything—or nothing new.I tensed, my gaze darting from one officer to the next.
The cop reacted. I realized too late that he’d read my body language as a sign of aggression. I was pulled around the back bumper of my SUV and told to lie down face-first. My hands went to the concrete, tiny stones and glass biting into my palms. When I was in the position they wanted with my ankles crossed, my hands were yanked behind my back and secured.
