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Chapter One
Atlas
Present Day
Theblaringscreechof a ringing phone broke through my dreams, and I bolted upright with a start. Sweat coated my skin as I blinked against the darkness, so thick it felt like it was pressing in. My chest tightened; my mind spun as I tried to orient myself.
The phone rang again, disrupting my panic.
“Shit,” I grumbled.
My eyes adjusted, and I realized I was in my own bedroom. I clicked the lamp on my bedside table. The light instantly calmed my nerves. I pushed my unruly hair out of my eyes and took a steadying breath before reaching for the phone next to the lamp. My stomach dropped at the sight of the name on the screen.
I cleared my throat, but it was still hoarse from sleep as I answered. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me.” The familiar voice of Colton, the person I considered my best friend, came from the other end. “Sorry to call so early, but…” He paused. “I have Ty at the station.”
I drew in a sharp breath, releasing it before speaking. “How bad?” I asked, my jaw tight.
“We picked him up at a party. He was in a fight on the front lawn.”
I closed my eyes, shoulders sagging. “I’m leaving now.” I swung my legs over the side of the bed. I hadn’t taken off my uniform from the night before and all I had to do was slip my shoes on. I’d worked a long shift and the moment my body hit my bed I’d fallen asleep, even though the sun hadn’t even set. Which was why I’d forgotten to turn on the light.
“I’m sorry, man.”
“I know.”
“It’s just me and Ben tonight. The chief won’t know.”
I rolled my eyes. The chief always knew. And I, or Ty at least, was running out of get-out-of-jail-free cards. I stumbled from my room and down the hall and out the front door, exhaustion clinging to me like the dew coating the lawn.
“I’m getting in my car now. I’ll see you soon.” My police cruiser sat in the driveway, and I unlocked the doors with the key fob.
“Okay, man.”
I disconnected the call and shoved my phone in my pocket. The cool night was almost a distant memory as the muggy summer air rolled in. The sky was gradually lightening, the sun almost ready to make its appearance.
I wrenched the door to my vehicle open and got inside. The engine rumbled to life, the AC blasting me in the face.
“Damn it, Ty,” I mumbled under my breath and gripped the steering wheel. I was sick of this. Jaw clenched tight, I backed out of the driveway and drove to the police station for what I hoped was the last time to pick up my little brother.
I pulled up to the station as the sun crested over the hills in the distance. I didn’t waste time watching it, though. Immediately I jumped out of my cruiser and headed right to our local lockup, often referred to as the drunk tank. In a town as small as Cypress Falls, there weren’t a whole lot of high-crime offenders.
Colton stood from the desk the moment I stormed through the door, his chair screeching against the dirty linoleum. His nose wrinkled as he took me in.
“Damn, I didn’t know you were working today.” His eyes scanned my rumpled uniform.
I gritted my teeth. “I’m not.”
I held my hand out.
Colton glanced at my open palm for a moment before fishing a set of keys from the top desk drawer. “I took him in through the back. I don’t think anyone knows he’s here.”
I clutched the keys in a fist and nodded. That was probably best. But this wouldn’t work forever. There would come a time when my friends at the station stopped seeing Ty as my punk-ass little brother and started to see him as a real problem.
I turned stiffly to the wall of bars at the other end of the room. Ty draped his long arms between the spaces of the small cage, dark blood splattered on his knuckles. He leaned his forehead against the metal as he stood, staring at me. His lips split against a lopsided smirk.
“What took you so long, bro?” he asked, a dark curl falling over his eyes.
