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“Gentlemen,” Mel greets, her chin lifted high. “We heard you were looking for Justine Pracht, and here she is. But as long as you don’t have a warrant for her arrest, I’m the one you talk to–Melody Sorbaine, law student. Not a lawyer yet, but we’ll be sure to get her one if she needs us to.” For whoever doesn’t know her, she’s all the confident law trainee, knowing exactly what she’s doing. But the telltale signs of her discomfort aren’t lost on me. The oh-so-slight tremor in her chin, the way her fingers curl and uncurl by her sides.
Eva and Annie stand behind me like soldiers, Eva with an unblinking hard stare that she must have acquired during her troubled teen years, and Annie shifting from one leg to the other like a schoolgirl with something to hide. As for me, all I want to do is bite the shit out of my fingernails, but I manage to get a grip.
The officer in charge sweeps his eyes over us from under bushy eyebrows. If he’s intimidated to find himself in an elite university full of the most influential rich kids in the country, he doesn’t show it. He looks like he’s done this before, and nothing can surprise him. Judging by the streaks of gray that flank the sides of his head despite his full head of hair, he’s in his fifties. A man with experience, and not much patience for spoiled kids by the look on his face.
“As a matter of fact, we are here to take Miss Pracht in for interrogation,” he announces, his voice vibrating out of a barrel-like chest. He doesn’t take my friend seriously as my legal defender, if his tone is any indication. “So unless you’re a licensed lawyer, I’d ask you to step aside.”
Ice shoots down from my chest to my legs and feet. My brain frantically tries to grasp what he just said. People around me are mumbling and muttering, but they’re all drawing back.
“What? Wait, what’s happening here?” Mel blabbers. “On–On what grounds? I mean, why take her in, you could ask her your questions here, it’s not like she’s a suspect or anything.” She stops abruptly, realizing she’s doing more harm than good.
I could swear Boss Officer just repressed the urge to roll his eyes.
“Well, let’s see, apparently she is the missing person’s ex-girlfriend, and she has a motive to hate him, since he spread revenge porn in chat groups after they broke up.”
“Then maybe he should be the one in custody,” Eva puts in, jutting out her chin.
Annie comes forward, doing the chin thing too with a pointed, “Yeah.”
Boss Officer’s bored eyes flicker to them once before he signals the other two guys with two fingers.
They quickly stuff their pads behind their backs and step forward, reaching for me.
The world just stops making sense. Annie’s nickname for me, Justice, gets a face of her own in my head, a clown laughing out loud to fill my skull. Hysterically. The closer those big hands come for me, the clearer I see my whole life go down the drain. Despair clogs my throat, and I choke on my own saliva.
Dad’s face flashes through my mind, shocked, then utterly destroyed. I see him falling down to his knees with his head in his hands, defeated. He’ll never recover from this. I should just step back from those hands and try to run away, but instead, I just watch them come an inch away from wrapping around my wrists and elbows.
“Get your hands off of her, if you want to keep them.” That voice, like low thunder, snaps me back to reality.
I raise my eyes to watch Sade’s big body positioning itself between me and the officers like a wall. His triceps look like rocks as they flex under the short sleeves of his black t-shirt, his hands reaching behind for me. Silently bidding me to place mine in them while he faces the officers. I do, my fingers trembling over the blood encrusted on the scars in his palm.
“Mr. Royales.” There’s reverence in Boss Officer’s voice as he says his name. Then, clearing his throat, “I’m sorry if this inconveniences you, but we need to take your girlfriend in for questioning.”
Everybody gasps, and those who don’t, hold their breath. Me? I just try to keep my heart from jumping out of my throat. Waiting for him to deny it. For Gertrude to burst into hysterical laughter. Forsomeoneto step in and say no, no, no, I’m not his girlfriend, this is one huge misunderstanding. But nothing comes. No denial. Not even from Sade.
“If you want to take her in, you’re gonna have to go through me,” he says instead. He sounds composed, as if no force in the world could knock him down from between me and the men trying to take me away.
Silence ensues, the officers’ unease palpable in the air.
“Mr. Royales,” Boss Officer finally speaks, slowly, trying to calm the situation. “We don’t want to cause any trouble here. I assure you that we have good reason to believe Miss Pracht could have valuable information about what happened to Mr. Rowland.”
“How about you give us some information first,” Sade counters, an authority in his voice that echoes across the entire hall. The men step back so that I can see them now, too, without having to lean too much sideways to peek past Sade.
The two officers glance at each other, then at their boss, and then at Sade, not sure what to do next. Boss Officer doesn’t look all that bored anymore either, grappling to keep his position in the conversation. But the gaping faces all around are what draw my attention.
I’ve never seen the students from Norton King’s so awe-struck. It’s as if an asteroid just landed in the midst of our main student lounge.
“When did our friend Mr. Rowland disappear? Who saw him last, and where did he disappear from?” Sade lists. “How about we start with those?”
“We’re not allowed to disclose that kind of information–”
“You can’t give out information, but you want to drag Miss Pracht to the police station just like that,” Sade cuts Boss Guy off. He dwarfs the man so naturally, the latter looks unsure how to handle this. “It’s a travesty that things actually work out for you guys under normal circumstances, but Miss Pracht is under my protection, and she’s not going anywhere without me.”
Boss Guy frowns. “Last time I checked, Mr. Royales, you were studying Weapon Engineering, not Law.”
“Well, I’m not here as her lawyer,” Sade offers curtly.
Again that murmuring, pregnant with questions. He just holds the officer’s stare, and even though I can’t see his face, I know he’s not even blinking. But his large hands close around mine, behind his back, their warmth spreading out to the rest of my body. I step closer to him and rest my forehead against his back. Even though the officers are still here, I breathe out in relief. If I know one thing for sure about Sade Royales, it’s that no one gets past him. I’m as safe as I could ever be.
