Page 56 of Exile
I look him dead-ass in the eyes and bite out four words. “I want a lawyer.”
Unfazed by my coldness, Wilcox leans forward on his elbows, like he’s ready to tell me a secret. “We’ll get to that part, but first I was hoping we could have a little chat, off the record.”
Off the record? The fuck we will. I sit back in my seat and scoff out, “Lawyer.”
Wilcox presses on, either completely drunk off the power his position affords him, or completely oblivious to how fucking illegal his behavior is.
“I know a lot about you, Kai Roberts. I know you still live with your parents and house sit while they travel the country during their retirement. I know you are a scholarship student at BFU. I know you volunteer at the Boys and Girls club downtown. I know you live next door to Serena Malcolm and have been friends with her for years. I know you also show up to protests and demonstrations for police justice with your camera and fight for what you believe is right. Am I wrong on any of these facts, Mr. Roberts?”
I stare at him, my eyes narrowing in suspicion, trying to figure out his angle.
“I’m only trying to establish facts. Facts that I think will prove we are on the same side on this issue.” When I remain silent, Wilcox blows out an exasperated sigh before continuing on. “I don’t believe you abducted Serena. I know you have no reason to trust me because I work with Dominick, but I am here to help you. I’ve been his partner for almost a year now, and I have seen some shit that concerns me. I haven’t been able to get any solid proof of wrongdoing on his end on my own, but I think if we work together, we can take him down.”
He has my attention now. Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on the table and give a slight nod to let him know I’m listening. I’m not gonna say a fucking word without a lawyer present, but if this guy is for real, this may be my ticket out of this situation.
Wilcox must understand my hesitation to trust him, so he presses on. “A couple of months ago when Serena was attacked by those frat bros at Mav’s, I heard Dom talking to Eric about how he wanted her to quit working there. Dom kept playing up how worried he was about her and how he just wanted to take care of her. Eric suggested maybe she needed a little scare to encourage her to give the job up. They came up with a plan for Eric to encourage those dumbasses to harass her again to retaliate against Dom, and Dom was supposed to show up and be the hero. Now, I don’t know if shooting that fuckhead was part of the plan or if Dom got carried away in the moment…” Wilcox trails off, biting his lower lip like he’s debating on saying the rest. “But he was bragging about ridding the world of a rapist piece of shit and said his only regret was that he didn’t shoot both of them.”
I am unmoved by his confession. “Bragging about shooting a rapist seems like standard cop behavior to me.” I shrug, not willing to give him more than that.
“Right, you’re not wrong. But is it standard cop behavior to set up the assault? Is it standard cop behavior to have your buddies stalk your girl and report back when they catch her out with someone else? Even if it is innocent, like running into her best friend on a sidewalk? Is it standard cop behavior to radio your partner to go pick up your girl when she leaves the house, with instructions to bring her to you at the station no matter what she says? Is it standard cop behavior to have your buddy throw her best friend in a holding cell overnight—after a peaceful protest—just to teach him a lesson?”
That part has my attention. “What did you say?”
“Look, Dom’s had his eyes on Serena for a while. He’d been going to her coffee shop, building familiarity before he nutted up and asked her out. He knew about your friendship with her and planned on doing what needed to be done to get you out of her life. I’ve seen him do some incredibly sketchy shit over the last year, and it’s escalated since he started seeing Serena. I don’t think she’s safe with him, and I think you know that.” My heart pounds in my chest at the sincerity of his words. He believes Serena. He believes us.
“I didn’t get into this line of work to harass people and abuse my power. I got into this line of work to serve the people of this community. I know there is a lot of fucked up shit going on behind the scenes, but I want to do what I can to fix it from the inside. Dom thinks I’m some dumb, idealistic, do-gooder rookie, so he’s not going to see this coming. I think if we work together, we can put his corrupt ass behind bars.”
“Let me call my lawyer, and I’ll tell you everything I know. I will do whatever it takes to bring this abusive piece of shit down and save my girl.” A slow, sad smile spreads across Dane’s face at my words.
“I was hoping you would say that.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
SERENA
Dom leads me into his house (I will never refer to it as my home ever again, not after what Dom did to me, not after what Kai did for me) with a bruising grip around my arm. I don’t fight back, not now. Not while he holds Kai’s entire future in his hands. Not while he’s the only person who knows where my mother is. I can’t risk it. When we cross the threshold, my eyes immediately start scanning the room for my mom, desperate to see her and know she’s okay.
“She’s not here, Kitten.”
A pit opens up in my stomach as Dominick nonchalantly crushes the tiny bit of hope that had been blooming in my chest.
“What do you mean she’s not here? You said you had her!” My voice takes on a shrill quality as anger begins to overtake fear as the primary emotion driving me.
“I said I was the only person who knows where she is. And that’s how it’s going to stay until I’m sure you’re going to be a good kitten and behave.” Dom tightens his grip on my arm, causing my fingers to tingle from the loss of circulation.
“Please, she can’t be alone somewhere strange. She’ll get confused. She’ll be scared.” I don’t know how it’s physically possible for me to be able to produce more tears. Not after the last twenty-four hours, but they’re there, spilling down my cheeks, my worry for the woman who raised me more than I can bear.
“Oh, don’t worry. She’s safe. Enough. But you’re gonna prove to me how sorry you are first before I think about letting you see her.” Dom leans in, brushing his dark stubble against my cheek. I fight to contain the urge to flinch as his hot breath hits my neck a second before his tongue licks a path along my jaw. I don’t fight his kiss this time, fear for my mother keeping my instincts firmly in the “freeze” territory of fight, flight or freeze. I breathe in deeply through my nose and clear my mind of everything but Mom and Kai’s faces. I’ll do anything for them. Even let Dom win.
My arms hang limply in front of me, my hand brushing against something solid in the front pocket of the hoodie I’m still wearing. My heart skips a beat when I realize I still have the burner phone on me. My mind immediately begins racing, half in excitement for having a lifeline, half in panic that Dom will find it. I need to hide the phone before he realizes I have it.
Abruptly, Dom jerks back, disgust etched on to his features. “You smell like him.” His eyes narrow when he sees that my body is swamped in Kai’s oversized hoodie. I take a step back, afraid he is going to get violent over the reminder of Kai.
“I-I can go s-shower,” I stammer out, placating. I hold my breath for what feels like an eternity while I wait for his response, my mind silently begging him to let me go shower alone so I can stash the contraband in my pocket.
Dom jerks his head in a sharp nod, acquiescing. “Go wash him off. I never want to smell another man’s scent on you.”
I let out the breath I was holding, moving to rush past Dominick.