Page 43 of Crossover
“If Mr. Lockwood approves of it, I’m happy to?—”
“I’m not a lawyer,” I interrupted. “But I don’t think you have the authority to hold me and my mother against our will like this.”
His jaw tightened.
“I know you’re trying to keep us safe, and I really appreciate that, but this’ll be at a police station. It doesn’t get much safer than that.”
Red sighed and pulled out his phone. “I need to call—hey, wait!”
I was already several feet in front of him. If he called Grayson, Grayson would come back, and we’d be in a long-drawn-out debate, which may or may not end with them allowing me to go to the police station. The only person I trusted right now to guide me out of this mess was Detective Mitchell.
Okay, fine,trustwas a strong word. That was hard to come by when you learn your mom’s ex was actually, you know, the guy who organized your father’s murder and tried to kill you. So, I guess you could say I was operating in shades of gray right now, and if I had to choose between my father’s killer or the man who’d taken an oath to protect, I’d choose the latter.
By the time I made it to Red’s car, he was already at my side, gun drawn, gaze sweeping the parking lot for dangers.
“Please,” I said before he wasted time trying to reason with me.
I could only assume the cascading thoughts swirling over Red’s face were those of three options. Option one: he could physically carry me back to the hotel room, shove me inside, and restrain me. Option two: stand out here like an open target while we argued even longer. Or option three: drive me to the police station, calling his boss to alert them of the change of plans on the way.
I guess he went with option three, because, with a frustrated grunt, he opened the door and allowed me and my mom to get in.
Sliding in after us, he peeled out of the parking lot.
While Red called his boss, I left a message for Detective Mitchell, using mom’s cell phone—Daniel’s minions had taken mine in the back of the van—and hoped he’d listen to it and meet me at the station.
“We should be there in twelve minutes,” Red said tightly, his eyes darting between mirrors.
“I’m sorry, Red. I don’t mean to cause you any trouble.”
I deserved the anger in his features; I could only assume he got chewed out.
“After you talk to this detective,” Red said, his tone deep with irritation, “you’ll follow our safety protocols. If you don’t, you’ll be on your own.”
Okay, I deserved that. I didn’t want to get Red into any trouble, and I didn’t want to take the security Hunter had offered us for granted. In fact, now that I was thinking about it, maybe I should’ve calmed down before taking off, but I just…panicked that I’d lose the window.
“Now, tell me everything,” Mom demanded.
I looked at the back windshield, reconsidering my plan.
No. This wasn’t the wrong move. The police station was filled with armed men; I had been kidnapped and almost killed. Detective Mitchell was the right person to tell all of this to. And in the meantime, I owed it to my mom to fill her in on what was going on.
I glanced at Red, though, wondering if I should wait until he was gone. But soon, we’d be surrounded by strangers. Police officers, but still. At least Red was a trusted guard of Hunter’s, and he’d been in that basement, saving my life. He already knew half of it.
With a heavy heart, I began to recount the entire story, every devastating detail Daniel had revealed, and Grayson’s involvement in Dad’s death.
I braced myself for Mom’s reaction, expecting an explosion of emotions—screaming, sobbing, or a jaw-dropping shock that would slice through the silence in the car. After all, the man she had once loved, the man who’d raised her child as his own, had been murdered. But instead, her face turned a ghostly pale, and she tore her gaze away from mine, staring out the window.
As the silence stretched on, dread crept through my veins like ice water.
“What are you not telling me, Mom?”
Red made a right turn, the sound of the blinker’s tick, tick, tick emphasizing how long it was taking her to answer.
“Mom…”
Wow. Look at that massive swallow and the way she fidgeted her hands. Almost like…this wasn’t a shock at all. At least not all of it. More like she was in shock that Iknew…
But what part did she know?