“Hung up?”
“Yup.”
“He’ll be there?” I glance over to see a ginger eyebrow hitched up. “Okay good. Text Max and let him know.”
“He’ll know when he sees Wyatt walk in.”
“Text him, Hunter! It’s called communication. Something you know little about.”
“Why tell Max when—”
“—Because he’ll worry less! You need to stop being so damn selfish.”
Silence is the response I get, of course. Eventually he does something other than sit there—he motions to the exit and I turn the wheel.
Finally he grumbles, “How does my not texting him about Wyatt, who he is about to see in the flesh, selfish? And we’re about to see him, so I can tell him in person! How does that even come together in your head, Caden?”
“If you knew Max was worrying, which you do, you’d take measures to alleviate that. Especially since it’s so easy to text!”
“Maybe he likes the suspense.”
Peeling out to pass a slow-moving car, I argue, “He has enough of it dealing with Lexi! Which you’d know about if you were ever around!”
Hunter leans on the armrest. “Oh, I get it now. Up here on the right.”
I merge into the other lane. “What do you get?”
“You resent my absence.”
My forehead scrunches up in at least five different directions. “Come again?!”
“You’re just pissed I don’t tell you my deepest darkest like ol’ Max does.” With a shrug that frustrates the fuck out of me, Hunter adds, “I’m not selfish. I expect everyone to take care of themselves. And you’d better slow down before they lock you up with Lexi.”
Too late.
As Dad’s Escalade vaults over the precinct’s parking lot’s entrance, blue lights and sirens explode behind me from a returning patrol car who probably just wants to go home.
Employing a string of words Grams would not want to hear, I pull into the first space I find.
Hunter goes for his handle, cracks the door open.
A loud speaker warns him, “Stay in the vehicle!”
“See? Selfish!”
He tosses back, “What?!”
“You know you’re not supposed to get out of the car, and yet you push the limits. Who’d get the gavel? Me! I’m the one behind the wheel!”
“Oh yeah? How ‘bout now? Love you, Caden.” He jumps out, hands up. “Hey officer…fuck you!”
My jaw drops. He thought that move would put the onus onto him—no more ticket for me. In a way it’s sweet. But I’m not letting my baby bro go down like that.
I groan, “Great,” and jump out, too. “Just ignore him, officer! He’s trying to prove a point. Take me.”
But Hunter’s up against the car, handcuffs sliding into place with that unmistakable sound of finality.
The kid is smiling as he asks, “How selfish am I now?”
I cross my arms. “Yeah, Max is really gonna sleep well tonight.”
CHAPTER 14
C ADEN
M ax’s emerald eyes remain locked on the door behind which two of our siblings are locked up.
From the intimate distance between them, Wyatt and this she-cop have fucked, and probably more than once.
Their fingers share a lingering touch before parting ways. He heads over with his swagger confiding that he’s interested in playing many more rounds of good-cop/bad-cop with her.
He quietly says, “Here’s the deal, guys,” to us and Samantha, who’s biting a nail on an uncomfortable chair. “Looks like Lexi was stalking someone.”
Max and I bark, “What?!”
“Some guy named Brad told them she was sniffing around his house.”
We do it again.
Wyatt exhales, “Yup. That’s the scoop. There’s a restraining order on her now. What do we know about this guy?”
We exchange a look, because we don’t know a damn thing, and not because we haven’t asked. Samantha’s head lowers as we turn to her.
Max assumes the role of Punisher. “Did you think we wouldn’t find out?”
Sam’s caramel eyes gaze up from beneath a pale blonde curtain. “I won’t betray Lexi’s trust. You guys know that.”
I remind her what she seems to have forgotten, “We could have helped!”
“With what?”
Max explodes, “Enough with the innocence! Who is this Brad asshole and what the fuck…” He turns to Wyatt. “You get his last name?”
“Nah, but I can.”
“Do it.”
Samantha jumps to her feet. “He’s just acting out because Lexi had a date with someone else to make him jealous! If you go after him, she’ll never forgive you! Or me!”
The three of us blink at her absence of logic, and I call it, first. “You’re out of your mind, Sam. You’ve been stuck between them too long hiding their bullshit so you can’t see what’s really going on.”
“That’s not true. You don’t know! It’s you guys who don’t know what’s really going on. I know everything!”
Max begs her, “Then tell us!”
“Just let them do their thing.”
We spin around in frustration like one angry person in front of a single mirror.
Wyatt’s not our sibling. His emotions aren’t entangled as ours are, so he’s able to think better and not listen to Samantha’s pleas. He snorts, “Bullshit. I’m solving the riddle.”
Sam rushes after, tugging on his arm. I race over, lift her off the tile, carry her back.
Shooting a sexy smile to a different female officer, Wyatt returns with the folder she happily gave him. She’s still casting flirty glances his way as he tells us, “The name is Brad Cleary. And I’ve got his number here. I say we call him. But it’s up to you, restraining order and all. And for God’s sake, don’t tell anyone I told you to do that.”
Max snags the paper from our cousin’s grip. “If Sam says the order is bogus then we don’t need to worry about it.” He waits for her to argue.
She stands by her story with a challenging shrug of one shoulder. “I don’t lie.”
He angrily laughs, “Oh yeah? Remember the ol’ cell-phone-over-the-fence day? Wanna try again, Sam?”
“I don’t want you to call him, but not because of the stupid restraining order. He’s just angry.”
We blink at her again. Max dials, listens, and shoots a
