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Rick’s face lost all the color it’d had left. “Corey’s going to come after Jace.”
“That’s why we need your help,” Val said urgently. “We need the dates that Corey left you two alone. It’ll help us keep Jace safe.”
Jace knew that Val was really trying to keep Elijah safe, but he thought she might want to keep him safe, too. A little, at least. If she did, it was more than he deserved.
Whatever she’d meant, her words had Rick nodding tersely. “Corey took my phone, but I had it backed up to the cloud. Give me paper and a pen.”
Lucien pulled a notepad and a pen from his pocket and handed it to him.
“I thought that Corey was making drug runs for Aaron and Dewey all the times he was gone,” Rick muttered as he scrawled words on the notepad and gave it to Val.
Jace stared at him. “You knew Aaron and Dewey were selling drugs? All along?”
“Only for the last year, but I couldn’t prove it.” He looked away. “I was using their shit, stealing from Aaron’s stash. I needed a fix Monday night. That’s part of why I did what I did.”
Jace’s mouth fell open. “Rick. You said it was so we could live with Aaron again.”
Rick wouldn’t meet his eyes. “That too. I started taking that shit one night after Corey beat me so bad that I could barely stand. I went to Aaron’s and I... gave in. Once I tried it, I couldn’t stop. I had enough for one more hit and I took it in the van when you were driving us to meet Corey. I figured he’d beat me again and I didn’t want to be in my head.”
Jace opened his mouth, but no words came out. How did I not know?
Val squeezed Jace’s shoulder. “Rick, did you take the heroin last night?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. Bobby shot me up. Told me to say my prayers because I was gonna die.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were using?” Jace whispered, still stuck on that fact.
“I didn’t want you to know. You’re still a kid.”
“I’m only a year younger than you,” Jace whispered.
Rick swallowed hard. “I was supposed to take care of you. I fucked it all up. I’m sorry. I’m going to jail and no one will be there to take care of you.”
Jace gripped the bed rail so hard that his knuckles hurt. “Who’s gonna take care of you in jail?” For a moment they stared at each other, both of them miserable. Then Jace turned to look up at Lucien. “Can you do anything?”
“I’m going to make sure that he gets a fair trial,” Lucien said, and Jace believed him. Jace had wondered on the drive over if Lucien was just pretending, or if he’d really be Rick’s lawyer. It looked like it really was the second one, and Jace was nearly dizzy with relief.
“Why?” Rick asked hoarsely. “Why would you? I did it. I would have taken that kid if his aunt hadn’t tased me. I did a horrible thing.”
“I know,” Lucien said. “You did do a horrible thing. But we like your brother and we know your life hasn’t been easy. That doesn’t erase what you did, but we might be able to present mitigating circumstances in your defense. You’re going to be transferred to the jail soon, and I’ll come to visit you there. We’ll talk again.”
Rick grabbed at Jace’s hand, still clutching the bed rail. “Come and see me? In jail?”
“Yes. I promise.”
Rick swallowed again. “Be careful. Don’t get hurt.”
Jace wanted to cry. “I’m doing my best. You too. Stay safe.”
“Rick, I’m leaving you my business card,” Lucien said. “Call me if anyone tries to interrogate you. Don’t say anything to anyone unless I’m with you. Understand?”
Rick nodded. “Thank you,” he whispered.
Jace didn’t want to leave Rick’s side, but Val was tugging him, so he let go of the bed rail. “Soon,” he mouthed before turning for the door.
The three of them were quiet on the ride back down to the parking garage, where Lucien hurried them to Burke’s company SUV. They remained silent until the doors were closed and they had left the parking garage.
Val snapped a photo of Rick’s log-in information with her phone, texted it to Antoine, then called Burke, putting it on speaker. “Hey, we’re out of the hospital and back in the SUV. Everything went fine. Rick gave us his cloud log-in info and I just texted it to Antoine. He can copy the dates that Corey was gone from Rick’s calendar.”
