Page 102 of Under the Influence

Lainey runs to Drayton, burying her head into his chest, and Madden doesn’t stop walking toward Nash. Twisting around, I leap between them. This will not end well for either of them, and we have baseball to worry about.

The fire trucks pull in and firefighters race to extinguish the blaze, followed by a slew of police cars. I hear them talk about how the entire warehouse was filled with gasoline, as if someone was trying to burn it to the ground. Could Nash have done that earlier today?

Nash is a little unstable, but would he go through all the trouble just to haze Drayton a little bit?

No, he wouldn’t. I have to believe that.

Plus, there is no way anyone will sell out Nash to the police. Even if they did, his father could easily make it go away.

An officer approaches us, recognizing Madden, “Aren’t you Jenny Atwood’s son?”

Lainey looks at Madden and smiles, “Yeah, he is.”

“I thought so. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Madden hesitates, “Yeah, it was an accident. My buddy here dropped his lighter,” he nods to Nash before finishing. “Someone must’ve spilled the gasoline before we came.”

The officer raises his brow, looking between us all, “Is that what happened?”

Everyone nods except Drayton, who looks a little shellshocked.

“Did you see anyone nosing around here before you came?” The officer asks.

Madden shakes his head, “No, we didn’t see anyone.”

The officer looks around at the lot of us, “Okay, I’m going to need statements from all of you individually, then you can go.”

He begins with Madden, and Nash walks up to me, finally snapped out of whatever trance he was in. “I just wanted to scare him. I didn’t know the fire was going to ignite like that.”

I stare straight at him, unsure of what to say to my best friend because whoever is standing before me isn’t someone I recognize. He just stood there staring at the door, he was going to let him die.

“It’s always one step further every time. I’m sick of making excuses for you, and I’m sick of covering for you.”

He panics, throwing his hands in his hair. “Carson, you can’t tell them the truth. They’ll think we started the fire on purpose to destroy evidence or something, since they found that body.”

I grit my teeth, fed up with him, “We didn’t start the fire, Nash. You did, and you almost killed someone in the process!”

“Shhh!” He begs, pulling me in. “Something is up with this, something bigger than me trying to mess with Drayton. The cops are questioning us because they think we had something to do with the body they found.”

Shit. He might be right.

I watch as the police talk with everyone, and when it’s my turn, I do exactly as I’ve been told my entire life.

“I would prefer not to talk to you without my dad present.”

The officer laughs, “You know you aren’t in trouble? Right?”

“I know that it’s your job to get confessions and locate inconsistencies. You don’t have my best interest in mind, and I’d rather remain silent than have my words twisted.”

He sighs, “Listen, kid. I believe your friends when they say you guys we’re just messing around.”

I could just tell him the same story I heard Madden tell, but I know that it’s my right not to say anything at all, and my dad has made sure to beat me over the head with that information for years. He’s one of the most cutthroat lawyers in Georgia.

“Okay, fine. We’ll be in touch then,” he sighs, raising his voice for everyone to hear. “You guys get out of here, no more poking around in places you don’t belong.”

I let out a breath I’ve been holding, relieved. We’re lucky we didn’t get in trouble for trespassing.

“What the hell was that?” Nash says, walking to my truck. “You realize that just made us all look guilty, right?”