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Holy hell, that was weird.
When Lee spoke of Rylan and Joss at work, it was always with a ball of frustration at Rylan’s flirting and antics and an ever-growing appreciation for Joss’s patience with his behavior. Them actually being married didn’t make a lick of sense.
Except that it really did.
Joss took my hand as my mom stopped fidgeting with the blanket, and I appreciated it as much as I did my mom’s overbearing care. She gave me a squeeze that was enough to tell me this was as hard for her as it was for me. My dad put a hand on her shoulder, giving her some much needed strength.
My parents had been on board with this whole thing before I’d even woken up from my nap. The only thing stopping them was… me. They weren’t sure of my mental state. If I was strong enough to handle leaving the hospital against my doctor’s advice, to come to the police station and face the questions that were sure to pop up.
How could I not? No matter how hard this was going to be, I had to do it. For Lee. For Joss. For my mom and my dad, who had both confessed that they thought of Lee as a son.
I had to do it for me.
No matter how hard this was going to be, I was strong enough.
And if I wasn’t, I had Joss and Van and my parents by my side.
“Ready, sweetie?” Joss squeezed my hand again, and after hearing the tremor in her voice, I squeezed back.
“Ready if you are.”
She nodded, then started walking beside me as Van pushed my wheelchair and Dad rushed to open the front door. The cool breeze swept my hair into my face, and I batted it away before Mom could embarrass me by trying to do it herself. Soon enough, we were inside and the wind was no longer a problem.
Now, it was just the cops.
Dozens of eyes shot our way as the five of us got fully inside. Some older guy at the front desk stood from his chair and looked at us like he was expecting trouble.
“Can I help you?”
Van stepped out from behind me, striding toward the desk with a speed and strength that would have had me shying away just like the cop did. “Looking for Special Agents Hernandez and Carlson with the FBI.”
“This isn’t the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is the Chicago Police Department.”
Though I couldn’t see his face, I swore I could hear Van’s eyes rolling back in his head. “Yeah. I got that by the sign on the door. I’m looking for Special Agents Drea Hernandez and Brad Carlson. They’re here interrogating two suspects charged in the murder of Donald Baker.”
The cop narrowed his eyes. “And who are you?”
Van glanced over his shoulder at us, then turned his smirking face back to the cop. “We’re the suspects' alibis.”
Flustered with Van’s answer, the cop told us to have a seat, then disappeared off into the back room. Mom and Joss sat in the plastic chairs closest to the desk while Dad wheeled me backward into a place next to them and stood beside me.
Van didn’t sit. Instead, he paced back and forth, looking like a caged animal about to strike out. He ran a hand over his short black hair and tossed a glance toward the door the cop had disappeared through.
Finally, the cop reappeared, but it wasn’t him Van stopped pacing for. Instead, it was a short woman with long black hair tied back at the nape of her neck. A woman who exuded more power and authority than anyone I’d ever met.
That was right up until Van moved out of the way and she caught sight of me and Joss.
“Thaylor, what the hell are you doing here?”
Van motioned to us without bothering to look. “You told me to bring you proof? I brought proof.”
She gaped at him before turning her attention to my wheelchair and the bandage wrapped around my wrist. Surely, I was a sight to see. My hair hadn’t been washed or combed since I shoved my head in Lee’s sink. My face probably had pillow marks etched into my skin from all the sleeping I’d been doing. And my clothes were borrowed—an old T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants Van found in his truck, both of which were so big I was swimming in them.
“You asshole.” For a second, with her attention locked on me, I thought it was me she was talking to. But the scowl that cut across her face deepened as she looked back at him, and she spoke through clenched teeth. “When I said bring me proof, I didn’t mean it literally.”
Van only shrugged before stretching his hand out toward Joss and motioning to her. She rose from her chair, rushing to his side.
“This is Joss Monroe. She was with Dennis at the time of—”
