Chapter 27

~John’s POV~

I gave him thirty minutes of silence before I decided to say what was on my mind. During that time he’d been tense; holding the steering wheel in a death grip as we sped through the streets.

The news from earlier had left us stumped and as much as I’d love to get an explanation, the suspicion that maybe Riley wasn’t as innocent as we’d all thought couldn’t help but push through.

“Maybe we need to consider the fact that Riley may not be as innocent as he says.” I said into the silence and Nate took his eyes off the road for a second to take a good look at me, his gaze critical.

“Don’t start with the bullshit.”

I shook my head. “Why else wouldn’t he tell us the truth? He’s had all this time to say something and he’s kept his mouth shut. The kid’s hiding something and I think it’s gonna turn out to bigger than the both of us.

“You’re wrong, he’s innocent.”

I looked at him, brows furrowed. “You never were one make conclusions without all the facts. All I’m saying is that you need to consider the possibility and brace yourself for it.”

“I don’t need to consider anything, I know Riley and this is all just a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? Nate do you hear yourself? He changed his name. He was convicted of murdering his own father and never thought to tell us. He’s hiding something.”

He gritted his teeth and I felt the need to reach across and strangle him until he came to his senses.

“He has to have a good explanation for this.”

He took a sharp turn and the seatbelt bit into my neck.

“You’re fucking unbelievable.” I shook my head.

He was changing, right before my very eyes.

When he didn’t respond but kept his focus on the road my anger built. “You’ve always been the best for the job because of your ability to remain unbiased and logical, now you’re turning into a fucking sap.”

“No I’ve been good at what I do because I give it everything I’ve got and where the hell is this coming from anyway? You thought Riley was innocent just like the rest of us, that’s the reason you’re here-”

“No I ‘m here to keep your ass alive and that’s it. You think I’d risk my life, my career for your little fuck buddy? The kid could be playing us and I’m gonna get to the bottom of it even if I haf to shake it out of him.”

Another sharp turn before he shot me a murderous look.

“I’m handling this, you lay one hand on him and-”

“And what? Threats now Nate? That where it’s at between us?”

He gritted his teeth and took a breath. “I’ll handle Riley, I’m telling you he has to be innocent.”

I shook my head and consciously tried to calm down. “Like I said, we just need to consider the possibility that he might not be and if he isn’t we’ve got to decide what to do about it.”

A moment of silence passed before either of us spoke again.

“You’ve always been a cynical bastard” he muttered.

“Yeah and you were right there with me until you met that boy, now I can hardly even recognize you.”

Silence.

I turned to looked out my window, taking in the trees and not much else.

“I can still do my job and I can still get us through this but I’m telling you John I know Riley, I know him.”

“No you only think you do.”

He muttered a curse. “What’s your problem anyway? Is this really even about Riley? Or are you just taking your own fucked up situation out on me.”

I chuckled without mirth, “Yeah? And what situation would that be?”

Another sharp turn, the car jerked when we hit a pothole, then there was a loud pop and we were swerving across the street, narrowly missing a speeding truck as we spun and came to a stop on the grassy bank on the opposite side of the road.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I looked over at Nate who still gripped the wheel.

“You okay?”

He shot me a glare, pulled off his seat belt and got out of the car. I followed suit.

“We’ve got a busted tire.” He called and I walked over to where he stood looking down at what used to be the front tire, now it was just shredded rubber.

Nate leaned against the car, folded his arms before him and looked at me.

“I get what you’re saying. It doesn’t make sense for him to have kept something like this from everyone unless he’s hiding something big and that’s probably that he’s guilty. I get it and if it was anyone else I’d be thinking like you do now, but John, I swear to God I know him. I’ve spent months with him and there’s just no way he could do something like this.”

I said nothing just let him get it all out.

“He’s good, you can’t find people like that anymore trust me John”

“So is Eddie and if he’d lied to us the way Riley has, I’d still question it.”

“Eddie’s dead.”

It was like a lifetime of anger and hurt erupted through me in that moment and I lashed out, my fist connecting with his mouth. His head snapped back and he stumbled.

“You’ve changed Nate, and right now I can’t tell if it’s for the better.”

He spat, then wiped his bloodied mouth with the back of his hand.

“I changed because I’m choosing to believe someone can be innocent?”

“Stop thinking with your dick and use your head, I just need you to focus more on why we’re out here and less on what the kid can give you, there’s plenty of other guys out there and when this is over you can have your pick but for right now, when he’s been lying through his teeth, he doesn’t deserve to be defended.”

He looked away from me, shook his head then turned away completely so that he was facing the trees. I watched as he dragged his hand through his hair a few times, kicked a pebble with his boot then turned back to me, his expression one of the utmost seriousness, his eyes held conviction and I braced myself for whatever he was about to say.

“I love him.”

And there it was. I shook my head.

“You’re all losing your fucking minds.”

He didn’t say anything, just stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked away.

“Lemme ask you something Nate.” He turned back to me.

“If it turns out that he is guilty, as an agent of the law, you’ll be required to turn him in, what will you do?”

He didn’t answer right away and when he did, he didn’t sound as confident as he should have. “Then I’ll turn him in.”

I shook my head. “No, your hesitation told me all I needed to know.”

He turned on me then, eyes blazing. “And what about you John, what will you do if it turns out we can’t do a thing for Kyle? You gonna turn him in? He’ll be doing hard time for his escape, you realize that right? You think he’ll survive in that place alone? With all those killers and rapists? You think he can handle it?”

His question threw me and I opened my mouth to give an answer but I had nothing.

“That’s different and you know it.”

“No.” he said. “It’s not different at all. You can’t even answer me.”

I gritted my teeth.

“I’ve seen the way you look at him and you’re just as fucked as I am so get off my goddamn back alright?”

He turned away from me, pulled the trunk open and took out the spare tire. Then I watched as he pulled out the jack and after taking a breath, I grabbed a wrench and got to work.

…………………………..

We travelled the rest of the way in complete silence. I had nothing to say to him as lost as I was in my own messed up head and he didn’t try to make conversation. When we finally got to the cabin, we slammed the doors behind us and made our way to the front door, still without uttering a word.

Riley was the first to spot us from where he sat, on the chair arm watching some sort of movie and he offered Nate a small shy smile. I dropped my small duffel by the door and glanced over to where Kyle lounged on the couch. When his eyes met mine they lit up and I looked away.

“What happened to your face?” Riley had walked over to Nate and I watched as he reached up to touch his busted lip, hesitantly, as if unsure whether or not he should.

“It’s nothing. Look Riley, we met your mom today and…” he trailed off.

“And what?” the kid asked and I noted the apprehension in his expression as he said the words.

Nate glance my way briefly then turned back to him. “Let’s go for a walk.” He offered and the kid nodded, less than enthusiastically.

“What’s going on?” Kyle questioned when they exited the cabin and I glanced his way. He’d moved to stand by door and he watched me with furrowed brows.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” I walked the distance and dropped into the closest chair, running my hand over my face.

As I sat there, my mind jumping from one scenario to the next, Kyle came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my neck, our cheeks pressed together and because everything was going to shit anyway, I let him.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

DUE TO THE CRAZY NUMBER OF REQUESTS I GOT FROM YOU GUYS PRACTICALLY BEGGING ME TO UPLOAD BEFORE SUNDAY, I DECIDED TO DO JUST THAT.

SO ENJOY THIS LITTLE TREAT BUT IT'S BACK TO SUNDAY UPLOADS AFTER THIS BECAUSE AS MUCH AS I WOULD LOVE TO, I DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO UPLOAD MORE THAN ONCE A WEEK.

If you do any fan art for these guys lemme know so we can all fangirl over them!

THANKS FOR READING!

DoUbLe.A

unedited.