Concealed Hearts (Hometown Jasper #4) - Nicky James Page 0,30

he can listen to my fist. Fuck him. Maybe he’ll keep his opinions to himself now.”

Felix’s next breath hiccupped, and he flashed his eyes at the door to the room before resuming his perusal of the tiled floor. Now I was getting somewhere. This burning rage stemmed from something specific.

“What kind of things was Ben saying?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter. I have five kids at the station, and you sitting in a hospital waiting for stitches. Someone best explain something to me.”

Felix refused to answer, and I wanted to strangle him. I got the sense whatever he was hiding was important. I trusted my instincts, and they told me Felix was trying to do the right thing and wasn’t the one in the wrong, but there wasn’t much I could do if he refused to talk.

Before I could ask my next question, a nurse I knew by the name of Vance came through the door with a wide, dimpled smile on his face. He was young and fresh out of nursing school. A kid who’d grown up in Jasper and returned after getting his degree.

“Hey, my man. I hear you need some stitches. Got yourself a fat lip there? Let’s see it.”

Vance was in his early twenties, and I saw right away he would be better able to make a connection with Felix. I stood and patted Felix on the shoulder.

“I’ll wait in the waiting room, but we aren’t finished.” On my way out the door, I leaned in and whispered low for only Vance to hear. “Try and get him to talk if you can.”

I was around the corner when Felix called out to me. “Chief Elkhart?”

I poked my head back in the room and quirked a brow.

“Can you … not call my parents yet. Please. I just…” The worry behind his eyes was a red flag. “Please?”

“I’ll hold off for now, but when you’re done, you and I are gonna chat properly, yeah?”

He nodded but ducked his chin, breaking eye contact.

I had to remind myself he was a seventeen-year-old kid and not an adult, despite his size.

It took twenty minutes before Vance met me in the waiting room. He shook his head as he sat on the chair beside me. “Sorry, Chief. He’s locked up tight. I tried a few angles, but he wasn’t interested in talking. Something’s eating at him though.”

“Couldn’t figure it out, huh?”

“Well, as I was cleaning up, he pulled out his phone and texted someone. I might have snuck a peek. The kid’s name was Grant, and Felix asked him if he was okay. The kid replied right away with massive apologies, taking the blame for what happened. Felix responded with a simple, ‘I’ll call you when I can.’ He pocketed his phone after that, but he was trembling. Not angry, but… Well, although he did what he could to hide it, there were tears in his eyes. He was really upset. Not sure if it’s related to what happened, but…”

“Could be significant. Thanks.”

“I told him to sit tight and I’d find you. You can use the room for a bit. It’s quiet.”

I headed back to the exam room, checking the time on my phone as I went. It was nearly five, and a wave of apprehension and excitement raced through my veins, knowing Tomi would be here soon. The more I focused on it, the more nervous I became. It was crazy. Twenty plus years and this was the first time I’d put my fears aside and done anything remotely dangerous like this.

Felix was on his phone when I entered, but he was quick to shove it into his pocket. I pulled up a stool and took a seat, hoping to present myself in a less threatening manner so he would open up.

“All right. So Ben had some unsavory things to say, and when you tried to talk with him about them, he wouldn’t listen. Do I understand correctly?”

Felix rolled his eyes but refused to answer.

“Instead of walking away, you thought you could beat the humanitarian back into him.”

“But he’s a pussy,” Felix added. “He can’t take me on his own, and he knows it. His friends jumped in to help.”

“What was it that Ben said that angered you?”

Felix didn’t speak. He pressed his lips together in a tight line, then winced and touched his newly stitched lip.

“Does this have to do with the friend you were protecting that day I came to the school?”

Felix’s head snapped up, a blazing inferno burning bright in