“Oh my god,” Cassidy said. “What is wrong with you two? You can’t kidnap someone and hold them hostage.”
I rolled my eyes. “He ain’t a hostage, Cass. And Scarlett wasn’t even there.”
“Did he come here of his own accord?” she asked.
“Mostly.”
Her eyes went icy and I knew I was skirting the edge of serious trouble. Cass was scary when she went cold like that. “Mostly? Gibson Bodine, if you make me arrest you for abduction and unlawful imprisonment, I swear to god—”
“Calm down, Cass,” Scarlett said, interrupting her tirade. “I talked to him. Gibs didn’t lay a finger on him. Probably gave him a good scare, but by the time they got to town late last night, he was on our side. We’re hiding him from you know who.”
“You know who?” Cassidy asked. “What is this, Harry Potter?”
“Well, I ain’t saying it right here,” Scarlett said. “Just like I ain’t saying the other thing.”
I put a hand up. I didn’t need those two getting in an argument about what we could and couldn’t say in public. One of them was liable to say Callie’s name by accident. Empty bar or not, I didn’t want to do anything to risk her safety. “Okay, we get it. We still have to keep this quiet. This kid will tell the truth, especially if your dad can get him some kind of immunity or something. Keep him out of trouble for taking the bribe.”
“Poor guy is pretty damn scared,” Scarlett said with a laugh. Her face got serious. “Dev, maybe I should bake him some cookies.”
“Don’t cook,” we all said in unison.
Scarlett glared at me, like I was the only one who’d said it. “Fine. I’ll buy some. But just because he’s an almost-hostage doesn’t mean I can’t be neighborly.”
Cassidy closed her eyes in exasperation. “Don’t call him an almost-hostage, Scar.”
“Guest, then,” Scarlett said. “I thought you’d be a lot more excited. This is a big break in the case.”
“Possibly, but if y’all do something illegal, I don’t care how big of a break it is, it won’t help us,” Cassidy said.
“This will help us because the kid’s gonna talk,” I said, my voice rising. I was tired of going round and round about this. “He told me the truth, and he’ll tell the sheriff. With his statement, maybe your dad can finally get the attention of the feds. Get someone on this case who can take the fucker down.”
“I’ll talk to Dad,” Cassidy said. “But I don’t know if it’ll be enough if the judge isn’t the one who bribed him.”
“I thought we weren’t saying who it was out loud,” Scarlett said.
“Shut up, Scar,” I snapped. “Maybe the judge didn’t, but the guy who did works for him.”
“Can you prove that?” she asked and kept talking before I could argue. “Gibson, I know. I want to take that sorry son of a bitch down as much as anyone.”
“Do you?” I asked, my temper a thin twig ready to snap at the slightest pressure. “Because all I’m hearing from you is a lot of shit about what we can’t do and what won’t work. And here I am, driving to fucking New York because law enforcement can’t even do its damn job.”
Bowie stood. “Watch it, Gibs.”
“No, fuck that. We know the truth, and that piece of shit is going to get away with it. You know what’s worse? She can’t even live her life. What would y’all do if you had to pack up and leave, huh? Where would you go? What would you do when life got hard and you needed your family and friends around to make it fucking bearable, but you couldn’t go home?”
I stopped shouting and the bar went silent except for the soft snores of the Dirt Hogs. Clenching my hands into fists, I looked down at the floor. My knuckles ached with the desire to hit something. I wanted the pain of it reverberating up my arm. I wanted to taste blood. But I wasn’t about to haul off and sucker-punch one of my brothers. Even I wasn’t that much of a dick.
“We’re trying to help, Gibs,” Cassidy said, her voice quiet.
“It ain’t enough,” I ground out through my teeth. “If she has to run again, I’m going with her. You hear me? She goes, I go. I just want y’all to know that.”
Without waiting for anyone to reply, I stomped out the door.
29
MAYA
I stared at the blank page in my journal. There were songs inside me, trying