Page 87 of Trustfall

“Under arrest.”

“Assault.”

“Right to an attorney.”

The haze of sleepiness fades away, and I jolt up out of bed, sprinting to the front door. That’s when my heart falls. Luke is in handcuffs, a police officer holding onto his arm, guiding him down the walkway. He’s not resisting. Not fighting. He’s calmly walking with them.

No, no, no.

“What’s going on?” I yell, stumbling onto the front steps. One of the officers whips around to look at me. I don’t recognize him. Or the other one holding onto Luke. I know a lot of the local police officers because they often come into the ER to bring in or question patients. But I’ve never seen either of these men.

“Is this your wife?” the officer asks Luke, but he just shakes his head without even looking up at me.

I don’t know why that stings so much. I’m not his wife. Not even close. He could get in way more trouble if he lies to law enforcement, but…

Why won’t he look at me?

“Sorry, ma’am. If you’re not family, I can’t give you any specific details. All I can tell you is that he is being taken to Emberfield PD for booking. You can call the department’s main line in a few hours for further information.”

“Luke?” I look over at him, but he still has his head down.

The officers continue walking him to their cruiser, and one of them guides him into the back seat.

“Luke?” I say again, straining my voice. But the door shuts, and he probably can’t even hear me at this point.

The officer who spoke to me earlier comes up to me as his partner gets into the driver’s side. He has short blonde hair and looks to be in his mid-thirties. Now that he’s closer, his face does seem somewhat familiar.

“I’m Officer Reynolds,” he says, holding out a business card to me. “I remember you from the hospital. I was there on a B&E case a few months ago. Anyway, if you have any trouble getting through on the main line, you can call my direct line. I’ll do what I can to help.”

“Thank you,” I say softly, taking the card from him. I don’t know what else to say.

“No problem,” he says and rounds the car to the passenger side. I stand there in nothing but Luke’s T-shirt and watch as the car pulls out of the driveway and heads down my street. With the car gone, I glance over at my house and see Allie sitting on our front steps. She’s wearing the same dress as last night. Her hair is disheveled, and her makeup is smeared.

Jesus. Did she just get home? Did she even go to bed last night?

She stands up when she sees me, and I take my time walking over to her. We stand for a few moments, caught in an awkward web of silence, just staring at each other before I wrap my arms around her. Her hair smells like kelp shampoo and smoke. Campfire smoke? But I don’t let myself think too much about it. Right now, I don’t need to know where she was or who she was with last night. I just needher. I bury my face in her chest and sob, and it’s like coming home after a bad day all over again. Allie is my safe place, just like Gram.

I thought Luke was too. Was I wrong to feel safe with him? What did he do? The officers wouldn’t tell me anything, but I heard the word “assault.” Was this because of last night? Did Nate get arrested too? I can’t bring myself to call him yet. All the questions and possibilities swirl around my brain, making me dizzy. We both sit down on the steps, and she rubs my back like she used to. We sit like that for a while before I look up at her.

“What do I do?” I sniffle.

“I guess we just have to wait and call the precinct in a few hours. Or maybe…”

“What?”

“I know you’re not talking to Nate right now. But you also weren’t talking to me, and now you are, so maybe…”

“No.”

“Do you want me to call him?”

“No. Let’s just wait until we know more.”

“Emory…”

“Yeah?”

“You should probably take off from work today.”

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