Page 35 of Midnight Between Us
Look at me sounding badass and all bossy even when I know that these two could break me like a twig if I try to fight them.
He doesn’t blink.“Whoare you working for?”Malerick insists.
“Aren’t there potholes to fix or parking tickets to write?”I snap.“Go be the sheriff somewhere that needs one.”
“This is what I know,” he starts.“You lied to me about the whereabouts of the man you found a couple of weeks ago.You’ve been literally living in this building and haven’t let people on that side of the clinic.”
I glance toward the area where Keir’s staying.Only personnel with an NDA are allowed there.Those and the doctors that have been coming for consults.Did someone break their silence?They’re not only fired, but nothing good is going to happen to them after I report it.
“You’re hiding someone,” Malerick continues.“And now I want answers.”
“It’s none of your business,” I say, voice low and fierce.
“It is when you might be harboring a fugitive,” he fires back.“And if you don’t start talking, Simone, you’ll be the next one in handcuffs.”
“Your badge doesn’t give you jurisdiction over my patients,” I say flatly.“So maybe back the fuck off.”
“Simone,” Mal says again—this time slower, my name stretched between his teeth like it’s both a warning and a plea.“Something doesn’t add up.I could pin The Honey Drop fire on you.All I need is motive—and you’ve got plenty.”
I raise a brow.“Really?That’s your theory?I lit a whole building on fire because I asked Del to bring me a cup of tea?”
“You never ask Del for tea,” he says, like he’s solved the goddamn case.“I don’t need evidence.I could fabricate it.Same way you faked the paperwork when you brought him in.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Is it?”
I stare at him, my jaw tight, my hands clenched at my sides to keep from shaking.I don’t have the energy for this.Not today.Not with Keir being transported to my home and the clinic being left to some stranger for the next whatever fucking days I’m gone.
I’m tired.Of the Timberbridges.Of the secrets.Of pretending like I’m not unraveling from the inside out.
So I do the only thing that feels honest at this moment.
I step forward, press my wrists together, and hold them up to his chest.
“Then cuff me,” My voice doesn’t shake, but something behind my ribs starts to.I’m not even sure I’d fight it if he did.“Drag me out of here.Let the clinic collapse.Let my patient die.Let the whole fucking town burn.”
His mouth opens, but he doesn’t say anything at first.Then ...“Should I?”
I don’t blink.“Go ahead.You seem to have a case.Why not blame me for stealing the bee flags from the apiary, too?”
His nostrils flare.He’s thinking but doesn’t move.
“What’s stopping you?”I dare to ask because he might drag me to jail, but I’ll be out of there before he can run my prints.
“Your boss, obviously,” he states, stepping in close.“He’ll bring down the whole damn department if I touch you.We’re not ready for them.That’s what the Hollow Syndicate does, right?Set the things they can’t have on fire.Quiet those who can talk against them by burying them—or stage accidents.You hate this town enough to burn it from the inside.That’s what the Hollow Syndicate wants, right?And now I’ve got a brother no one’s seen in weeks, locked away in your care.You think I won’t believe you’re part of that plan?”
“You’re delusional,” I argue, because who the fuck is that syndicate?
His jaw sets.“Maybe ...maybe you’re the lost heir.The one who’ll soon be taking over.”
ChapterEleven
Simone
For a second,I think he’s actually going to do it.
Malerick is going to cuff me, charge me, and toss me into a fucking cell because his precious town is hurting, and someone has to pay for it.It turns out that I’m just convenient enough to wear the blame.
