Page 17 of All Wrong
“I hate that he’s focused on you,” she spat.
Nick opened his arms and smirked. “I’m an easy target. The poster boy for bad decisions.”
She scoffed. “That’s what youwantpeople to think, but I know better. Anyone with half a brain knows you’re the last person who would do anything that would hurt these kids.”
The only thing that mattered to Nick was that thekidsknew that. And clearly, some of them did. They trusted him to have their backs, which was why he put himself between them and anyone who tried to do otherwise every damn time.
“You should have called me, you know,” she said, slipping the packets into a small envelope.
“Why? You couldn’t have done anything.”
“I could have been there for you.”
“You’ve always been there for me,” he said. No truer words had ever been spoken.
When her eyes began to soften, it was time to change the subject.
“So, you’ll let me know what Michael says?”
“I will. I’ll take it over to him this afternoon.”
“Good. I’m going for a ride, and then I’ll be at The Zone. Chances are, whoever these guys are, they hit up more than AJ and Jackie.”
Nick made his way down to the ground level and turned the corner.
He was just about to get on his bike when Sean called out to him, “Yo, Nick.”
Nick stopped and turned to face his boss-slash-brother-in-law.
“A little birdie told me you spent some time in the cage last night. What’s going on?”
Good news travels fast.
Nick didn’t feel like doing another play-by-play. “Nicki will fill in the details.”
Sean crossed his arms over his chest. “Give me the highlights.”
Nick exhaled and took the path that would get him out of there quickest. “Someone was passing out drug samples to kids at the fair last night.”
Sean’s blue eyes practically glowed. “What’s that got to do with you ending up in the back of Mitch Torres’s cruiser?”
Nick said nothing, letting him put the pieces together. Sean was a smart guy. Didn’t take him long.
“They thought it wasyou?”
Nick shrugged as if it didn’t matter even if it didcut deep. He’d long ago accepted that no matter what he did, he would always be viewed in a certain regard. Deservedly so. He’d earned that bad rep, and almost two decades later, it remained a stain he’d never get out of his metaphorical carpet, no matter how clean he’d been keeping it since. Small towns had long memories. If it wasn’t for Nicki, he would’ve left Pine Ridge in the dust ages ago.
“Fucking idiots,” Sean muttered, and inside, Nick’s lungs squeezed.
“Like I said, Nicki’s got the deets. Anything else?”
Sean looked as if he wanted to say more on the subject, but luckily, he went with something else.
“I took a closer look at Corinne’s car.”
Shit, he’d forgotten about that. “And?”
“Oxygen sensor.” Sean scratched his neck, disapproval in his features. “Looks like it’s been bad for some time.”
