Kian(91)

A guttural growl came from Erica, sounding from the bottom of her throat. “Back off, Susan.”

Wanker jerked forward two more steps. At the same time, the police officer who was behind me moved in front with a hand extended toward me. He was holding me back without touching me. The other officer was watching the exchange.

Wanker snorted. “The text to Jake. It wasn’t a text, was it?”

Susan’s nostrils flared. Her eyes were dilated, like she was on something. Her cheeks were flushed, and the ends of her hair were wet from sweat.

I saw it then. She thought she had the scoop.

She was wearing a smug smirk. “I’d been calling Jake the entire time. He doesn’t know what he did, but he didn’t reject my call. He accepted it and stuffed his phone into his pocket, or I’m assuming he did. I could hear everything. Imagine my surprise when I heard her voice.” She pointed the camera to me, lifting it higher to see me over the officer’s shoulders. “And I heard Kian’s voice, too. Where is he?” She raised her tone, sending the question to me. “He was here before. Where is he now?”

Erica muttered a curse and then started forward. “Fuck this.”

“You can’t touch me!” Susan jerked backward, her back hitting the wall.

Erica ignored her, reaching for the door behind her. Susan realized her mistake then. She had been pushed into a corner. The door opened, and it blocked her in even more. She was flat behind the door. Erica started to hold it, keeping her in that corner, but Wanker nudged her forward. He held the door open as the rest of us formed a line, going past one by one. All the while, he had his back to us.

As I went by, Susan turned the camera to follow me, and I looked over my shoulder. I got a glimpse of Wanker’s face. He was staring hard at Susan. His eyes were flat as his lips moved. He was saying something to her, but as Erica opened the front door, the sounds from the street flooded us. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, and she shrank down. Her arm dropped down, and she almost let the camera fall to the ground. Her jaw slacked, and her mouth fell open. She could only stare at Wanker before he turned and followed behind us.

After that, everything happened so fast.

People were yelling my name as I was ushered into a police car. I scooted in next to Erica, Wanker plopped next to me, and the door was slammed shut. The second officer hurried to his squad car, and then we were moving. The crowd was forced to move aside for us, but there really was no going back.

I had to do the interview.





After a three-hour meeting with the lawyers and Laura, everyone was on board. My body was tired, but I wanted to find Jordan again. I knew she was safe with Erica—or at least hidden—but I still wanted to hold her. I was leaving the bedroom, after washing up and changing clothes, and I was about to call her when Laura stopped me in the hallway.

“You knew about this?” Her tone was sharp.

I frowned. “About what?”

My phone lit up. For a split second, I thought it was Jordan, but it wasn’t. It was Cal. He never called unless he had to.

I held a finger up to Laura as I answered the call, “Cal?”

Laura took the phone from me.

“Laura—”

She listened for one second and then marched to the living room. She grabbed the remote and hit the Volume Up button. As she did, I stopped. Jordan was there on the screen. In some dark, private room, she was sitting all alone with one lamp shining behind her.

Laura said to me, still gripping my phone in her hand, “It’s one camera on her. One person is asking her questions. Your girl, who you just went to bat for, is selling you out.” She stabbed the remote in the air toward the television. “She’s doing a live interview, Kian.”#p#分页标题#e#

My jaw hardened, and I grabbed my phone from her. “You don’t know that she’s selling me out. All retrial charges have been dropped. I’m in the clear, and so is she.”

“It’s the public’s opinion. She’s going to turn them against you. What then? You’ll be screwed if she does.”

I wasn’t listening. Whatever Jordan was doing, it wasn’t that. Jordan had feelings for me. I felt them from her hours earlier. I felt them inside her. There was no way.

I grabbed my keys, and I headed out the door. No one stopped me. They didn’t dare. As I hurried down the hallway, I brought my phone back to my ear. Cal was still there.

I asked, “Where is she?”





“You can talk to me and look at me. It can be as if we’re having our own private conversation,” Erica said, sitting right next to the large camera.