Chapter Seven

SHAY

My foot bounced, my agitation growing as I looked down at the time on my phone and then back up at the Detroit skyline, standing tall and proud across the water.

Sunset Point had become one of my favorite places in the world, not that I'd seen the world.

But in the years when we were on the run with Mom, I had seen twenty-nine of the fifty states, and this still took the top spot.

"Hey, sis," Ali greeted me with a smile, dropping down onto the park bench beside me like he wasn't thirty minutes late. "This place is cute."

"What's going on, Ali?" I asked, getting straight to the point. "What are you doing in Detroit?"

The last time I checked, my brother was living in Cincinnati. He had a job moving dirt or working for the council, keeping the parks clean or something.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked at the dirt. "I moved in with Jason."

I turned my entire body to face him, shaking my head. "Alister David Clarke, I swear to God, you better not be talking about the Jason I think you're talking about."

"Come on, Shay. He's not—"

"Do not end that sentence with that bad." I grabbed his face, giving it a hard shake before he jerked back and slapped my hand away. "He is that bad, Ali. He's worse than that bad."

Ali narrowed his eyes. "Look. I've gotta do what I've gotta do, and he got me a job. He works at this factory recycling boxes or some shit," he explained, and for a second I had to wonder if I was wrong. Maybe Jason giving Ali a job wouldn't be so bad. "I just need to pay him the money I owe him first."

Nope. I was right.

"Money you owe him for what?"

His head dropped, and he pressed his palm to his forehead. "I just… I needed some stuff to take the edge off. Jason does some dealing on the si—"

"Ali," I threw my hands in the air before tilting my head back and pinching my eyes closed, praying to fucking someone for more patience because if I didn't find some, I would lose my shit on my big brother. "Ali," I repeated, a little calmer this time, slowly lowering my head and inhaling deeply through my nose. "You were clean. You got out of jail, and you've been clean. Why would you go back?"

He didn't move.

Not to look up and answer me or even acknowledge he'd heard anything I'd just said.

It'd been years since I felt like Ali was the older sibling in this relationship. While he was locked up, I was the one who made sure he had everything he needed and that he was looking after himself. And when he got out, I found him a cheap place to rent and helped him apply for work.

I didn't have time for that crap anymore.

The drugs. The money.

It was all a part of my past, and I didn't want it to be my future.

"No," I snapped, leaping to my feet and standing in front of him. With him sitting and me standing, I actually had a couple of inches of height on him, and I was going to use it. I leaned in, glaring down at him. "I am not responsible for your debt, Ali."

He looked up at me from below with a heavy, knotted brow. "Aren't you? Because I sure as hell remember that one time I went to jail because you suddenly decided to grow a moral compass and go and check in on that old lady."

"Here, drink some water."

Officer Hartley placed a plastic bottle of water down on the table. She was the young female officer who'd been put in charge of looking after me. She was kind, but there was no mistaking the way she was trying to get on my good side, trying to be my friend, hoping it would help me open up to her about what happened.

Hoping I'd say something they could use.

"You ready to talk about it?" Officer Hartley pushed again as she took a seat. "It could really help your case if you just explain what went down."

"My case?" I questioned, feeling my throat close up a little.

Officer Hartley sighed heavily and leaned back into her chair. "Shay, that woman had a heart attack. They're not sure she's going to make it. And from what it sounds like, it was caused by you."

My heart stopped.

I stared at the water bottle in front of me, fighting the urge to vomit.

Did I kill that old lady?

"I didn't mean to," I whispered, my voice catching on the tears building in my throat. "It was an accident."

She picked up her pen and leaned in. "Okay. An accident. So tell me what happened."

"Shay!" I looked up at the sound of Ali's voice. Two male officers were dragging him through the station, his hands behind his back and his eyes wide. "Shay, don't say anything… not a fucking thing!"

I didn't have time to answer or tell him I was sorry and that I loved him. He was pulled down a different hallway, disappearing within seconds.

Officer Hartley reached over and put her hand over mine. "Shay, listen to me—"

"You stupid fucking bitch!" Jason screamed as they practically dragged him into the room. He was fighting the officers, throwing his body weight around, but his eyes were on only me, dark and menacing, even more so than normal. "You fucking idiot, Shay. You dumb little bitch." He let out a loud cackle of laughter, the manic sound breaking through the anger.

"Shut him up!" Officer Hartley snapped.

The male officers finally managed to haul him away, though I heard him cursing me and screaming drama queen for a long time before everything went silent.

Usually, Jason didn't scare me. But his family's power did, and a few seconds later, when his parents rushed through, two men in suits beside them, I knew when this shit show came crashing down, Jason would walk out of the rubble unscathed.

But Ali and I would probably come out with wounds we might never be able to fix.

I stared at my brother, unable to form actual words, tears balancing precariously on my lashes.

In a way, he was right. After that lady had a heart attack, I couldn't sleep or eat, knowing that I might have killed her, so I went to the hospital and found her room.

Only the police were there too. They took one look at the state of my torn-up hands, compared the clothes I was still wearing with the description from the day before, and arrested me on the spot for conspiracy to commit a crime. Not only that, but they added on a handful of other thefts like this that had been reported but that they'd never been able to pin on anyone.

"I went to jail for six fucking years, Shay." I flinched at his harsh tone, one I didn't hear very often. "Because they needed someone to make an example out of, and I didn't want that person to be you. I gave up my life and my freedom so that you could have yours. So you could do all these amazing things you're working so hard for. All I'm asking for is a thousand dollars so I can pay Jason and start fresh with a new job and a new life."

You owe me this.

Those were the words he was saying without actually saying them. Because he took the fall that day and made a deal with the court to leave me out of it, and this was how I had to repay him. My brother. The person I thought had done a selfless act to keep me safe.

But apparently, he was just waiting for the right time to cash it in.

I wanted to walk away, to run and never look back. But could I really?

I had spent years working on myself, distancing myself from the person I used to be and the past I used to live. I may not have wanted to be that person who lied and cheated anymore, but I also didn't want to be the person who turned her back on her family when they needed her the most.

Stepping back, I let out a heavy sigh. "If you need that much, you're going to have to wait a couple of weeks so I can pick up some overtime."

His eyes brightened, and he nodded. "Yeah, okay. That will work." He got to his feet and threw his arms around me, hugging me tight for a second before stepping back. "I'm sorry, Shay. I didn't want it to be this way, but hey, now I'm close by, we can catch up all the time. And I'll have a job. It'll be awesome. Like a fresh start."

I swallowed hard. "I just wish it was without Jason around. He's bad ne—"

"It's okay," Ali interrupted with a laugh. "Shay, Don't worry. It's all gonna be fine." He started to back away, a wide grin on his face. A grin that had once made me feel at ease but now twisted my stomach into knots.

"Stay safe," I called after him.

He waved back over his shoulder. "See you soon. I'll call you."

Then he was gone, jumping in a run-down car parked across the lot, smoke blowing from the muffler as he pulled out and sped off, just like that. He got what he wanted and was gone. I wasn't surprised, really. I loved Ali. For a long time, he was my best friend and the only person in this world I could trust.

He protected me. He supported me.

But he was still in that place, and I was trying to move on with my life. I couldn't be pulled back into that life. I needed to do this, then move on.

I let my shoulders sag and fell back down onto the bench. "See you soon."