Chapter twenty-six

Theo

I didn’t recognize the cop who entered Marked on Tuesday. He hitched up his service belt as he walked toward the counter, hand draped casually on his weapon.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“I’m looking for Theodoros Makris.”

My blood chilled. No one called me by my full name except my parents and Aiden when he was being a prick. Up until the cop did, I assumed he was dropping in to schedule an appointment for when he was off duty.

“That’s me,”

I said, laying my hands on the counter where he could see them. Aries stepped out from the back but did an about face when he saw the officer.

“Theodoros Makris,”

the cop said, pulling at the cuffs on his service belt, “you’re under arrest for violating Section 18.2-371.3—”

Everything he said after that was lost. Panic roared as loud and fast as a freight train through my body. My breath came in desperate bursts and my vision narrowed, the black creeping in from all sides.

“The fuck he is,”

I heard Max shout as though he was on the other end of a tunnel.

I turned toward the sound of his voice and watched Max lunge at the cop. Aries rushed forward and yanked him back, but Max was strong and extremely pissed. More pissed than I’d ever seen him.

“Put your fucking cuffs away,”

he shouted.

“Sir, you need to stand back,”

the cop said.

“Hope you have two pairs of those,”

Max said, fighting off Aries’s hold and stepping into the cop’s face. “Cause the only way you’re cuffing him is after you cuff me, asshole.”

The officer obliged, turning Max around and shoving him to the floor before locking a pair of cuffs on his wrists. Seeing Max restrained flipped something in my brain. I could freak out later, but right now, I had to stop Max before he got himself in serious trouble.

“It’s all right,”

I said, placing a hand on Max’s shoulder as he struggled against the cuffs. I stepped between him and the cop and held my hands in front of me. Being cuffed behind my back was the last thing I wanted, so I hoped by offering the cop my hands in the front, he’d choose the easier option.

“This is bullshit,”

Max shouted behind me. “I don’t care if he inked a fucking five-year-old, you don’t need to cuff him.”

“Max,”

I said, calmly, as the cop snapped the cuffs on my wrists. “Don’t make this worse.”

That seemed to deflate him. “Don’t say anything until your lawyer arrives,”

he said as he rose to his feet.

“I don’t have a lawyer,” I said.

“Not a fucking word, Theo,” he said.

Aries winked at me.

It was odd. Maybe he was trying to lighten the mood or send me some signal, but whatever it was, his meaning was lost on me.

The cop put his hand on my arm and Max’s shoulder and guided us toward the door. His grip wasn’t tight. Not like the cops who’d escorted me to and from places during my trial. It was more like the correctional officers after I’d proven to them enough times that I’d cooperate. I took it as a good sign.

We stepped onto the sidewalk, where a few people had stopped to gawk at the patrol car parked at the curb with lights flashing.

“Please, don’t take him in,”

I said, motioning my chin toward Max. “He’s calm now, right?”

“The hell I am,”

Max shouted.

“Watch your heads,”

the cop said, opening the back door.

Someone shouted my name, and I looked down Main Street. Aiden sprinted toward us with Poppy trailing behind him, pumping her arms as she tried to catch up. No telling what either of them would do, let alone the pair of them.

“Let’s go,”

I told the cop as I slid into the back. “Max is tame compared to those two.”

The cop slammed the door and hauled ass to the driver’s seat, pulling away from the curb before Aiden reached us. The officer looked in the rearview mirror and gunned it down Main Street toward the police station. I turned in my seat to peer out the back. Aiden had his cell to his ear, and Poppy was running back down the block toward her hearse.

Max sat perfectly still beside me.

“Did you do that on purpose so you could ride with me?” I asked.

“I lost my head there for a minute, but since I’m here, I’m doing whatever I can to help you through this until we can call a lawyer.”

“Pretty sure Aiden already has,”

I said as the cop turned into the station parking lot and pulled into a spot facing Main Street.

By the time the officer removed us from the cruiser, Poppy and Aiden were on the sidewalk in front of the station. No doubt they’d broken a few traffic laws to get there so fast. Poppy stepped toward me, but I shook my head. She shrank back to Aiden’s side and watched as the cop led us to the entrance.

“Everly is on her way,”

Aiden shouted after us.

The cop put Max in a holding cell but walked me straight into an interview room and closed the door.

“Have a seat,”

he said motioning to one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs. I did as he asked and tried not to hurl while he read me my Miranda rights. Just as he finished, the door flew open and Everly Hendricks breezed in.

“I don’t believe we’ve met before,”

she said to the cop as she extended her slender hand. “I’m Everly Hendricks. Mr. Markis’s attorney.”

The cop looked stunned and left her hand in the air an uncomfortable moment before he shook it. “Officer Stafford,”

he said, studying her carefully. “How did you get back here?”

“I told Peggy you were interviewing my client without representation. She sent me right back.”

“We haven’t started the interview,”

he said, sitting down in a chair so close to me our knees brushed.

“Great,”

Everly said, pulling a chair from around the table and wedging it between us. Officer Stafford and I were both tall, and Everly was a good five foot eight without her heels. “Let’s get started,”

she said as though she wasn’t practically sitting in both our laps. “Could you please tell me why you brought Mr. Markis here today?”

Office Stafford cleared his throat and had the decency to scoot back a foot. Everly adjusted her chair enough so our legs weren’t pressed together.

“Your client has been accused of violating Section 18.2-371.3, which is—”

“I’m well aware of Section 18.2-371.3. I’m confused why he wasn’t released on summons,”

Everly said.

“He’s a convicted felon, Ms. Hendricks.”

“With a spotless criminal record since he served his time.”

“Look, ma’am, we take repeat offenders seriously in Peace Falls.”

Everly’s eyes hardened. “Theo is not a repeat offender. He has never once been arrested for tattooing a minor. And if you knew anything about Peace Falls, you’d know his felony conviction was based on a technicality, not criminal intent.”

“Tell that to the guy he killed.”

“I’m sure my brother would have agreed,”

Everly snapped.

Officer Stafford looked utterly perplexed.

“The guy I killed was Logan Hendricks,”

I said. “Ms. Hendricks’s brother.”

“My brother died in the accident that led to Mr. Makris’s unjust conviction,”

Everly amended. “Now, can we please discuss the current charges?”

Officer Stafford shifted in his seat and shuffled some papers in front of him. At Marked the man had remained calm and controlled while Max attempted to rip his head off, but Everly had clearly knocked him off his axis. “He tattooed a sixteen-year-old without parental consent.”

“Allegedly,” she said.

Officer Stafford flipped open a folder and slid a single photograph across the table. A lower neck tattoo of a Sagittarius zodiac sign. Sarah.

“Do you recognize this?”

he asked me.

“Don’t answer that,”

Everly said.

Officer Stafford shrugged, regaining some of his composure. He pulled out another photograph and slid it across the table. “How about her?”

In the photo, Sarah looked straight ahead. With her face scrubbed clean of makeup, she looked much younger than she had on Sunday. Far too young to get a tattoo without her parents.

“Her name is Angela Lacosta. Does that ring a bell?”

Officer Stafford asked.

The A was her initial, not Aries’s. I leaned into Everly to tell her about the ID, but she shook her head.

“Do you have Ms. Lacosta’s statement?”

Everly asked.

Officer Stafford pulled out another piece of paper and started reading. “Miss Lacosta’s parents discovered the tattoo this morning. When they questioned their daughter, she told them she received it on Sunday at Marked in Peace Falls from a tattoo artist named Theo.”

“Have you questioned Ms. Lacosta?”

Everly asked.

“No,”

Officer Stafford said, sliding the paper back into the folder. “Miss Lacosta’s parents made the statement and filed charges. They supplied both photographs as well.”

Everly nodded. “So, all your evidence is based on a second-hand statement and images brought to the station?”

“We’ll be taking Miss Lacosta’s statement this afternoon and official photos. She had a chemistry test today, and her parents wanted to wait until after school to bring her to the station. Miss Lacosta also informed her parents that another employee at Marked named Aries could corroborate her story. I’ll be taking his statement this afternoon as well.”

“So, you arrested my client at his place of employment before you obtained statements from the alleged victim or the first-hand witness?”

“As I said before, Mr. Markis is a convicted felon.”

“I’m well aware,”

Everly said, leaning back in her chair. “I’m also aware that standard practice is to issue a summons and release for non-violent class-one misdemeanors, which maybe you didn’t know since you’re still in your probationary period.”

“How would you—”

he started but stopped.

“I suggest you release Mr. Markis before I file a complaint on his behalf.”

“What about Max?” I asked.

Everly’s answering smile looked a little scary. “I’m happy to represent him as well, but I wanted to give Officer Stafford the opportunity to reconsider issuing a citation before I called Chief Fitzwilliam to let him know his brother-in-law is being detained at the station. Assuming Peggy hasn’t already.”

Officer Stafford kept his face emotionless but paled slightly.

“Theo,”

Everly said, turning to me. “Isn’t Chief Fitzwilliam’s father a student in the art class you volunteer to teach at the community center?”

I nodded.

“Got to love a small town,”

Everly said with a genuine smile.

“He’ll need to sign the summons,”

Officer Stafford said, shuffling the papers again.

“Of course.”

Everly uncapped a pen that probably cost more than my rent. “I suggest you uncuff him first.”

I rubbed my wrists after Officer Stafford removed the cuffs. My hands shook as I signed my name on the bottom of the summons and returned Everly’s pen.

“We’ll appear in court at the requested time. I’d also like a copy of the statement from Ms. Lacosta’s parents and any you obtain prior to the court date. My email address and fax are here,”

she said sliding her card across the table to Officer Stafford and tapping it with her red fingernail.

Officer Stafford nodded. “I’ll get the parents’ statement for you now.”

After he copied the statement and collected Max from the holding cell, Officer Stafford walked us to the crowded waiting room. Aiden, Cal, who was still in his scrubs, Rowan, and Poppy rushed toward us.

“What the hell happened?”

Cal asked as Poppy wrapped me in a hug.

I pulled her close and everything inside me calmed enough I could draw my first deep breath in an hour.

“Outside,”

Everly said in a voice that left no room for argument. We trudged into the parking lot, then followed Everly to the building two doors down that housed the firm where she worked. When we entered the lobby, a young woman popped up from behind the reception desk.

“Ms. Hendricks, I’m sorry the conference room is booked,” she said.

“That’s ok, Hattie. I’ll be speaking with Mr. Markis in my office. Everyone else can wait here.”

“The hell we will,”

Aiden said. “Ev, I’m not—”

“Going to be a potential witness to the conversation I need to have with Theo. Got it?”

She made eye contact with each of them.

Rowan sank onto one of the leather sofas and Cal took a seat beside her. Max leaned against a wall. Aiden wrapped his arms around Poppy and pulled her onto his lap on one of the chairs. A flicker of anger shot through me before she elbowed him in the stomach. That’s my girl. My heart ached. She deserved so much better than me.

“Hands off,”

she yelled, squirming.

“Simmer, Hell Cat, before I pop a boner. I’ll let you go once Everly locks her office door.”

Poppy called my name, but I turned and followed Everly. She motioned for me to enter a room at the end of the hall.

“Should I lock this?”

she asked, pointing to the door as I took a seat in one of the plush chairs in front of her desk.

“Probably,”

I said. “But no guarantees someone won’t pick it.”

She snicked the lock and took a seat next to me instead of behind the desk. “Tell me what happened.”

I blew out a breath. “I tattooed the girl, but she showed me an ID of a nineteen-year-old named Sarah. The picture on the ID was close except the girl had brown hair and a fuller face. I could feel something was off.”

“So why’d you give her the tattoo?”

“The new guy at Marked brought her in, and she already had ink.”

“Aries?”

she asked, scribbling on a legal pad she’d pulled from the stack of papers on her desk.

“Yes,”

I said. My stomach sank. Finally, that odd wink made sense. He’d planned the whole thing. “I think he set me up.”

“Why would he do that?”

“He was interested in Poppy before she and I got together.”

Everly nodded.

“How bad is this?” I asked.

“It’s a class one misdemeanor. Usually, these are just a fine up to $2,500, but as Officer Stafford said, you’re a convicted felon.”

Her eyes softened and I braced myself. “There’s a possibility of jail time.”

“How much?”

“Up to a year.”

My vision swam. I dropped my head between my knees and focused on taking deep breaths.

“I won’t let that happen,”

Everly said, rubbing my back. “You checked her ID. I bet she has a sister or a cousin named Sarah who’s nineteen.”

“Sagittarius,”

I forced out. “What are the dates for the Sagittarius zodiac?”

“Um, I’m not sure how that relates but let me check.”

After a few moments she said, “November 22nd to December 21st.”

I yanked my hair. “The birthdate on the ID was in October.”

“Theo, not knowing the specific dates of the zodiac signs isn’t a crime. Besides you said she already had a tattoo.”

“Of her initial. She told me it was A for Aries, and I believed her.”

“Because that’s believable,”

Everly said, keeping her hand on my shoulder when I straightened. “We can fight this. Just so I have all the facts, did she pay with a credit card? If that had a different name, we’ll need an explanation.”

“She didn’t pay. I did it as a favor to Aries.”

“Did she sign any paperwork? A consent form?”

I nodded. “She signed with the name on the ID.”

“Did anyone other than Aries see you give her the tattoo?”

“Only about five cameras.”

“Marked has cameras?”

“Some clients have crossed the line before. Gotten physical over pricing or the way a piece turned out. Max has assault charges in his past, so he wanted to document any altercations.”

“Smart. That could work for us. It means there’s proof you did the tattoo, so there’s no sense arguing that, but there’s also probably proof you checked her ID.”

But would it matter? I was a felon who’d tattooed a sixteen-year-old girl. Someone without a record would probably pay a small fine and be done, if they were convicted at all. But many people in Peace Falls thought I hadn’t served enough time for Logan’s death and would use any opportunity to put me behind bars.

“Look, Everly. I appreciate your help today. No doubt I’d be in custody right now if you hadn’t shown up, but I don’t want to waste your time. I’m screwed.”

I stood, unlocked the door, and hurried to the reception area. Everly ran behind me, her four-inch heels clicking on the shiny wood floor. I walked straight to Poppy, who was pacing the room, and pulled her into my arms. I’d be damned if I took anyone else down with me. I breathed deep, savoring her lavender scent one last time.

“What’s happening?”

she asked, looking up at me with those snaring eyes.

I took a step back. “The inevitable. You can’t be with me. I’ll only hold you back.”

“What?”

Poppy said, her eyes widening. “Are you breaking up with me?”

I nodded. I was. In front of everyone. Because I knew if we were alone, I wouldn’t be able to let her go.

Cal jumped to his feet. “The hell you are.”

“Yeah, I’m with Cal on this one,”

Aiden said, standing. “You can’t dump his future sister-in-law in front of him and not expect to get your ass kicked.”

“I’m not dumping her,”

I snapped at them. “I’m not,”

I said taking Poppy’s hands. “I’m letting you go.”

She yanked her hands from mine. “What if I don’t want to be let go?”

“Theo, this has been a stressful day,”

Max said, quietly. “I’m sure you’re spinning to the worst possible scenario. Don’t do anything rash.”

“He’s right,”

Everly said. “This could all be resolved with a single court date.”

“Or I could spend another year in jail,” I yelled.

Cal staggered back, bumping into the couch before flopping onto it. Max and Rowan looked near tears. Aiden paled, then turned green. But Poppy stared me straight in the eyes.

“Whatever it is,”

she said, stepping closer. “However long it takes to straighten out, it doesn’t matter. I’m with you.”

I shook my head.

“At least tell me why?”

“Because I love you. I love you so much I can’t stand the thought of the life you’ll have with me. I won’t survive that guilt. If you care about me at all, you’ll keep your distance.”

“Care about you?”

she yelled. “I fucking love you too.”

“Then stay away from me,”

I said and walked out the front door before anyone could stop me. I headed toward Marked where my truck was parked. When Max caught up with me, I ignored him.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he asked.

“I checked her ID,” I said.

“I’m sure you didn’t do anything to deserve the charge. I meant breaking up with Poppy.”

“It was the right thing to do, and you know it.”

Max was silent a while, his hands gripping the back of his neck as we continued toward Marked. Eventually, he muttered something.

“What’s that?”

“I was asking the good Lord to help me get your head out of your ass.”

He didn’t say another word the rest of the way.