Page 138 of Cuffed (Everyday Heroes 1)
With each breath, each beat of my heart, each tremble of my hands, the anger slowly morphs into disbelief.
Then disbelief gives way to shock.
Then shock to devastation.
“Em, you okay? It sounded like something fell,” Leo says as he clears the doorway and looks around, his constant movement faltering when he sees me.
“Emerson?”
I just lost my loan.
“I’m fine. I just . . .”
I just lost my fresh start.
“I just need to get out of here for a bit. Can you handle everything?”
“Sure. Yes. You sure you’re okay?” Concern laces his tone.
“Yeah.”
I just lost my dream.
“How long you going to do this, man?”
“Do what?” I ask as I turn down Serenity Court.
“You’re too close to this case,” Nate says as I pull the cruiser to the curb and put it in park. There are cars in the driveway, the garage door is closed, and there are lights on inside. “How are you going to explain why you’re in their front yard if Davis comes waltzing out? That doesn’t exactly look good. I mean . . . what if he is abusing them, you snooping around constantly looks like a perfect case of police interference, planting evidence, discrimination—Jesus, just about anything people accuse cops of these days.”
I hang my head and drum my thumbs on the wheel, knowing he’s one hundred percent right.
“I promised her, Nate.” It’s the only explanation I can give before I hop out of the car and jog the few feet across the street to the driveway.
This is the last time.
Nate’s right.
And just as I agree with myself, I turn the corner of the walkway and freeze. Sitting there in a garden of rocks that hasn’t had a new one added to it for the past three weeks is a freshly painted rock.
It’s red with black seeds.
Oh, shit.
And it’s sitting prominently on top of all the others.
It feels like it takes me a second to register what I’m seeing, but I damn well know what it is because my fist is banging on the door without a second thought.
“Sunnyville Police, open up.”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“Open the goddamn door.”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“Mr. Davis, open the door. I know you’re home.”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
