Page 80 of For Your Own Good

That was almost too easy.

ZACH IS ATthe police station, sitting by himself in an interrogation room. He’s been booked and fingerprinted, and now they don’t know what to do with him. They can’t take him to the same jail where Courtney is, and the holding cells are full. Too many reporters: A number of them were caught trespassing. There are a lot of people here.

Which is just fine with Zach. He has never been so scared.

Seventeen years of being told not to screw up.

Seventeen years of having it drilled into his head.

One error in judgment can change everything,Dad always says. The example he uses is drinking and driving. Bribing a jail guard probably applies as well.

Zach has finally screwed up, and it’s a big mistake. Big enough to change everything. And the only thing he can do is wait for his mom to show up.

When she does, he can hear her through the door.

“How dare you speak to my son without my permission...”

Her voice gets louder as she comes closer, and the door flies open. Mom stands there, and Zach can feel her rage, her worry, her confusion. A bundle of emotions entering the room all at once.

Including disappointment.

She rushes to him. “Are you okay?”

He nods.

She whips around to face Tate and Oliver. “Someone better start telling me what’s going on.”

“Your son has been arrested for bribing a county employee,” Tate says.

“That’s absurd.”

Tate says nothing.

“Mom,” Zach says.

“Be quiet,” she says. Doesn’t even look at him. She takes a deep breath and straightens her shoulders, transforming from a mother to a lawyer. “Let’s speak outside,” she says to the detectives.

Zach finds himself alone again. No phone. No windows. Nothing to do but think about how stupid he is.

The next few hours go by in a blur. He’s taken out of the room, and Mom once again tells him to stay quiet. He stands in front of a judge, who reads the charges and sets his bail. Zach barely listens. He’s already thinking of what comes next. What a school like Belmont will do with a student charged with felony bribery.

It can’t be good.

Things get even worse after the bail is paid and he walks out of the police station. Dad is right there, waiting for him.

“What in the hell did you do?” he says.

“Not here,” Mom says. “Wait until we get home.”

Zach opts to ride with Mom, which seems like the lesser of two evils. She’s on the phone the whole time, either talking to someone at her office or calling around about criminal defense lawyers.

The pit in Zach’s stomach grows bigger.

Mom ends a call as they drive up to the house. “You have no idea what you’ve done,” she says.

“I just—”

“Not. One. Word.”