HOLT

A nightmare.

Actually, a nightmare doesn’t even come close to describing it.

My face feels flushed and raw, like I’ve spent a week fighting a fever. My head is pounding. My body is sore. My muscles cramp. My lips are cracked. And my soul? It feels like it’s been run through a garbage disposal.

At least I’m not handcuffed anymore.

“So, you understand this doesn’t look good for you. Evidence is evidence, right?” The woman on the other side of the metal table stares at me. She pushes her glasses up on her nose, and for a moment, I’m reminded of Laura.

Lieutenant Liz Archer with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation—the ABI.

Apparently, she’s planning on getting me to confess.

But how can I confess to something I didn’t do?

I swallow. “I understand what you’re saying, how it looks. But it’s wrong. I didn’t do anything.”

She rummages around in the file in front of her. Picking up a paper, she reads. ‘“I had such a good time with you tonight. It’s getting harder to hide my feelings. There’s no other place I’d rather be than with you. Inside of you.’” She lifts an eyebrow. “Sound familiar?”

We’ve been through this. “No.”

“But this text was sent from your phone.” She pats the stack in front of her. “It’s just one of hundreds. Sent from your phone . Sent by you .”

“It was not sent by me. I told you, I have never had any inappropriate relationship with Heidi Trevors. She’s a student at my school, and she works part time for my girlfriend. That’s it.”

She leans back and folds her arms across her chest. “How do you explain everything then? The texts. The pictures.” She pushes a picture in front of me. A picture that suspiciously looks like me and Heidi making out in my truck.

But it’s not. It’s from the night I drove Heidi home and she hugged me. The angle just makes it look bad.

I hit the picture with my finger. “That’s not what it looks like. I told you. That was a hug, and I pulled away as soon as she hugged me.”

Who even took that picture anyway? It’s from outside the truck.

“Look, she’s a cute girl. You’re a good-looking guy. You’re used to getting lots of attention from women. Maybe it started innocently enough, a little flirting. But you had to know you were playing with fire. She’s seventeen.”

“I know she’s seventeen! That’s why I didn’t hit on her!” I shake my head, realizing I’m not wording anything correctly. “I didn’t flirt with her, nor did I even want to flirt with her. She’s a student, a child. I would never do that. Not to mention, I’m in a relationship. I love my girlfriend.”

She purses her lips and makes an uninterested sound. “The girlfriend who owns the store?”

“That’s right.”

“The store where you got Heidi a job so she could be closer to you? Make it easier for y’all to steal some alone time with one another?”

“What? Of course not. Merit hired Heidi of her own accord. I just made an introduction. Heidi was saving money, and Merit wanted to help her.”

Scowling, she digs back through her papers. When she starts reading another text, I nearly poke my own eardrums out. “‘I can’t do this anymore. I’ve decided I’m not leaving Merit. We’re done. Whatever this was, it’s over. We’re nothing but friends. And remember what I told you. Tell no one, or I will make your life a living hell. I have enough money and power to do anything I want.’” She clears her throat. “You sent this to Heidi at three a.m. the night you won the State Championship. I understand you had a party that night? It was your last romantic interaction with her? The last time you and Heidi were physically intimate?”

What the fuck. “There was no last romantic interaction because there was never a first romantic interaction.”

She completely ignores me. “Fortunately, she’s a very strong girl. She refused to cower to your threat. She went to the police that very morning. My office was immediately brought in to spearhead the investigation. Do you know that I had dozens of people from all agencies working on this twenty-four-seven for the past two weeks?” She chuckles cynically. “What can I say? You made it all very easy for us. Sure, you deleted the texts from your phone, but the cloud holds onto everything.” She leans forward, resting her elbows on the table. “You may be smart on the field, but you’re dumb as hell with electronics.”

The anger in my voice is palpable. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. I did not send those messages. Someone must be spoofing my phone number. And I did not have a relationship with Heidi. No touching, no kissing, no sex. Nothing!”

She glowers at me. It’s clear she’s weighing her options on how she wants to proceed. Finally, she breaks the silence. “She can describe your genitalia.”

“Excuse me?”

“You have a scar,” she says with a smirk. “On the inside of your left thigh, in the groin area, right next to your…” Her voice trails off.

She’s right. I do.

We went on a field trip in first grade to a working farm. Ridge and I snuck away from the group, and I tried to climb over a fence. I didn’t realize there was barbed wire at the top. I bled like a stuffed pig. Got seven stitches.

How in the world could Heidi know such a thing? There’s no way.

I can feel my life slipping away from me with every word I say. I can’t believe I actually thought this was some kind of misunderstanding that I could clear up with a few questions. “I’m done talking. I need to contact my lawyer.”

There’s a ferocious pounding on the door and a scuffle of noise, making me jump. I think this room is supposed to be soundproof, but there’s no mistaking Crutch’s voice. I can’t hear what he’s saying—or screaming—but I know it’s him.

Lieutenant Archer’s chair scrapes across the floor. Sliding outside, she pulls the door behind her, but it doesn’t latch. “What’s going on out here?!” She interrupts whatever fight is happening.

Crutch’s voice is filled with exasperation. “I’ll say it again…there’s no way Holt Hill did this. If you’d just let me—”

She warns, “I’ve already told you to stay out of this investigation, Sergeant. If you even say the name Holt Hill again, I’m gonna make sure the Sheriff takes your badge. Understand?”

Crutch has a pretty low voice. But when he’s pissed? It sounds deadly. “I’ll do whatever the fu—”

“Crutch!” Marcum interrupts him. I hear footsteps. He must be walking down the hallway toward us. I can hear the worry and concern the moment Marcum opens his mouth. “I told you to leave.” He sighs, saying it again. “You need to leave, son.”

“But—” Crutch immediately protests.

“Stop. You have a family to think about now. A wife and a son. You need to leave before you get kicked out of here…as a civilian.” I hear him clap Crutch on the shoulder.

Archer clears her throat. “Thank you for your assistance, Lieutenant Marcum.”

“Well…” If I close my eyes, I can literally picture Marcum, hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels. “I’ve heard you don’t mess around. Threatening to take a man’s badge is serious business.” He clicks his tongue. “You know, my wife has been after me to turn my own badge in. Retire.”

No one says anything. Not Archer or the others who I know are standing around.

“I guess now is as good of a time as any,” Marcum says.

“Pardon?” Archer asks.

“I just turned in my papers. I’ve got over a year of sick days built up. Consider my retirement effective immediately.” He snaps his fingers. “Oh, and the family just hired me as a private consultant. Not another word to my client until he has an attorney present.” He flings the door open and leans his head in the room. “Shut the hell up, Holt. Listen to what Ella said.”

He barely has time to finish his sentence before they’re pushing him out of the room.

A minute later, Archer comes back in. “I’m sorry for the disturbance. Where were we?”

“We weren’t anywhere.” I lean forward, splaying my hands across the table. My word is simple but decisive. “Attorney.”

When she leaves the room, I try to hold it together.

I try to hold it together because the camera in the corner of the ceiling is still flashing red, still recording.

But I can’t help it.

Burying my face in my hands, I cry.