Page 34 of Trial of Deceit (The Family’s Oath #1)

Chapter eighteen

“H e still hasn’t said anything?” Lyssa asked as she stopped beside Ashari, who stood before the window of the observation room. She handed Ashari a tall cup of coffee.

“No,” Ashari said, moving the hot brew to her lips.

Its bitter taste added to the one already lingering inside her mouth.

She paused after noticing the absence of the ring on her finger.

It was back at the secure location at which she’d been stationed and guarded twenty-four seven for when Jediah eventually put two and two together.

She wasn’t sure if Reka had shown Jediah the images, but since then, she’d caught him taking her ring off her finger one night.

By the morning, the ring was back on her finger.

Maybe he’d finally put a tracker in it. Ashari wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t afford any more slip ups at this integral part of the case.

Lyssa bumped Ashari with her shoulder. She smiled as Ashari glanced at her. “You did great. I was worried about you for a while.”

“Why?”

“Senior told me to keep my distance, but I couldn’t. Whenever Tsai told me that he brought you to a car mart, I snuck around the building and watched you. I saw how happy you looked with him. For a second, I thought…”

Ashari’s brow raised. “Thought what?”

“That you actually liked him,” she said, laughing as Ashari’s eyes widened. “But I know now that it was a ploy. Glad you took the initiative to bend the rules and leave the club. You’re really the best person we could’ve put on this case. It’s just a pity Romar and Jaia aren’t here to see it.”

“Right…” Ashari moved the coffee to her mouth, taking a big chug. It stung the back of her throat, and she choked.

Lyssa looked at her, placing a hand on her back. “You good?”

“Yeah. Can you get me a bottle of water, please? Coffee’s not good for me right now.

The arrest’s making me uneasy,” Ashari explained, and Lyssa nodded before leaving the room.

Walking toward the table pressed against the wall behind her, Ashari rested the cup atop it.

She walked back to the window, watching closely as an agent tried getting a reaction out of Jediah.

She should’ve felt victorious. Instead, she felt empty.

Since the raid, he’d been in the interrogation room for seven hours.

The others — including Elias — who were arrested were in separate rooms. Jediah hadn’t asked for a lawyer, or to go take a leak.

Not even once. He sat still as a statue with his cuffed hands resting atop his thigh beneath the table, his feet flat against the floor, his shoulders relaxed, and staring straight ahead at the window.

Her heart raced as the unease in the pit of her stomach continued to grow.

This was such a bad idea. She should’ve gathered more evidence or beg Toby to take her off this case.

Maybe Romar was right. She wasn’t as experienced as him to be the lead on anything.

They should’ve gone with the angle of him wooing Reine while she worked from the shadows.

She sucked in a breath as Jediah slightly opened his mouth. The agent in the room stopped talking, leaning over the table, then banging his palm against it. He demanded that Jediah confess to the crimes.

Jediah moved his lips, but it wasn’t audible. Ashari moved closer to the intercom by the window, turning up the volume but not hearing anything besides a slam of the door as the agent stormed out. The door to the room she was in opened a moment later.

The agent tossed a file onto the table beside Ashari’s coffee. “He’s a tough nut to crack,” said the agent. “But we can hold him for twenty-four hours before we have to let him go. You did good, Ash.”

Ashari nodded, turning the volume up even more while absentmindedly saying, “Thanks.”

The agent left the room, and she narrowed her eyes on Jediah’s lips.

She mimicked the actions of his lips, trying to make sense of what he was saying.

When she finally did, her eyes widened and she staggered backward.

Goose bumps washed over her skin. She moved a hand to her mouth as the unease was replaced by fear.

She looked around the room, but couldn’t find a bin.

She rushed out of the room while the door to Jediah’s interrogation room slammed shut.

She wasn’t worried about stumbling into anyone she shouldn’t have.

This small, well-guarded facility was built specifically for this purpose, and was occupied only by the most essential workers.

Ashari ran down the hallway where she saw a bin. Grabbing it by the sides, she hunched over it. The stench of an old sandwich drifted up her nostrils while she threw up. The dark mix pouring from her mouth landed with a splatter atop the sandwich, gathering in a shapeless, watery lump.

Nothing else came out except dry heaving.

She hadn’t been able to eat since Jediah’s arrest that morning. It’d already made rounds on all of Jamaica’s news channels, but she didn’t expect it to still leave her this queasy.

A door opened up ahead, and she lifted her head. Her eyes widened as she saw Jediah, and she quickly yanked her head down.

Damn it!

Did he see her? Her heart picked up its pace as worry seeped into her.

Two pairs of footsteps disappeared up the hallway toward the bathroom. Ashari closed her eyes as tears spilled from them. They rolled down her cheeks and fell onto the nauseating mix irritating her nose.

Up ahead, she could imagine Jediah doing his smug grin. Like this was a game. As if her career hadn’t been on the line since she left the club with him.

She hadn’t considered all angles. By the looks of it, Senior hadn’t either.

How could she be so stupid?

There was no good way out of this now.

All thanks to spousal immunity.

Jediah, two. Ashari, zero.