Page 101 of Trust

But they’re both armed, and if one of the bullets ricochets and hits Micah…

The handcuffs snap around my wrists.

Boris shakes his head in disappointment, but he lets them cuff him, too.

Adam goes up to Micah and forces his wrists together. He slaps the handcuffs on him. “You like this, right?” Adam says with a smirk.

Micah flinches.

My blood boils. “Don’t talk to him, you fucking pig,” I growl.

Adam only gives me a nasty smile.

“You have the right to remain silent,” the officer holding me begins his spiel, starting to lead me out of the courtyard and back through the restaurant. He and the officer holding Boris take us to their patrol cars.

And Adam takes Micah to his own.

Like the first time we’d met, Micah looks lost and alone.

EIGHTEEN

MICAH

As soon as I’m in the car, Adam leans down to look through the back door. “It’s just for show. I’m not really arresting you,” he says, smirking in a way that makes my heart sink. “Just sit there for a bit, and once the search is done, I’ll let you go ‘with a warning.’”

I swallow hard. “Okay,” I whisper.

I don’t know whether I should be relieved or not.

The idea of going back into jail, even for a few hours, had had me terrified, but now the idea of going back home with Adam is even more frightening. I don’t know what kind of mood he’s going to be in, not with the way the search had panned out to shownothing.

Because I hadn’t given him anything worthwhile.

Adam shuts the door, leaving me alone in the back of his patrol car. There’s a small mesh grate between the back and the front, to protect the driver from the dangerous criminals who get thrown back here.

I wonder what they’re going to do to Ilya, who really is a dangerous criminal.

Adam had at least cuffed my hands in front of me, which is a welcome change from the last time I’d been arrested. It doesn’t count for much.

I rest my head against the window, watching as the officers go in and out of the restaurant. I don’t think they’re going to find anything there, but I wonder what was in the other building, where Adam had kicked the door down.

I’m torn between hoping they find something and that they don’t.

On one hand, Adam will be in a better mood if they do, his promotion all but secure.

I’ll be safe.

On the other, though…

I don’t want anything to happen to Ilya.

More people in handcuffs get led out. Officers try to corral the onlookers. There are so many people swarming the area now.

My cello is still in the restaurant.

It feels like eternity passes before Adam returns. The look on his face is utterly triumphant, and my heart sinks. What had they found?

He talks animatedly with some of the other officers. They start clapping each other on the back, like it’s a job well done. An older woman in a suit goes up to them, and she nods as they talk to her.