Accepting Fate by Deanna Chase

Author:Deanna Chase [Chase, Deanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bayou Moon Press, LLC
Published: 2014-11-10T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Jax

Marty is dressed in an orange jumpsuit. There are bags under his eyes, and he’s fidgeting as if he’s hopped up on massive amounts of caffeine. I doubt that’s the case, though. More likely, he’s coming down off a high, and he’s jonesing for whatever it is he’s taking these days.

I sigh and sit across from him.

“Jax?” he says as if he can’t believe it’s me. His pale face is streaked with dirt, and he looks as if he’s been roughed up. Did he resist arrest? Or did he already get into it with someone in this place?

“What the hell’s going on?” I ask.

“I have no idea. They’re saying I burned that house down. The one in Fort Bragg.”

I don’t say anything while I wait for him to continue. I want to deny the claim and be outraged on his behalf, but seeing him in here, and the way he looks like an addict, doubt suddenly creeps in.

Tears well in his eyes as his face falls. “Someone was killed. There was an old man in one of the other houses that caught fire, and he didn’t hear his alarm. They want to charge me with manslaughter.”

My mouth drops open. This isn’t happening. It can’t be. I reach over and clasp my hand over his. My brother has issues, but I can’t imagine him doing something so awful. I just can’t. “Why do they think you’re involved?”

He jerks back. “Why? You think I did it? Jesus, Jax. I thought you of all people would be on my side.”

I grind my teeth. “I am on your side. I’m just trying to understand why this is happening. Why do they think you’re involved in this?”

He slumps forward. “They said they found evidence that I was there.”

The question’s on the tip of my tongue: were you? But that’s not something he should be answering without a lawyer present. “I’ll see about finding the best lawyer I can.”

Marty glances up at me and reaches for my hand again. “Thanks, sis.” Then his eyes slide shut, and his fingers curl into fists. “I can’t stay here.”

Not because it’s jail, I realize—though that’s bad enough—but because it’s clear to me now that he’s an addict. And he’s in for a rough night. “I’ll do my best.”

We sit in silence, holding hands, for another few minutes.

Then the guard barks, “Time’s up.”

I give Marty one last long look then lean over the table and kiss him on the cheek. “Stay strong.”

He nods. As I’m leaving, he calls, “Don’t call Mom and Dad. Not yet. I don’t want to ruin their vacation.”

***

“How’d it go?” Derek asks me as soon as we’re outside.

There’s not a cloud in the sky, and the sun is beating down on us, overheating me instantly. I tug my sweater off, not caring at all that my faded T-shirt has a hole in the side. “Terrible.”

Derek wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him.

I stand there in the safety of his embrace, never wanting to leave.

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