GREY

When I'd finally dropped Cody off at Casey's house, she was overjoyed to see him. From the look on her face, I could tell she'd already heard the news from Officer Longchamp that Cody was no longer a suspect.

Cody'd sprinted up the sidewalk and embraced her, and she'd waved at me and Brayden as we pulled away. I still couldn't meet her eyes.

Making my way out of Aldridge Lane, I'd snaked down the road to Breckensley Drive, letting Brayden out at the two-story home labeled 4813, where a bright white puppy started running circles in the yard the moment he stepped foot on the grass.

My plan from there was to leave Jacquarious's car back at his house and then walk home. After all, it wasn't that far from his place in Villafranca to my house—benefits of living in the City of Gold.

But when I'd driven up the asphalt path splitting the homes from an interweaving collection of grassy fields, it'd dawned on me that I didn't actually know his address. I'd pulled next to a gate of welded metal, its marbled foundation fringed with waves of grass, then scrabbled in the cupholder for my phone. I'd swiped at the screen until I'd arrived at my contacts, tapping Jacquarious's name and—

"YOU DID WHAT!?"

I jerked forward, phone plummeting to the carpet. What's going on? I turned my head, staring through my window past the gate, its stony edge almost blocking my view entirely.

But in the distance, the faint silhouette of a dark arm pressed firmly against a woman's hip blurred into focus.

I backed Jacquarious's car away from the park gate, jutting back into the road just as the woman's hand rose to the air and swept in frantic circles.

What the—?

"He's fifteen!" Her voice was lower than before, but no less frenzied.

Checking the rearview, I slowly crept the car in reverse, keeping an eye out for other cars as I trailed toward the nearest curb flush to the corner of the road.

I gulped as the woman came into view, the look of rage on her face incapable of hiding the unmistakable resemblance... That's Jac's mom.

"Ma'am, it's not an exaggeration."

I know that voice—it's that officer...

"Your son really is a hero," the officer said. "He cleared his classmate's name and caught a domestic abuser—"

"Don't change the subject, Gavin," the woman spat. "You used him. You sent him in the house of a...a monster...to hide a video camera. What if he'd been caught!? Did you even have an officer on standby?"

Whoa. She sounds ticked.

"And as if that weren't enough, you're telling me you dragged him to a murder scene? Again!? And for a...a secretary!? Someone he barely even knew!"

"It was my chief, ma'am; it wasn't my decision—"

"Well, rest assured I'll be taking it up with him," she growled. "My son is not your chew toy. Get that through your thick skull!"

"Mom..." Jacquarious's voice was faint from the distance, a far cry from his mother's outrage.

"And where is his car!?" she screamed again.

I gulped, wondering for a moment if I should circle the neighborhood and come back—hopefully, after the officer was already gone.

I shook my head. Just rip off the band-aid—not like she's mad at me anyway. This wasn't my idea. I gulped again, then slid the gear shift back into drive.

I rolled up the windows, kept my eyes as focused on the road as I could, tried my best to look like I hadn't overheard the shouting match...if you could even call it a match.

"There he is," I heard Mrs. Whelan's voice through the glass, my gaze holding steady—and away from hers—as I rolled up the driveway.

I nodded once as I stepped from the vehicle, giving a bashful wave.

Mrs. Whelan stalked over to me; her ebony glare felt like it was stabbing through my soul. "Thank you for returning my son's car," she growled, her head angling for a moment to grimace at Officer Longchamp before returning to face me. "Would you like to come inside for some tea?"

"I...I'm okay," I winced, shooting a quick glance at Jacquarious. "Thanks though."

She straightened, a single arm returning to her hip. "Well, then at least allow me to call you an Uber."

"That won't be necessary, ma'am," Officer Longchamp tried. "I can give him a ride—"

"As if I'm going to allow another boy to fall into your clutches," she barked. "If that's all, officer, you are welcome to leave my property."