Not without getting his brother or cousin in trouble.
That, or he could give Steven’s name, which would more than likely do nothing but get Jace killed.
Either him or Ian and Joseph.
That was not a result he could contemplate.
And there was no chance he could talk his way out of the breaking and entering.
There was no way he was letting Faith take the fall for that, and he knew she was in the next room over, trying to do exactly that.
Convince them that it was her fault.
Her idea.
Jace swallowed hard, searched inside himself for courage, for the determination to do whatever it took to protect his brother and his cousin.
To protect Faith.
He lifted his head and looked the officer head on. “I’ll plead whatever you want. I just need two things from you.”
“I need to talk to you.”
Joseph immediately shot to his feet when Jace banged into the trailer.
Jace had sent Ian to run an errand for their mother, telling him he needed him to do him the favor. Really, he’d just wanted Ian out of the house so he could talk with Joseph in private.
Guilt was written across Joseph like it was written in a book, all mixed up with the hostility that continued to bleed from him.
Jace wanted to take it out on him. Demand a confession. Make Joseph give him confirmation that either he or Ian had been the ones who’d stuffed those drugs in Jace’s backpack, surely finding the quickest place to hide it when Jace had come out of his room.
He’d bet a million bucks Steven had shown up and coerced one of them into it, just the same as he’d done to Jace. The threat too great to resist.
How could Jace blame either Ian or Joseph for the same thing that he’d cowarded to? It wasn’t as if it was a negligible risk.
No question, Steven would stand on his word.
None of these guys were to be toyed with.
So instead of railing on Joseph, Jace swallowed down all his anger that he felt toward the world, and he made a plea. “I know things have been weird between us lately, and I know you’re younger than Ian, but I need you to step up. Take care of him the way I’ve been taking care of you.”
Jace sucked in the heated air. Feeling as if he were being consumed.
Incinerated.
Then he begged, “I don’t know what either of you have gotten into, but I need you to promise me, Joseph, promise me, whatever it is, it ends now. Or you’re going to end up just like me. Maybe worse.”
Joseph stared at him. Appearing dumbfounded. Maybe shocked. “You want me to take care of your brother?”
Grief clawed at his throat. “And Faith. Watch out for Faith. You and Ian have to promise not to tell her that I’m getting sent away. She’ll be devastated. Riddled with guilt. Let her think I left her. That’s all I’m asking of you. Here’s the key to the little safe I have under my bed. It’s all the money I’ve saved working at the store. Can I trust you to do this?”
Joseph took the key and rolled it around his fingers. “Of course, you can trust me.”
Rays of blinding light streaked through the moss-covered branches that stretched across the old dirt road like a living canopy.
It was a road they’d walked together what seemed a thousand times.
Their secret spot.
Their sacred spot.
He stared at her from where he stood five feet away.
His hands stuffed in the pockets of his ripped jeans, rocking with the guilt and the grief, trying to keep from rushing her. Holding her.
“I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
The pleas poured from her mouth, every single one like a knife driven right into his heart.
“I don’t know what kind of trouble we’re in. The only thing that matters to me is that you’re standing right here, in front of me.”
Sadness rippled through her features. The only thing he wanted was to reach out. Take it away. Promise her that it would all be okay.
But it wouldn’t be.
He had to embrace his circumstances.
He was going to prison.
He had to cut himself off from her. He couldn’t ask her to wait. He knew she would.
By doing it this way, he was giving her a choice.
Like a caged bird, he was letting her go.
He’d find out if she really belonged to him if she still loved him when he returned.
Only he’d be the one in the cell.
It was the only way he’d ever really know if she was his or if it was all a fantasy. A dream he could never live.
“It doesn’t matter, Faith? How can you say that?” His voice was bitter and hard, every bit of disgust cast at himself.
She took a pleading step forward. “It doesn’t. The only thing that matters is you and me.”