Reaching into her pocket, I pull out the charm and hold it up. “That’s all I wanted.”
She slams me in the chest, baring her teeth. “Don’t touch me.”
I almost laugh, because not once did it ever occur to me to touch her how she thinks I would.
But it’s not funny. Nothing at all is funny about the situation she’s found herself in. “You shouldn’t go back to them.” I tuck the charm away in my pocket and meet her eyes. “Go get yourself a real job and re-evaluate your friendships, honey. Have a nice life.”
I turn to leave, but someone is there. I halt, seeing Officer Reeves.
Shit.
He stands there, out of uniform and alone, approaching us. “Hawke.”
I feel the girl at my side, and my legs are suddenly too heavy.
“You okay?” he asks me.
I steel my jaw. His Challenger idles behind him, the headlights off, and he reaches into his leather jacket. He’s not on duty. I wish he was. He’s more of a problem when he’s not.
“Miss Marquez,” he says, nodding. “Quite the mess you’ve made. Are you armed today?”
I glance at her, but she stares at him, not responding. That look is in her eyes again. The fear. Just a bit, but it’s there.
Reeves’s Challenger is the car I saw entering the park, and I followed, because he was probably looking for her too. Hugo would’ve called him, because Hugo’s not the one in charge. Not ultimately.
I’ve known about Reeves and Green Street for a while. And who really runs it.
“You can go home,” he tells me. “Your parents will be worried with all the commotion over there. I’ll take it from here.” He walks toward us. “Tell your mom I said hi.”
I see the girl out of the corner of my eye, and I know…
She’s going to take punishment for this. I don’t know what I was thinking.
“I should come with you both,” I finally say. “Give my statement. I dumped some drugs I found.”
He stops, his gaze hard. “You destroyed evidence?”
Evidence. I want to laugh. No, I just cost you thousands of dollars.
But I just say, “Yes, sir.”
“No,” the girl blurts out. “He didn’t. He’s just trying to be the hero. It was me.”
I look over at her. Why is she lying? He’s going to hurt her. Or worse.
“That’s…unfortunate,” he says in a low voice, eerily calm.
Goddammit. Is she actually trying to help me? I’m not in danger from him. All of my friends know I’m here. I’ll be missed if I disappear into an unmarked grave, and my uncle is the best attorney in the state. I’m not in any real trouble.
What will he do to her?
“Hawke, you can go,” he says again.
No.
He calls her over. “Come here, girl.”
I hear her breath shake, but slowly, she passes me, lifting her chin.
My mind races. Something’s not right. He’s not taking her in, and even if he does, he’ll have time to do anything he wants to her first. No one believes kids like her.
Like my dad when he was her age.
I walk past him, away from the pond, leaving her behind, and knowing there’s nothing I can do. I can call more police. Make sure she’s not alone with him.
But then he has her in jail. With full access.
And if she’s released, she’s a target.
It happens. Shit happens every day, all over the planet, and you know there will be more. More people like her who make all the wrong decisions and get used. It’s just life.
It’s her fault anyway. She robbed us and stole her boss’s car. She got herself here. She’s a mess.
And she took the blame for me. Stupid girl.
I walk past his car, and I’m moving before I think too hard. I yank open his car door and climb in, pushing away all the panic of what I’m about to do. I shift into gear, look ahead, and see them, his hand caressing her face just before it slips up her ski cap and fists her hair.
She winces, and I flip on the headlights.
Reeves twists his head, seeing me in his car, and I hit the gas. I’m not letting some rat punk from Weston take the fall for me, even if everything else tonight is her fault. But even more, I’m not letting him use kids to make money.
“Hawke!” he shouts.
I ram the Mercedes, hitting the gas until it tilts, falls, and rolls down the incline to the pond. It crashes below, all of his fucking money in the trunk, and he releases her, running over and slamming his fist on the hood of the car.
I stop, push open the door, and step out. “Run!” I tell her over the hood.
Her dark eyes stare at me as she breathes hard.
“And that’s the last time I help you,” I growl at her. “Get out of here!”