He opened his mouth but nothing came out. His lips tried to form words, but after several failed attempts, he let out a defeated cough. “I can’t. I can’t tell you anything.”
“What are you doing down here?” Mercedes had joined us at some point, but I hadn’t heard her enter. She wore a men’s plaid shirt and a battered pair of blue jeans tucked into a pair of Sorel winter boots. She hadn’t bothered to brush her hair, and it was borderline afro in size and curl volume.
“Gabriel’s been arrested.” I pointed to the man in the cell.
“I know.” Behind her, the dark-haired detective was watching us quietly. “You remember Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember Tyler?” She nodded at Detective Sexypants.
“Should I?”
Cedes nodded. “You’ve known him for a while.”
I backed up to the empty cell behind me and slid to the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest. Gabriel was still standing at the bars of his cell, and his expression could only be described in one way. Guilt. He looked so guilty it made me want to hurt him.
“What do you know?” I tried to infuse as much menace as possible into my words, but they came out strained and desperate. “You need to help me.”
He shook his head and slunk back into the cell, stumbling against the edge of his cot. Once he was sitting, he wouldn’t meet my eyes again and kept muttering, “I can’t. I can’t.”
Mercedes sat next to me and placed her arm around my shoulders. Tyler stood in the door with his arms crossed and continued to act as a silent observer. I suspected he wanted to say something but was demonstrating exceptional restraint by keeping his mouth shut.
“I called Lucas,” Cedes said. “He’s on his way to come get you.”
I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of trusting a guy I didn’t know, but I was willing to do just about anything at this point if it meant I wouldn’t feel helpless anymore.
“Why did you come to see Gabriel?” she asked again.
“Because I know him.”
She nodded, her hand tightening on my shoulder. “You think he knows what’s happening to you?”
I stared into the cell, but Gabriel wouldn’t face us. “He looks guilty.”
“He is guilty,” Tyler interjected, breaking his silence.
Mercedes glared at him. “Not the best time, Novak.”
Tyler grunted and returned to the antechamber where I’d left my weapons. I leaned into Mercedes and let her familiar scent make me feel as normal as I could right then. She stroked my hair, and we sat quietly for a good ten minutes before being interrupted again.
A man entered the room, and the moment I laid eyes on him my pulse quickened. My whole body screamed at me that I knew this man and he belonged to me. Yet my brain drew a total blank. He was tall, but not as tall as Tyler, and where the latter was dark-haired, the new man was blond, his blue eyes shining with worry.
He was so damned pretty it hurt. No wonder my body wanted to lay claim to him.
“Secret?” he ventured tentatively. “Do you know who I am?”
God, I wished I could say yes. Instead I admitted, “No.”
The man exchanged worried looks with Mercedes. “How long has she been like this?”
“She called me just after one.”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked me.
I tried to recall, but whenever I thought I could hold down a memory it would slip through my fingers like smoke. “I don’t know.”
“She remembers me and Keats. And she remembers Gabriel.”