“Rem, you need to come with me,” Sebastian orders as soon as I reach the driveway. His jaw is clenched, and he looks pissed off.
“What’s going on?” I ask between breaths, sweat dripping down my forehead and chest, soaking my t-shirt. My father has a strange look in his eyes, one I’ve never seen before.
“The police are looking for you. They want you to come in right now.”
I roll my eyes. Fuck them, there is nothing to investigate or question. I didn’t do shit, not yet. They would have something to investigate if I could get my fucking hands on Cole, but thus far, I have no leads on where he is.
I lift my shirt, wiping at my brow with the fabric.
“Do I have time to change and shower?”
Seb shakes his head, and that only frustrates me more.
“Well, I guess let’s fucking go then,” I grumble, heading toward the SUV.
“Let them ask you their questions, son. You fucked up yes, but I know you didn’t hurt Jules like they’re saying you did.”
I don’t even care, there is nothing I can do to make them believe me, not without revealing what happened that night and I won’t do that to Jules. I’ll never hurt her again, ever.
Sebastian and my father get into the SUV, and we start off toward the police station I itch to ask him how she’s doing, if she still isn’t talking or eating, if she’s still having nightmares, but I worry that he wouldn’t tell me the truth, even if I did ask.
Dad’s the only one who’s told me of her current state. Sebastian is cold and aloof and doesn’t often mention Jules, if ever, when I see him.
“I know you think I did it, but I didn’t. I love her too much to do something so foolish.”
“You think because you tell me you love her that I’ll believe you?”
The tone of his voice catches me off guard, and before I can respond, he’s talking again.
“She refuses to eat, talk, shower, and sometimes I have to go into her bedroom at night because I worry that she might stop breathing… that she might just give up, might stop trying.”
There are no words, no response to what he just said. My heart literally fucking aches.
“You’re my brother Rem, and I love you, but you hurt her, you hurt her so badly, and I know you’re sorry, and that you didn’t mean for it to get this out of hand, but it did. It fucking did and now there are consequences for your actions.”
“I didn’t do it, Seb. I took the recording, but I didn’t take the photos. I saved her that night, from him…” The confession slips from my lips with ease.
“What? Who is him?”
“I can’t say. I don’t want Jules to have to relive that night. If I say something, they’ll ask more questions, they’ll go to her, they’ll bring her into all of this, and I don’t want to hurt her any more than I already have. I can’t fucking bear it.”
Sebastian sighs. “So you’ll take the downfall for the photos, to what? Protect her? They’re going to end up questioning her anyway.”
I shrug. “Then she can tell them whatever she wants. If she wants to tell them the truth, of what really happened that night, then she can. If she doesn’t, then I’ll take the fall.”
We pull up to the police station and park in the small parking lot out front. I open the door, but my dad grabs my arm and stops me from stepping out.
“Maybe we should get a lawyer before we talk to them.”
“Dad, I didn’t take the pictures,” I growl. I’m seriously getting tired of having to tell people that. I might have been fucking stupid enough to share that recording with the guys, but if I had photos of Jules, I wouldn’t be sharing them with the entire campus.
Those would be mine, all fucking mine.
“You heard what the lawyer you talked to said. There is nothing they can charge me with. The recording was fucked up but not illegal and I didn’t take those fucking pictures. I’ve denied it a million times and I’ll continue to deny it, because it wasn’t me.”
He sighs and lets go of my arm. I’m sure he thinks I’m being stubborn, but I won’t tell these assholes something just because they want to hear me say it. I get out of the car with my father following behind me.
“I’m going back to my place,” Seb announces. “Call me when you’re done, and I’ll come and get you. I don’t have the patience to sit through another session of questioning.”
We walk inside, all eyes snap up and land on me, like I’m some deranged criminal or something. It’s a small police department and it seems like everybody knows why I’m here. Detective Garcia comes around the corner and greets me in his usual emotionless way.