The old man shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so. If she was going to use, she would’ve before the cops showed up.” He looks pointedly at Owen. “Think about it, Owen. Suit up. We have a job to do.”
Owen kicks the ground and drags his feet forward as the father turns, leading him away. Devon steps around me and follows. I decide to take the chance to slip towards the holding cells, desperate to see her.
Chapter51
Gracie
Ilook up as someone approaches my cell block and sits forward as keys clank together before the bars open. I push up off the cold, hard bench. It isn’t foreign to me, but I had really hoped that I would never have to be in one again after becoming sober.
“Morning, Gracie,” the familiar voice greets, a little too lighthearted for my taste.
I don’t move, but I recognize the man as he steps into a shine of light. Owen’s partner greets me with a grin. I’m too tired to smile back, and honestly, I don’t fucking care right now. As he steps aside and lets the gap be wide open to me, I stare at the hole between the wall and bars.
“You’re free to go,” he tells me, motioning at the empty space.
I stare at it and then look at him, unsure what I’m supposed to do. Is this some fucked up joke? I feel like it is. But I don’t know why Drake would play a joke on me. Owen might be pissed with me, but Drake’s a good guy. I know that even if we’ve only had a few interactions together. I’ve never felt like he would play a fucked-up trick like this. Still, I don’t want to move to be on the safe side.
“I promise, this is the real deal. You’re free.”
I blink and look up at him, my eyebrows raising in question.
“Someone came forward and admitted planting those drugs on you.”
I stand and linger for a moment before taking a step back, biting my bottom lip as I eye him. Drake turns and steps out of the cell as I hesitate, still unsure if this is the real deal or not. I don’t believe Drake would do this, but I also didn’t believe someone would plant drugs on me while I was trying so fucking hard to stay sober. I can be wrong about everything and not even know it.
“I’m serious, Gracie,” he tells me over his shoulder. “Unless you want to spend the night in the cell, I suggest you come on.”
I chew my bottom lip and then move forward to follow him, my feet dragging as I push myself out of the cell. When I round the corner and Drake doesn’t try to stop me, I get a little bit more ballsy about being out of the cell. There are no other cops around, not even at the desk across from the holding cell. I don’t know where they went, but they disappeared about fifteen minutes ago and have yet to return. I don’t care. The way the guy kept staring at me made me so fucking uncomfortable. I somewhat hope he snorted up a line of coke and died down. He looked fidgety and a little too skinny. I know the signs of a drug addict all too well. I’m not going to say shit, though. That isn’t my place.
Drake leads me to the main part of the police station. Owen’s sitting at his desk, and at my appearance, he sits back before looking at me. Devon and my father stand right behind him. The relief on Devon’s face makes my heart flutter a little. My father just looks annoyed, lips pursed, and shoulders squared. He only looks at me for a moment before turning his head. I follow his look and land on Kate and someone who I barely recognize as the model Adrianna from Luke and Jasper’s. Adrianna is as gorgeous as I remember her being, and envy burns white-hot in the pit of my stomach. I hate her for being so fucking pretty. Long, caramel hair flows down her back, simmering hazel eyes, and breasts that are puckered in her bra, cleavage showing from the tight shirt that hugs her hourglass figure. And legs to die for. I’m tall like my mother, but nothing like this girl. I hate her, and I want to be her.
Behind Adrianna is a man dressed in a suit who keeps adjusting his tie and talks in a low voice to her, ignoring Kate entirely. Kate is sitting in a chair, twisting her purse strap repeatedly between her hands. Her face is blotchy, eyes puffy. She looks like she’s been crying over whatever is going on.
“Why’re they here?” I ask Drake, the only pair of ears in hearing distance to me.
Drake shakes his head. “They’re the ones who have been framing you. Along with Donna.”
I stop in my tracks, not daring to take my eyes off the two women in the event that if I blink, they’ll disappear, and the cell will reappear around me. That is just a hopeful dream conjured up in my mind to give me some peace. Maybe I am taking drugs and don’t want to admit it to myself, so I’m trying to make up a reason inside my mind that I will be okay with it. I loathe Donna so goddamn much, so of course, I would blame her. I’m not on good terms with Kate for obvious reasons, but it isn’t enough for me to blame her. The other girl, I don’t know anything about, except the fact that I hate how pretty she is. Maybe I just put a group together to come up with some rational explanation in my drug-riddled mind.
Yeah, that must be it. I’m in denial, aren’t I?
I tear my eyes away from the two women and catch Owen’s. It’s like a slap in my face that knocks me back into reality. I’m sober. I’m still sober. I haven’t given up. I’m desperate not to give up. I’m not in denial. I really am being framed. But why?
Owen pushes his chair back and stands, but instead of approaching me, he turns as two cops enter the station, the familiar redhead in front of them with her hands cuffed behind her back. She looks furious. I shrink back, shoulders tensing, waiting for her to start going off on me, but her eyes find Kate and Adrianna first.
“You imbeciles! You are so fucking weak, you know that?” she screeches at Kate and Adrianna. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you.”
Kate’s head snaps up, looking absolutely devastated. “It wasn’t supposed to go this far, Donna! You never said she was going to be put in jail!”
Donna rolls her eyes. “Plans evolve, you yellow-bellied wuss. God, you’re a fucking child,” she snarls, and her eyes snap to Owen, smirking at him. “Almost had you there, didn’t I? You believed that little Gracie relapsed. You would have been crawling back to me if it wasn’t for her.” She jerks her head back in Kate’s direction. “You know Owen if you hadn’t broken up with me, I wouldn’t have called the cops on your little slut.”
Fury crashes inside of me, but before I can do anything, the cop holding Donna wrenches her away from Owen and shoves her towards the hallway leading her to the holding cell. Donna staggers for a moment but is righted quickly before she can tumble to the ground.
“Be careful!” Donna hisses. “I’m pregnant!”
My heart stutters before dropping to the pit of my stomach, dousing out the flames of anger. I’m pretty sure that my face gives me away by dropping. Owen’s going to be a dad, and it isn’t to my baby. Why am I suddenly so upset about this? When I came out of rehab, I knew that he’d moved on with his life. Sure, he may not be with Donna at this moment, but it shouldn’t be a surprise that he has a life with another woman. He’s going to be a good dad. Owen has always wanted to be a father. He’s also always wanted a stable home for his children, but that’s one thing he isn’t going to get. At least he’ll be a good father, unlike his biological dad, who dipped out, and his drug-addicted mother, who died from an overdose.
Maybe that’s why he’s so angry with me. Because he’s seen what drug addiction can do to a person firsthand. He’d tried so hard before to get me sober, and I fucked him over in that process. Of course, he’s angry with me. He’s allowed to be.