I Promise You (Dare, #2) — Chapter no 3

CHAPTER THREE

DEKE

I STAND BACK AND watch as Cole exits the clubhouse. We normally avoid the police, but given our current situation, it isn’t an option.

This wasn’t some dare we had planned down to the second, so we improvised. And it will work out. I just have to pray he doesn’t fuck it up.

Cole can be a loose cannon, and now is not the time for him to blow the fuck up.

I turn and begin to run up the stairs to clean his bathroom and grab a few things before I meet him at the police station, but my phone rings. Coming to a stop halfway up the stairs, I pull it out, hoping it’s my sister to give me some good news about Austin. But I see it’s Becky.

I answer, “Hey, babe, I can’t talk right now—”

“Is it true?” she interrupts me in a panic.

“What?”

“Is it true?” she shouts in my ear, and then she begins to sob.

“Baby, what are you …?”

“It’s all over the news,” she cries. “Did Cole shoot Austin?”

“No.” I run a hand through my hair. Fuck! We thought we would have

more time. “Of course not.”

“They said they have him in custody.”

Shit! Did the police come with reporters? I didn’t step outside, so I didn’t see what all was going on out there. As far as the police are concerned, I’m not involved, and I’m also not here. Cole’s car is the only one parked outside. We stashed mine back in the woods behind the clubhouse. The odds of them entering with a warrant were high, but I didn’t think they were gonna go that far this soon. They think they have this case in the bag. Boy, are they gonna be disappointed. “They do, but it’s not true.”

She sniffs. “What?”

I sigh. “I can’t explain it right now. I’m in the middle of something.”

“Deke …”

“Head to the hospital, okay? There’s something I gotta do, and then I’ll meet you there.”

I hear some commotion and then her car beeping, letting me know she’s getting into it. “Okay,” she says in a small voice.

“Shelby is working. If you speak to her, call me.”

“I will …”

I hang up. Just as I go to put it away, it rings again. “Hello?” I snap.

“Deke, man. It’s already all over the news,” Bennett informs me.

“I know. Becky just called and told me.”

“Shane called me, but I ignored it. I gotta tell him something. What if he just shows up at the hospital? I don’t want Cole kicking his ass and getting arrested twice tonight.”

I turn and jog back down the steps. “Ignore him.”

Cole and Shane were never the closest, but the tension grew between them once Austin entered our group four months ago. Shane was really close with Kellan, so I’m not sure which side Shane would pick right now.

Even if he knew Kellan shot Austin, he’d be pissed at Cole for killing Kellan. And Bennett has already disposed of one body tonight; I don’t want him to have to do another one.

“What about Cole?” he asks. “Even with the evidence, they may still hold him. Especially with Kellan missing.”

I pick up Cole’s car keys off the table and run out the front door. Jumping into his car, I start it. “I’m headed to the precinct now. I called Jacob while Cole was in the shower, and he’s going to meet us there.” My father and Cole’s dad use the same attorney, and this isn’t the first time I’ve called him in the middle of the night.

“Okay. I’m almost there, so I will see you in a minute.”

I hang up, shift the car into gear, and throw gravel as I spin it around and speed down the long driveway. “Everything You Hate,” by Project Vela plays through the speakers.

When the phone rings again, cutting the song short, I growl, “This better be my sister.” But when I look down to see the number lighting up on my phone, I slam on the brakes, bringing the car to a stop in the middle of the driveway. Dust billows out from under the tires from the gravel. I let it ring a few more times and take a deep breath before answering.

Fuck!

“Hello?”

“Why in the fuck was my son just arrested for murder? And how in the hell are you involved?” Liam Reynolds snaps in my ear.