Take Me Away | ✓

» 26

K A D E N

I bent my knees and aimed for the hoop. The ball hit the rim, bounced off and landed back in my arms. I tried again. And again. And again.

On my fifth try, I let out a frustrated sigh, watching the ball bounce across the lines of the court and past them. I sat down on the stone steps next to Noah, patting the dust from my suit jacket. We both shared the same attire and it was just the two of us in the space.

"I know." Noah said.

"Know what?"

"I know about Dante." I stilled at the name. He drew in a breath. "Zach's my stepbrother. I've seen them together."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"About Dante? Or Zach and I being brothers?" I stayed silent, he already knew what my answer was going to be. "I guessed as much."

"Dante isn't my problem anymore." Even as I said the words, I could still feel the lie in my mouth.

"So. . . what? You're just going to let what happened to you happen to Zach?" He frowned.

"He's not my problem either." I remembered the events of the past week. I had enough on my plate already.

"You know what happened to Paten. What if that happens again?"

I frowned. "How do you know about that?" I was pretty sure it was just the detective that had suspicions.

"I overheard them talking about it."

My brows furrowed. "You should be more careful."

"Why?"

"You know why." I sighed inwardly. "What do you want me to say?"

"Say you won't let history repeat itself."

"How do you know if Zach doesn't like what he's doing?"

"Maybe he doesn't know what's going to happen if he stays."

I looked skywards, my elbows resting on the step above. I closed my eyes, feeling my patience begin to wane. "Just keep your head down and you'll be fine."

"So that's it. There's no way out?" I opened my eyes to see him standing up, agitated, and all I felt was pity.

But a different person spoke. One that had grown cynical and bitter over the years. "There might be."

"What is it?"

"Death."

Noah stared at me and for the first time, I saw disappointment in his expression. "You know for someone considered to be a murderer, you really talk lightly about the situation."

"Careful." I said quietly.

"What? Are you scared someone's going to find out your secret? Everyone knows. Hell, the whole bloody town knows. You can't escape it by just pretending they're not there. You can't just keep running away from the problem, hoping it will go away."

"When have you done any different?" I bit back.

"I may be a coward but at least I'm not afraid to admit it." His voice was steadily rising until he was almost shouting. "You know better than anyone what happens when you get involved so shouldn't you want to help avoid it?"

"I'm not responsible for every idiot that's stupid enough to join a gang." I stood up so we were eye to eye.

"So it's fine as long as it's not you? Every man for themselves. Is that what this is?"