more for us | grayson dolan (book two)

thirty

The loud sound of thunder roars through the sky as the four of us make our way toward the New Jersey Police station. The cab ride over was spent in complete silence. Not one word was spoken between us. I don't think we had the energy to talk. Grayson told me that he texted Ethan to tell him what was going on, but that was it. Everything else has been radio silence.

I think we're all trying to process everything. My father is dead. We're minutes away from identifying his body to make sure it's him. Knowing our lives, it's probably another drunk who showed up dead in the middle of the brutal south side.

"This is it." Jake speaks his first words in the last hour and a half. He holds onto Allie's hand and leads her inside.

I'm glad he has her, the same way that I have Grayson. We always went through this crap alone.

My favorite boy holds the door open for me as I step inside. It's pretty late, so not that many people are in here. Walking into the lobby, a man in a police uniform approaches us.

"Jacob Monroe?" He looks at my brother.

"Yes." Jake confirms with a nod.

"Hi, I'm Officer Hollis. I'm very sorry to bring you this disturbing news." The man has a sad expression on his face.

"What happened?" My vocal cords finally speak.

"There were reports of a man lying on the side of the road. A heroin needle was found in his arm, he overdosed."

"So, he's actually dead?" Jake says with a plain tone.

"Yes, he's been deceased for a few days. Since he had no identification on him, we needed to take a DNA test. It came back that his name is Samuel Monroe."

"Was he dead when you found him?" My brother asks again.

"Yes, he had no pulse. He had a high percentage of blood alcohol content, so that was also in his system." The man shakes his head.

"Drugs and alcohol? Jesus." Jake mutters.

I squeeze onto Grayson's hand and gulp. My heart is beating a mile a minute.

"Before we ask you any further questions, we want you to identify that this is your father. You can come with me." The man nods before leading us down a hallway.

"It's family only, unfortunately." He adds while turning back to look at us.

"I'm his daughter." My dry voice responds.

"We'll wait out here." Grayson takes a step back, causing Allie to do the same.

"Okay." I nod and flash him a weak smile.

Jake looks back at me and extends his hand behind him. I grab onto it and lock his fingers through mine. My chest feels heavy as we navigate through the dimly lit hallway.

When he finally leads us into a room, my body begins to shiver. It's absolutely freezing. The lights flicker on, and a metal table is displayed in front of us. A body covered with a white sheet is lying on top of it.

My eyes latch onto another man standing across the room. Officer Hollis introduces him as the medical examiner. Jake and I just give the man a quick nod, not bothering to say much else.

The man puts gloves on his hands before walking over to the dead body. Without warning, he pulls the sheet off.

My eyes widen and I squeeze onto Jake's hand as hard as I can. The pale figure on the table is one hundred percent my father. His black hair is longer than it was two years ago. His facial features are all wrinkled and his skin has pigment spots on them.