Conviction: Devine
Conviction: Devine
Copyright © 2015 D H Sidebottom
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to actual places, incidents and persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 D H Sidebottom. Please do not copy, alter or redistribute this book.
TEN (MY BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND)
“N
OT NOW! SHE’S BURYING
her brother for Christ’s sake!”
“Not now! She’s burying her brother for Christ’s sake!”
“Not now! She’s burying her brother for Christ’s sake!”
I scoffed to myself as I stared at the peeling paint and blotch of damp on the ceiling, the memory of Jake’s voice flooding my head. He’d known. He had fucking known his father was there to arrest me. Why say, ‘not now’ if he didn’t know what he was there for?
Oh, he’d known alright. The fucking treacherous bastard. He’d grassed me up, probably to make a deal to save himself over something he’d got himself in trouble for. Only he and my family knew, apart from Leah, but she refused to even talk to me about it, so I doubted she’d talk to the police. Besides, she was my best friend and I trusted her unequivocally.
I turned towards the little window in the door when it squeaked and the flap lowered. Someone’s eyes peered at me through the hole before the sound of locks disengaging and the door creaked open.
Commissioner Michaelson entered, hatred evident on his hard face. I stared at him, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing my anxiety, the fear I had of never getting out of there again.
He pulled in a long breath as he glared at me, his lip curling with disgust. “Seems your knight in shining armour has stumped up your bail money.”
I scrunched up my face in confusion. After being interviewed for almost twelve hours, my solicitor advised me to answer ‘no comment’ to every single question after he’d found out they had absolutely no evidence against me. And much to the anger and spluttering defence of him, my bail had been set at half a million. Sergeant Brook had laughed, knowing I had no chance, and led me back to the cell, leaving me heartbroken. I knew no one had that kind of money and the possibility of being locked up until the trial had me secretly weeping quietly in the corner of the cold four by four cubicle.
“My knight in shining armour?”
He chuckled coldly. “Oh, come on, Miss Cormack. There’s a reason you’re screwing my son and it isn’t because of his sparkling personality, is it?”
I gawped at him, my anger surging as I climbed off the bed and stormed across the room, facing up to the man whose stepson had ruined my life.
“I think you might find that your son’s sparkling personality blinds yours any day. I don’t appreciate you calling me a whore, nor do I like how you treat your own family!”
He nodded, smirking at me. “You should never listen to half a story, Miss Cormack. You have no idea what Jake was or did before you met him.”
“I think you’ll be surprised,
Commissioner.
I know a lot of things. I also know that punishing your own son for the tragic death of your wife is a sign of a selfish repulsive man who doesn’t deserve to carry the ‘father’ title.”
His eyes widened, his skin tinting with an angry redness. Leaning towards me, he pressed his nose to mine, his glare warning me he was very dangerous. I could see the corruption and malice burning inside him. “You have no idea, so don’t you dare judge me, you little slut.”
I blinked, shaking my head. “No wonder Jake puts you in such high regard. If you were my father, fuck, I’d have moved to the other side of the world to get as far away as possible from you.”
He laughed bitterly. “Oh, I tried that but the bastard came back.”
“I take it by that you mean your cruel ambition to send Jake to prison for doing something a lot of people would love to have done.”
He narrowed his eyes, regarding me. “What do you know about what Jake did to Dwaine?”
I shook my head sadly, noticing the police officer waiting outside the door to escort me out of my cell. Slowly looking up at this pathetic excuse for a man whose fatherly abilities were a joke, I sighed and patted him on the shoulder. I leaned forward to whisper into his ear and he flinched. “You chose to back the wrong son, Commissioner.”
He froze but I pushed past him and smiled at the officer who gave me a sympathetic grin. Finally, one who wasn’t ignorant to who his boss really was. “Follow me, Miss Cormack. We’ll get you out of here as quickly as possible.”
I smiled again gratefully, my face displaying the pain my heart felt, the reality of everything hitting me as my nerves over facing Ted Michaelson finally hit home.
The officer took my hand, holding me up. “Jake is waiting for you, he’s a dear friend,” he whispered in my ear as he escorted me down the corridor. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my all to keep your man updated on everything.”
I didn’t reply. I had no idea what the hell he was on about, or rather I refused to face what would happen between Jake and me.
Despite him shelling out half a million to get me out of that place, I was still angry with him. I’d found out my trust issues were spot on. For one, he’d gone behind my back with Genesis, but worse than that, he’d known about my impending arrest and hadn’t told me.
I’d missed my own brother’s funeral, and for that I would never forgive him. Never.
