"FOR THE LAST time, he's our brother!" Brenton smacked his handcuffed hands against the table, annoyance etched on his face.
"Based on Officer Shaw's report, we have reason to believe this child wasâ"
"He wasn't," I cut the officer off. Brenton and I were currently handcuffed and locked in the interrogation room with a cop who was certain we kidnapped Alex. As for the aforementioned moron? Well, he was nowhere in sight.
The officer let out a sigh as she skimmed through the documents in her hands. "Do you two have any motive for kidnapping the child? Is he a friend, enemy, relative?" She used her fingers to list the possibilities.
Brenton and I shot each other miffed looks. Didn't she hear a word we said? While I was about to make an underhanded comment about this cop being the most unqualified bozo in the building, my twin had other plans. He abruptly stood up, ignoring the warning look I was giving him.
"Look, lady, are we getting charged with something?"
Both, the cop and me, were taken aback by his bluntness.
She shook her head slowly. "Not yet. But once we have all of the details, then..."
"In that case, uncuff us so we can leave. If we're not being charged we don't have to be here."
"Sir, I don't think..."
"Did I forget to mention our mother is a lawyer, who I'm sure will not be thrilled that you're detaining her three children?"
"Sir, you need to sit down or I will call the sheriff," the cop warned.
"Oh, the sheriff? I'm shitting my pants," he deadpanned. "Uncuff us, or I won't hesitate to take your sorry ass toâ"
"Brenton!" I cut him off before he could get us in more trouble.
He opened his mouth to speak, but we were interrupted when the door to the interrogation room swung open. It was the dick cop who pulled us over.
"They're free to go."
The other cop raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure, Officer Shaw?"
"The kid confirmed they're his siblings." He jutted his chin to his side where Alex stood, an ice cream sandwich in his hands.
"Alex!" I exclaimed as the other officer undid my handcuffs. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted ice cream."
"You little shit," Brenton spat. "When I get my hands on you, I swear I'll pummel yourâ"
"He's joking!" I cut him off, not wanting to risk staying here longer.
Officer Shaw nodded his head. "You're free to go." He paused. "Just as soon as I confirm your licence and registration."
"Thank God," Brenton murmured beside me. "I thought he was going to make us do a breathalyzer test."
My worry for the pressing matter at hand took precedent over my concern of Brenton's daytime drinking. "About that, Officer..." I started slowly. "I may or may not have lost my licence."
Between travelling to and from Cortland and Stone Creek, the occasional visits to Penbrooke and Birch Mount, and the spontaneous weekend road trip Amber and I took last month, I wasn't exactly sure where my licence was.
"Are you shitting me?" Brenton, who was now unhandcuffed, lunged himself at me.
~*~
"I'll admit," Brenton said after a long silence. "That wasn't my brightest moment."
I looked up from the metal bench I was sitting on to give him a dirty look. "You don't say."
Despite almost being freed, we were now locked up in the holding cell â me for driving without a licence, and my brother for attempted assault. Since Alex was a minor who refused to give the cops our mother's contact information, he was put in the cell with us.
"I have to use the bathroom," the youngest Parker whined. "Those milkshakes did not go down well."
"Alex," I groaned.
"Hold it in," Brenton snapped.
There was one metal toilet in our cell, and I refused to let Alex crap in it when we'd be here for who knew how much longer. We were allowed to make one phone call, and after my royal screw up, Brenton took the initiative to make the call. I knew he couldn't have called Niko since our big brother wasn't making it to Stone Creek tonight, so I was just praying he didn't call Mom.
"I shouldn't have come home," I said, voicing my thoughts aloud.
"Yeah, I wish you hadn't either," Brenton mumbled.
The vibrating of a cell phone interrupted our incoming spat. All three of our heads whipped to the plastic box on the desk across from our cell, wondering who was getting a notification.
"Kids," the officer behind the desk said with a shake of his head. He was an old man with greying hair and a matching salt and pepper beard.
He peered into the box and picked up the cell phone, the lime green silicone case catching my eye. It was my cell phone.
"Any of you know a James?"
"That's my boyfriend," I answered instinctively.
When the old man winced, I felt my stomach sink. "He said something came up and he can't see you tonight." He paused. "He also asked if you remember where he keeps the aspirin."
The sinking feeling in my stomach didn't dissipate. "In the cabinet under the bathroom sink."
He looked at me confusedly. "You, uh, want me to message him back?"
Ignoring the officer, I reflected over James' message. We didn't talk much to each other for over a month because he wanted to focus on his final exams, and now that they were done, he still didn't have time for me. I had the perfect weekend planned for us, and he couldn't even bother to show or give me a real excuse. What was this something that kept coming up when I needed him? The past few weeks were some of the hardest I had experienced and I didn't even tell anyone what I was going through because I wanted to talk to my boyfriend first, but he couldn't make the time for me.
Any remaining excitement I had for this summer quickly began to dwindle.
I momentarily escaped my thoughts when Officer Shaw entered the room. "Your bail's been paid, you're free to leave."
Relief washed over me at this newfound information. After being locked behind bars, handcuffed, and fingerprinted, I wanted nothing more than to take a nice, long bath and sleep. He opened the door and let us exit, and the old man gave us our belongings. I wanted to open James' message and reread it, but I decided to power off my phone instead. I didn't need to worsen my already crappy day.
"See you never, losers," Brenton called over his shoulder, clearly having no respect for authority.
The old cop scowled at my brother. "I know we'll be seeing more of you in here, boy."
"If Santa Claus over there lives long enough," Alex said under his breath.
While my brothers were testing their luck, I was more preoccupied with wanting to get the hell out of the police station. Some of the characters in the other holding cells were really creeping me out. I involuntarily gasped when a scruffy-looking middle-aged man blew an air kiss at me as I walked past. Picking up my pace, I basically jogged out to the parking lot where my jeep was waiting for us, having already been rescued from the impound lot. I rushed over to sit inside, but I was stopped when I saw someone already sitting in the driver's seat.
"Word on the street is you've been driving without a licence, Parker."
Sitting before me was none other than our saviour, Holden Rollins.
"You bailed us out?" I asked in disbelief. "Rollins, I could kiss you right now."
"It's a figure of speech," Brenton intervened before his best friend could get any ideas. I rolled my eyes at Brenton, surprised even after three years he still couldn't let go of Holden's former crush on me.
Holden had definitely moved on since, having casually dated quite a few women and being in two serious relationships. His first serious relationship ended badly when he caught his girlfriend cheating on him with her Uber driver, but last I heard, his new relationship was going strong. I had briefly met Holden's girlfriend last Thanksgiving, and from what I recalled, she was a sweet girl.
"How is Maya?" I asked as I sat in the passenger seat. My brothers were not pleased to be crammed in the backseat with our suitcases. We clearly hadn't learned our lesson the first time, so I was hoping we could make it back to my mom's house without getting pulled over by another cop like Officer Dickwad Shaw.
Holden drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as he exited the parking lot. "We really need to catch up more frequently."
I raised my eyebrows. "What happened?" They seemed so happy last I saw them.
"I broke it off," he answered solemnly.
"But why?" I cried. "You two were perfect together!"
"I thought you really liked her, man," Brenton said from the back.
The streetlight turned red and Holden faced us. "She wanted me to move in with her." He said it like it was the worst news in the world. When he saw my confused expression, he tried to justify himself. "In an apartment she bought."
Again, I couldn't see the issue with that.
"What's wrong with her apartment?"
"She'd turn Holden into her lapdog," Brenton explained.
Holden nodded. "I'd become emasculated." The light turned green and he drove. "Like spring break, for example," he continued. "Maya wanted us to go to her parents' ski lodge and I wanted to go to Cancun with Brent. If I was living under her roof, then I'd have no choice but to do what she wants."
"Relationships never work out if the girl wears the pants," my misogynistic twin added. When I cocked an eyebrow, his face paled. "You and James are the exception."
Hearing his name deflated me a bit. James and I had discovered a carnival a town over from Stone Creek three years ago, and since then, we always went there on the first day of summer. It was a yearly tradition for us. Although the summer solstice wasn't until tomorrow, I had a growing suspicion he wouldn't be here. No matter how busy we got, we promised to prioritize each other, but this year was different. The last time I had spoken to James on the phone for longer than ten minutes was a month ago, and the last time I had seen him was over two months ago. Had I known how hard it would be to be away from him, I would have considered studying at Penbrooke instead.
"How are you guys, anyway?" Holden asked.
"Same old, I guess."
He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Is he coming tonight?"
I blew out a puff of air. "Nope."
I knew Holden wanted to grill me some more, but I was relieved he didn't say a word. He turned into our street and parked my jeep on the driveway.
I smiled at him. "Thanks."
He smiled back. "I'm here for you."
Brenton cleared his throat, prompting Holden to roll his eyes.
"As a friend," he corrected. "Happy?"
Brenton leaned forward and patted his cheek. "Very. Now switch seats with me so I can drive you home."
I gave him a pointed look. "You told me you were drinking."
He waved me off. "I'm not saying I'm drunk, but even if I were at least I have my licence."
I had no rebuttal to his comeback, so I quietly got out of my car and helped empty the suitcases from the back. When we were done, Brenton and Holden hopped back in, leaving me and Alex with the suitcases.
Holden waved at us through the window. "Bye, Dani and Niko!" The dummies sped away before I could correct Holden that the fourth companion in the car was, in fact, Alex.
"I never liked him," my little brother grumbled as he lugged my carry-on inside. Alex had just swung the door open when someone came running outside, nearly knocking him to the ground. I was about to tell them off until I realized the person was dressed in a chef's uniform.
"We're out of garlic!" he cried, pushing past me and running down the street.
"He does know the nearest grocery store's a twenty-minute walk, right?" Alex mused.
I wheeled the suitcase behind me as I climbed up the porch. "If we know anything about Mom's wrath, he's getting off easy by running to the grocery store." We carefully entered the house to avoid any other possible collisions.
The house was bustling with caterers, cooks, cleaning staff, and decorators as they all prepared for tonight. I didn't understand why Mom was going all out for this party. She threw some kind of gala every summer, but this one seemed a lot fancier than the past ones. Besides, it had only been six months since my brothers and I had visited, it really wasn't worth all of the trouble for her to go to such extensive lengths. The only explanation for such an extravagant party had to mean Mom had big news.
"Mom isn't dating anyone, right?" I asked Alex as we trudged up the stairs.
"Not that I know of," he answered offhandedly.
I let out a sigh of relief. At least her news had nothing to do with a marriage or expecting a child. I had enough siblings to last me a lifetime.
After a couple more rounds of going back and forth, Alex and I managed to bring in the remainder of my and Brenton's luggage. We were staying here for the entire summer so I wanted to make sure I didn't leave anything behind. I made a mental note to get a new driver's licence as soon as possible in case I had to go back to Cortland to get anything. I plopped down on my queen-sized bed, closing my eyes as I enjoyed the feeling of the soft, memory foam mattress against my back. It sure as hell beat my springy old mattress at Cortland.
Alex was about to leave my room, but he stopped and turned around. "Can I stay here?"
"Let me guess, you don't want to run into Mom?" I presumed. I spoke from experience because that was exactly my plan. I figured I'd wait until after the party to get into any fights with her. In Alex's case, the longer he avoided Mom, the longer it would be before he had that awkward conversation about his extracurricular activities.
Surprisingly, Alex shook his head. "I want to hang out with you."
I sat up and eyed him strangely. "Why?"
He stared at my fluffy white carpet âyet another piece of furniture I missed from my old bedroomâ and his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "I missed you."
Normally I would have teased him for being a baby, but it dawned upon me that even after Brenton and I started college, Alex was accustomed to his siblings coming home every other weekend. Since our lives got so busy and things got hectic, we hadn't been back since last December, and it clearly took a toll on him. I smiled at my little brother and patted my mattress. He grinned so wide, the light blue square brackets on his braces gleamed in the light. Without hesitation, Alex ran toward me and catapulted himself on my bed. The smile on my face didn't falter as I listened to him give me the scoop on his life over the last six months.