Unwritten Law (Steele Brothers 1)

“Davis, come with me,” I say, and we make our way over to his mother.

“This is bad, isn’t it?” Davis asks. He avoids looking at the group of parents and students gawking in this direction, but that doesn’t mean he can’t feel the burn of their stares like I can. “Guess it’s my turn to be in the school news this week. How long do you think they’ll gossip about this?”

“Don’t worry about anything. I’ll handle it, okay?”

Mrs. Sullivan is crying before we even get to her. Her eyes are red-rimmed, and I get the feeling she’s been crying a lot longer than just now when we pulled up. “What did he do? He turned up at the dojo, didn’t he?”

I nod.

She hugs her son and then checks over him. “Did he hurt you?”

“Didn’t get a chance. Law got to him first,” Davis says.

“He’s at the hospital,” I add. “Your husband, I mean. Not Law. He was arrested.”

Her eyes widen. “What?”

“He tried to attack Law, who’s a trained martial arts instructor. You do the math. I’m sure your husband is fine, but he’s pressing charges.”

Mrs. Sullivan frowns. “But he broke a restraining order. He called today. Says he wants to come home. I told him no.”

“I need to get to the police station to find out what’s going on. Maybe you two should go to the hospital and find out what he wants, and if he’s willing to keep his hands to himself in the future.”

“No, we’ll come to the police station,” she says.

“Mum,” Davis complains. “What if he wants to come home because he accepts me?”

His mum’s eyes fill with sympathy and disappointment. “Honey …” Her mouth shuts.

“What?” he asks.

I don’t need to use my imagination to guess what he said to her on the phone.

“He wants to send you to your grandparents’ to live so he can move back in,” she whispers.

Yup, that’ll do it. I want to reach out to Davis to comfort him, but instead of being upset like I expect, Davis turn red and looks ready to explode.

“Fucking what?” he screeches.

“I told him no. I’m so sorry, hon.”

“Uh, you two have a lot to talk about, and I need to get to the police station,” I say awkwardly.

“We’ll meet you there,” Mrs. Sullivan says and wraps her arm around her son.

I drop my bus keys off at the office but don’t bother going to my classroom to lock up. There’s nothing important kept in there anyway, and I don’t have time. As soon as I’m back at my car, I pull out my phone and check my messages.

Brody: Did someone steal your phone? The Reed I know would never need to use police station and ASAP in the same sentence.

Reed: Not for me. Long story. Please?

Brody: Already here. Who am I here for exactly?

Reed: Law. Full name is Lawson Steele.

Brody: I’m not allowed to make a joke here about Law breaking the law, am I?

Reed: No. I’ll meet you there in fifteen.

Brody: On it.

Even though I’ve only been there once before, I arrive at the police station on autopilot with no recollection of how I get here. I find Brody at reception, and he pulls me aside.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“They’re holding him until they get the complainant’s full statement,” Brody says.

“So, what can I do to help?”

“I told them I’m Lawson’s attorney—”

“Whoa, we can’t afford you. I asked you to come as my friend and for some free advice.”

He cocks his head and gives his derisive look that hasn’t changed since high school. “Pro bono. And don’t think for one second that ‘we’ comment will slide, but we’ll come back to that. They’ll want to take your formal statement. They showed me the cops’ notes, and they say you didn’t see what happened.”

“I was getting Law’s phone when it all went down.”

“From what I can gather, they’re both claiming the other one is responsible. If this Sullivan guy attacked first, Law can claim self-defence.”

I don’t look at my friend as I say, “And if Law started the fight?”

“Fight? If he started it, he can be charged for assault with the aim to cause grievous bodily harm. His victim’s in the hospital, for crying out loud.”

“Sullivan beat his gay son,” I hiss.

Brody flinches but slips back into lawyer mode immediately. “That’ll work in Law’s favour, and he might get a lenient sentence, but he’s a martial arts instructor. He knows how to incapacitate someone without trying to mangle their face. If he’s charged with anything, there’s a chance they’ll push for a harsh sentence. Worst case, he’s looking at jail time. Best case, maybe probation, community service … but, uh, you should know that someone with an assault on their record will be stripped of their blue card to work with kids—”

“He can’t lose his dojo.”