Shattered (The Protectors 11)

Caleb nodded, but didn’t say anything. He was holding onto my hand so tight that if he’d been a stronger man, he likely would have caused me some serious pain.

“There he is,” Eli said. He was leaning against Mav, who had his arm around him. I followed Eli’s nod and saw a tall man in his early thirties walking toward us.

“Eli,” he said as he shook Eli’s hand, then said his hellos to Mav.

“Caleb, good to see you again,” he said.

“Mr. Morrison,” Caleb said with a nod. “Um, this is Jace, my boyfriend.”

I forced myself to nod politely as the man introduced himself to me. Caleb had been worried the man would rail at him for the letter Caleb had sent his father in prison, but he’d assured Caleb that he’d seen the letter and it could easily be explained away in court - a fact that had eased some of Caleb’s attention.

Morrison turned his attention went back to Caleb. “Are you ready? I got a text from the defense that they’re already in there,” he said as he motioned to the doors.

Caleb sucked in a breath and said, “I’m ready.”

But the second the four of us fell into step behind the prosecutor, the man turned to us and said, “Oh, I’m sorry, it’s a closed hearing. You won’t be able to join us. It’s just me, Caleb, the defense attorney, his client, and the judge.”

“What?” Caleb croaked. “His… his client?”

Caleb’s startled eyes swung to me, then Eli. “Dad… Dad will be in there?”

“Baby,” I said, desperate to get his attention, but he jerked his hand free of mine.

“No, no, you never said he’d be in there,” Caleb said to the prosecutor. Then he turned to me. “Jace, I can’t,” he cried. “Please, you have to come with me!”

“Caleb—” the prosecutor began, but Caleb cut him off with a wave. He grabbed my wrists.

“Jace, please, I can’t go in there. I can’t see him. I’m not ready!”

“It’s okay,” I said as calmly as I could, even though I wanted to punch the prosecutor in the face. To him I said, “There must be something you can do. Talk to the judge—”

“No, I’m sorry, that’s not possible.” To Caleb he said, “Caleb, I’m sorry, but it needs to be this way.”

Caleb shook his head frantically. He’d gone so pale that he was scaring me.

“Can you delay the hearing?” Eli asked.

The prosecutor shook his head. “No, we’ve already delayed once. Without a legitimate reason…”

The man let his words hang.

Caleb stepped back. He was struggling to pull in oxygen. “Caleb,” I began, but he cut me off.

“I’m… I’m okay. I just… I need a minute.” Despite his words, he didn’t look okay. His gaze fell on the prosecutor. “Can I go to the bathroom?”

“That’s fine,” he said. “I’ll just head in and let the judge know. The bailiff will escort you in when you’re ready.” He nodded at the stern-looking court officer standing a few feet away.

Caleb was already hurrying away before the prosecutor even finished talking. I only half-listened as the man apologized to me, Eli, and Mav for the confusion. I kept sight of Caleb as he made his way down the hall to the bathroom.

Not liking how calm Caleb had suddenly gotten, I said, “I’m going to go check on him.” I didn’t care that I’d cut the prosecutor off mid-sentence.

It took a good thirty seconds to work my way through the small crowd that had emerged from one of the courtrooms near the bathroom and my anxiety crept up with every single one of those seconds.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the bathroom was that it was empty, except for one closed stall at the end. The second thing I noticed was that a small corner of the large mirror was broken and that several pieces of glass were on the floor.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I rushed to the last stall. “Caleb!” I shouted.

“I’m sorry, Jace,” I heard him softly say.

I was about to break the door down when the latch flipped. I yanked it open and felt my heart sink at the sight of Caleb leaning back against the side of the stall, his jacket removed and his sleeve rolled up.

And there they were.

Three perfect cuts on the inside of his lower arm.

I felt my throat close up with tears as my eyes lifted to meet Caleb’s gaze. He looked both heartbroken and relieved at the same time. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. A couple of tears slipped down his face.

“Caleb?” I heard Eli call behind me.

Caleb let out a choked sob and I quickly pulled him into my arms, not caring about the blood on his arm. “It’s okay,” I whispered softly into his ear. Caleb began to cry.

“I had to,” he croaked.