Hard Rider

“That’s okay. I should have had a better idea of what I wanted before I came in.”

I knew that I was grasping at straws. Maybe that was part of it. There was no deadline on figuring out what you wanted to do with your life.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was the third time it had gone off since I’d sat down to our meeting. “I’m sorry,” I said. “Will you excuse me? Someone keeps trying to call me.”

“Of course. Unless you have any more questions for me, I’m going to head to lunch. Feel free to use my office to take your call.”

I nodded my appreciation and put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

“What are you doing right now?”

“Huh, Casey?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Have you talked to Troy?”

Casey was the only one who I trusted with the information about the two of us being together. She was all for it anyway, and I wanted her to be aware of what Kyle did to me so she could watch her back.

“Not today. Not yet, why? I was gonna call him after he finished up at the gym because he has to work tonight.”

“Okay, shit. I was hoping you’d already heard something.”

This wasn’t good. A dull ache started in the pit of my stomach. “Casey, what’s going on?”

“I… I was at my desk when a call came in for Mrs. Hemlock this morning.”

“Okay…”

“It was Troy’s probation officer. I tried to ask what was going on, but he said the information had to be given directly to Hemlock. Anyway, I transferred the call and ran down to her office so I could try to catch her half of the conversation.”

“And what happened?”

The breathed into the phone. I could tell there was something she didn’t want to have to tell me.

“Casey, what was it?”

“It didn’t sound good.”

“Yeah, I figured that much. What happened?”

“It sounds like Troy was arrested for auto theft late last night.”

That couldn’t be true. Why would he do that right after signing his fight contract. It had been the biggest moment of his life, so why now?

“No, uh uh, that can’t be right.”

I tried to remember what time he’d sent me the last text of the night. I couldn’t think.

“Casey, hang on a second.”

I pulled my phone down and scrolled back through my messages. The last one he’d sent was at seven-thirty. That was way earlier than he usually stopped texting. In fact, I hadn’t thought anything about it at the time, but when I texted him “goodnight” a little before twelve, he didn’t answer.

“Okay, I’m back. So, what else did you hear?”

“There weren’t that many details,” she said. “I think I heard Mrs. Hemlock say something about either Barter street or Carter street. I couldn’t make out what she said. Maybe that’s where it happened.”

“This doesn’t make any sense. Things were going so well. Are you sure it couldn’t have been somebody else?”

“I’m sure, Riley. When I answered the phone, the probation officer specifically said that he knew Troy had already graduated our program, but he wanted to make the call just as a courtesy.”

“Oh, no.”

“Yeah, it sucks. And then I heard Mrs. Hemlock say she knew it was coming and he deserved whatever he got. You remember how much she disliked him, so that made sense, too.”

“Ugh, what a bitch.”

“I know.”

My head swam with possibilities. It just didn’t make any sense. What hurt the most was that I felt like a fool. I truly believed him when he told me he wasn’t that guy any more.

I needed to talk to him.

Troy

Almost forty-eight hours had gone by and they still hadn’t brought charges against me. If they didn’t do it soon, they’d have to let me out. I knew they didn’t have a bit of evidence to go on.

“C’mon, Mr. Eason. I know you’re tired. So are we. Let’s just have a conversation about what happened and we can all get on with our lives.”

They introduced themselves to me as Investigator Rogers and Investigator Harris. They said they were detectives with the auto theft division. I was used to dealing with street cops, but this was my first time with the suit and tie kind.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“So, tell us again what you were doing in the area of Carter street on Thursday night.”

The only word that was ever supposed to come out of your mouth in a situation like this was “lawyer” but I was aware enough of their methods to venture out a little ways by myself. Besides, I couldn’t afford council at the moment and didn’t trust some cut-rate public defender.

“Wasn’t on Carter,” I said, simply.

“You know that’s not the case, Mr. Eason.”

If they had any surveillance footage of me on Carter, they would have played that card by now. Even if they did, it still wouldn’t have been enough to charge me. “You know where I was on Thursday?”

“We’d love for you to tell us,” said Rogers.

“I was out for my training run, just like I am every other night, when your cops jumped out and beat me up.”

Harris sat down across from me and rubbed his eyes. The room was nothing but a small ten-by-ten with a steel table and two uncomfortable chairs on each side. “If that were really the case, then you wouldn’t be here right now Mr. Eason.”

“If that were really the case, then you would have charged me with something by now,” I corrected.

The detective grimaced. I could tell I was pushing him toward the edge of his pati

ence.

“We’re well aware of your history,” said Rogers. “We’ve spoken at length to your probation officer so we have a pretty good idea about you.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked. “Does anything in my history suggest me stealing a car? I’m pretty sure if you talk to my P.O. for long enough, he’ll tell you I’ve never stolen a damn thing in my life.”

I wasn’t mad at these cops, I was mad at the situation. Under any other circumstance, I’d step up to the charges and take my medicine. But this was different. I was forced into it by a fucking psychopath. And it wasn’t like I stole from the offering plate at church. I took from one criminal and gave to the other. It was kind of like I was a ghetto robin hood.

The thought made me break up in laughter.

“I’m glad you’re having a good time with this, Mr. Eason. You know, it’s not all fun and games. A police cruiser wrecked during that chase and the officer came out of it with a bruised knee—but I’m sure you already knew that.”

“Aw, shit guys… what do you want from me?” I said with another laugh. “I’m sorry your cop got hurt, but it wasn’t me. Am I gonna be able to get outta here soon?”

They looked at each other. “You’ll be here as long as it takes for us to get our answers.”

“I don’t think so, boys. I haven’t dragged a lawyer in here, and I still haven’t passed the Bar myself, but I’m pretty sure you can’t hold me here indefinitely without charging me with a crime. I’m also aware that it’s unethical to try to deceive someone you’ve brought in for questioning as to the dissemination of their rights.”

“Eh, fuck it. This guy’s just gonna keep being a pain in the ass, Jimmy. Do you have any more questions? Because I think I’m done.”

Success.

Harris—Jimmy Harris, I guess—leaned back in his chair. “I’m done too, I suppose.” He chuckled. “You know that doesn’t make you clear of this thing, though, right? I mean, we can haul you back in here any time we need to.”

“You won’t.”

“Cocky son of a bitch, isn’t he?”

“One more thing,” said Rogers. “Why didn’t you use your phone call?”