by Claire Adams
“Please,” he said. “The ladies love me.”
“Is that why you haven’t been on a date for weeks?” Ryan asked teasingly.
Kendrick shot him a glare. “I’ve been busy.”
“We’ve had the exact same schedule for the last few weeks,” Ryan reminded him. “And I’ve had sex three times this week.”
“Huh…me, too,” Mel piped in.
“Five for me,” I said, giving Kendrick a suggestive smile.
“Fuck you all,” he said, throwing his hands into the air. “Mel, Phil, you two are in serious relationships, so it doesn’t fucking count.”
“Sex is sex, dude,” Ryan pointed out.
“I was making fun of Phil,” Kendrick pointed out. “How did you manage to turn the tables on me?”
We laughed together and a couple of minutes later, we were back at the station and ready for lunch. I had a nice, long shower and joined the boys in the common room. Kendrick and Ryan were at our usual table, and they had sandwiches and subs unwrapped in front of us.
“Excellent,” I said, reaching for a sub. “I’m starving. Is this chicken or beef?”
“Chicken,” Kendrick replied, with his mouth full.
“Perfect.”
We ate in silence until the edge had been taken off our hunger. I had just finished a cold drink when Mel joined us at the table.
“So, dude, when do we get to meet your girl?” he asked.
I smiled. “Soon.”
“You’ve been saying that for ages,” Ryan pointed out.
“Things are busy, man. I’m working, she’s working, and she’s thinking of taking a few courses, too.”
Mel was about to ask me another question, when we heard sirens in the distance. But they seemed to be getting closer and closer. We were about to continue the conversation when I noticed a slight commotion outside of the day room.
“Wait, it sounds like the sirens are here,” Mel said, frowning slightly as he stood up.
A second later, two cops burst into the day room. The tallest one was well built and muscular. “I’m looking for Phil Roberts,” he said.
I stood up tentatively, but I didn’t hesitate to answer him. “I’m Phil Roberts,” I said.
He nodded once and signaled to his partner. “Cuff him.”
I blinked, sure I’d heard him wrong. The second police officer approached me quickly, and I couldn’t quite understand what he was doing with those cuffs pointed in my direction. I could hear Mel and Ryan speaking at the same time, but I had no idea what either of them said. Kendrick was looking at me in shock, and I suspected that my face was plastered with the same expression.
My hands were forced back as the cuffs were placed around my wrist and I was vaguely aware of the fact that the cop cuffing me was also reading me my Miranda rights. Was this really happening? Was I being arrested…at work…in front of all my colleagues?
And then suddenly, noise filled my eardrums and I remembered that I had a right to know what this was all about. “Hold on,” I said, addressing both cops. “What is this about? Why am I under arrest?”
The cops exchanged a glance, and it was as though they thought I was acting for their benefit. I was getting angry now… What had I done that could warrant something like this?
From the corner of my eye, I spied Sarge walk into the day room, obviously having been alerted to the situation. He was taller than both cops and much more impressive. He walked over to us and looked me in the eye.
“Phil,” he said. “What’s happening?”
“I have no idea,” I said, glad someone was asking me the question. “I honestly don’t know why I’m under arrest.”
“I’m Sergeant Green and I run this station. This is one of my best men, and I want to know why you are both here.”
“We received an anonymous tip,” the taller officer replied. “The tip proved to be legitimate. We found twenty pounds of crystal meth and ten pounds of cocaine in your apartment.”
“I… What?” I said, in complete disbelief. “You’ve got the wrong person.”
“We found the drugs in your apartment.”
“Then it was planted there,” I said immediately. “I don’t do drugs. I don’t deal drugs. That’s not my life.”
“There’s no point talking to us,” the shorter cop said to me. His tone was not unkind, but it was clear that I wasn’t going to get any help from them. “You’ll have to find a lawyer.”
I could barely speak. I had no idea what to do or who to call. I didn’t have the faintest idea how to retain a lawyer in the first place.
“Don’t worry, Phil,” Sarge said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll find you a lawyer—we’ll get this mess sorted out.”
“Sarge,” I said desperately. “I didn’t do it… I don’t do drugs.”
“We’ll sort it out.” He nodded, though I noticed he didn’t tell me that he believed I was innocent.
Then I was walked out of the station in handcuffs, in front of all my colleagues, and pushed into the back of a cop car. It was the most humiliating experience of my life, and I could barely process it all. This day had started out pretty well, and right after putting out the fire at Linda’s house and saving her beloved dog, I had felt every bit the hero.
But now my life had turned upside down, and I had no idea how. The cops said that they found pounds of drugs in my apartment. I knew for a fact that wasn’t possible. The only way it could be possible is if someone had planted them there. My mind was spinning… If it was true, who had done it?
“Am I allowed a call?” I asked the cops.
“One call,” the taller cop replied.
Even as he said it, I wondered what my options were. I had no family to contact and my friends were all the men I fought fires with. There was Brent, but he wasn’t the kind of friend who was good in a crisis.
Then there was Megan. She was more than just a friend. She was my partner, my girlfriend… I would even go so far as to call her my soul mate. I supposed that put her under the category of family.
Then I thought about the reality of calling her and telling her I was in jail. I was wrongly accused, true, but I was still embarrassed about admitting where I was. I hoped against hope that this was all just a crazy misunderstanding and it would be cleared up by evening so that it could be the kind of story I shared with Megan that we could both laugh about later.
But as we drove up to the police station, I couldn’t help thinking that I didn’t see myself laughing about this for a while. I was angry…but I was scared, too. Someone had set me up, and if they had done a half-decent job, I could be looking at up to a decade in jail. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Fear of this very situation was what had driven me to change the path I was on.
I had worked so hard for so long and now I found myself in the same place my brother had been in a few years ago. Thinking about my brother made me feel even worse. Paul had been taken away in much the same way… He must have felt the same things that I did. Except in my case, I was truly innocent.
Still, I understood now the importance of having a support system around you at a time like this, and I was willing to admit that, innocent or guilty, I had let my brother down when he needed me the most.
I thought about Megan, and I desperately craved her presence. At the same time, I wanted to avoid having her see me like this. As we pulled up to the station, I took a deep breath and reminded myself that the court systems were designed to weed out the innocent from the guilty. I prayed that that was enough.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Megan
“Thinking about Phil again, aren’t you?” Marta asked, wagging her eyebrows at me.
I looked at her in surprise. “How did you know?”
“Because whenever you think about him, you have this big dopey smiled on your face,” she said, giving me a wink.
“I do not,” I said defensively.
“Oh, girl, you sure as hell do,” Marta nodded. “Every time.”
“Oh God,” I said, putting my face in my hands. “That is so embarrassing.”
“I think it’s cute.”
“Oh God!” I said again.
She laughed. “I take it things are going well?”
“Very well.” I nodded. “We’ve been having so much fun together and when I’m over at his place, it feels like we’re…”
“We’re what?” Marta asked when I tapered off.
“Well, it kind of feels like we’re married.”
“Is that something that interests you?” she asked.
“I’ve never really thought about it before,” I admitted. “But I suppose since meeting Phil, I have been having these dreams.”
“Wedding dreams?”
“Kind of,” I admitted. “Lame, I know.”
“Oh, sweetheart, it’s not lame to dream about marrying the man you love,” Marta said.
“It’s way too soon,” I said. “We’re not even living together really, and Phil’s job keeps him so busy. I don’t think he’d have the time to get married, even if he wanted to.”
“Maybe you should ask him?”
“What?” I said incredulously. “That would just freak him out.”
“What if it didn’t?” she asked. “What if he was thinking the same thing you’re thinking?”
“He’s not,” I said immediately.
“Are you just afraid to hope?” Marta asked.
I smiled. “You know me too well,” I sighed. “I suppose I am a little. I just… I love him so much, and I can’t imagine not being with him.”
“I predict you’ll be engaged before the year is out,” Marta said confidently.
I laughed. “Whoa…just because I’m fantasizing about it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen anytime soon.”
“Try being a little positive, Megan,” she said. “Good things will happen if you are.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, shaking my head at Marta.
I had just finished lunch when my phone started to ring. The number was unknown, but I picked up anyway. “Hello?”
“Collect call from Jefferson Prison; do you wish to accept this call?” an automated voice asked.
I felt myself freeze. Was this some sort of joke or just a random mistake? I hesitated for a second before replying, “Yes.”
There was a small disturbance, and then someone said my name. “Megan?”
“Who is this?” I demanded.
“It’s me, Megan,” the voice said. It was so familiar that I had a sinking feeling in my gut. It couldn’t be… It just couldn’t be.
“Phil?” I said, in disbelief.
I was aware of Marta glancing over the low partition to look at me. My tone had probably caught her attention, and my expression was probably not much better. Unable to compose myself, I rushed towards the bathrooms where I was sure I wouldn’t be overheard.
“Phil, what’s wrong?” I said. “Is everything all right?”
“Not really,” he replied.
I stopped walking before I could get to the bathrooms. My mind was reeling, and I was starting to feel panicky. “What do you mean, not really?” I asked. “Phil, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said quickly. “I mean, physically I’m fine.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. “Why are you calling me from jail?”“Megan, I don’t have much time, okay?” he said, in a rushed voice. “They found drugs in my apartment.”
“What?” I said, in shock.
“There was crystal meth and cocaine,” Phil said. “They found it in my apartment.”
“You’re doing drugs?” I said, in disbelief.
“No, no, of course not,” he said quickly. “I’m not doing drugs.”
I blinked. “Wait… Oh my God… Have you been dealing drugs the whole time we’ve been together?”
“No… Megan, please…”
I felt as though someone had just knocked the wind right out of me. I wanted to cry. Of course, he had been too good to be true. He wasn’t the perfect Prince Charming I had assumed he was… He was just an actor. He wasn’t denying that drugs had been found in his apartment and how else could they have got there?
“I can’t believe you,” I said angrily, cutting him off. “You told me you didn’t do drugs.”
“I don’t,” he insisted.
“Okay, pardon me, you don’t do drugs, but you deal them then?”
“Of course not—”
“Oh my God, I’m such an idiot,” I said, feeling the tears rush up to my eyes. “I was so blind. You told me everything… You told me you dealt drugs, you and your brother.”
“Wait, that was years—”
“Sure, that’s what you told me,” I said. “But apparently, the drugs in your apartment say otherwise.”
“Megan—”
Before he could finish his sentence, the line went dead, and I realized we had been cut off. I paced up and down the hallway in front of the bathrooms, wondering how I was going to get through this day. How could this be true of Phil? He was a decent guy… He was a fucking fireman. It just didn’t make sense.
And yet… maybe it didn’t make sense because I didn’t want it to mean anything. I had been so in love with him right from the get-go that I had believed him completely when he told me about how he had turned his life around.
Twenty minutes later, I still hadn’t managed to calm down. I was still pacing when Marta found me. “There you are,” she said.
She stopped short when she saw the state I was in. “Darling girl,” she said, in a motherly voice. “Are you all right? What happened?”
Seeing the concern on her face, I just broke down. She hugged me tight and patted my head until I had calmed down enough to string a sentence together without sobbing.
“Phil just called me,” I told her. “From jail.”
“What?”
“He’s been arrested for possession of drugs.”
“No.”
“I can’t believe I fell for his lies.”
“Are you sure that the drugs are his?” Marta asked.
“Who else could it be?” I said. “I knew his past… He dealt drugs when he was younger, and his brother went to jail for it, but when he told me he changed his lifestyle and stayed away from all that shit, I actually believed him. He lied to me, Marta…”
“Oh, honey… What did he call to say?”
“He claims he’s innocent,” I replied.
“Did he give you a reason to back up that claim?”
“No,” I said, even though I didn’t mention that I hadn’t given him the opportunity to back it up. “Marta, I don’t know if I can get through work today.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, putting her hand on my arm. “Go into Kevin’s office and tell him you’re sick. I’ll vouch for you. You can take the rest of the day off.”
Grateful for the suggestion, I went in to see Kevin with my excuse ready. Because of my swollen face and my pale skin, Kevin believed that I was sick easily enough and let me off work, much to my relief. I gave Marta a quick thank you as I headed out, and then I went straight home. I walked through the door, ready to collapse onto the sofa and cry my eyes out when I realized that Brent was home.
I wiped away my tears hurriedly, upset that I wouldn’t have the privacy I craved. Brent looked carefully at my face, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide this from him.
“Whoa… Who died?” Brent asked, straightening up a little.
“Have you heard?” I asked.
He frowned. “Heard what?”
“About Phil?”
Brent looked even more confused. “What about Phil? Did he save another cat or something?”
“He’s in jail,” I said, in no mood for jokes.
Brent stood up. “What?”
“He called me from there,” I stammered. “He was caught with drugs.”
“No fucking way,” he said, shaking his head.
“He says he’s innocen
t—”
“He’s not.”
“What?” I said, looking up at Brent’s confident expression.
“You really didn’t know he was dealing?” he asked me.
I looked at my brother in shock. “Wait… He was dealing? You knew this?”
“Of course.” Brent nodded. “Where do you think I got my pot from? But trust me, all I ever get from Phil is pot. I don’t buy any of the harder stuff he sells.”
“Oh my God,” I said, feeling light-headed.
“Why don’t you sit down?” Brent said.
I sat down slowly and shook my head after a moment. “Are you saying that Phil was your dealer?”
“Yes.” Brent nodded. “I thought you knew.”
“Why would you assume that?” I demanded.
He shrugged. “You were sleeping with him, weren’t you?” he said. “And, you seemed so close, I thought he had already told you, and you were cool with it.”
“You know I hate drugs,” I said. “That’s why I leave every time you smoke.”
“I just thought you hated me,” he said. “I figured that’s why you avoided me.”
I looked at Brent and wondered if I’d been unfair to him this whole time. Had I been a terrible sister, so involved with my new romance that I’d forgotten all about what he might have been going through?
“I don’t hate you, Brent,” I assured him. “I was just…”
“Preoccupied with Phil?” he said before I could finish my sentence.
“You should have told me.”
“You spoke to Phil more than you spoke to me,” he pointed out. “How was I to know that he hadn’t told you?”
“How long has he been your dealer?” I asked, scared to hear the answer.
“Since we met,” he replied. “That’s how we met, actually.”
I shook my head. “That’s not what Phil told me,” I said, feeling the tears resurface.
I felt more than betrayed, I felt completely and utterly disappointed. The perfect image I’d had in my head of the kind of man that Phil was had completely disintegrated and I wondered if I had myself to blame for all this. I had obviously been naïve. I had obviously been so thrilled that a guy like that had been interested in me, that I’d shut my eyes and believed him wholeheartedly.