Deep Burn

by Abigail Davies

  “Food’s ready!” Dad shouted, and I blinked, trying to pull myself out of the daze I was in. For weeks I’d been trapped inside a bubble with only me and Elodie, but now we were around the people who cared most about us, I was paranoid they’d be able to see through the veil I’d created. They couldn’t know the secret I was keeping because they wouldn’t understand, not like my dad. I was limited with the time I had left as a free man, and I wanted to make the most of it. I didn’t want to spend it arguing what the right thing in their eyes was to do. I’d made my choice, and they’d have to deal with it.

  ELODIE

  I’d always been good at keeping secrets. I was an expert at not telling the people around me things I didn’t want them to know. But I was starting to understand I wasn’t like that anymore. I felt antsy, like I needed to blurt out what I knew, but every time I opened my mouth to say it, nothing came out.

  It had been two days since we’d gone to Lola and Brody’s house for a cookout. Two days since I’d overheard Asher and his dad talking. Two days of my mind swirling, trying to make sense of what they’d been saying. But it was no use. Every single time I came to the exact same conclusion: Asher was prepared to take the fall for something he did to help me.

  I clutched my hands in my lap and tried to keep my concentration on the teacher at the front of the class, but nothing I did helped. All I could think about was what would happen when Asher turned up at court. I’d heard what Asher said loud and clear: Twenty years. He’d go to prison for twenty years, and all because he’d protected me.

  I couldn’t let it happen, no matter how much of a fight Asher put up. Maybe I was being selfish wanting Asher beside me every day. Maybe I was doing this more for myself than him. But I couldn’t let him do it. I needed a plan. I needed to figure out what I had to do.

  “Elodie?” Leo whispered from beside me. “You okay?”

  I turned to face him and opened my mouth to tell him what was on my mind. I was desperate to tell someone what I’d heard. It was on the tip of my tongue, but something stopped me. Something halted me from voicing my thoughts. It was Asher I should confront, but I didn’t know how he would react. Would he be mad? Would he sign the deal? My eyes widened. What if he’d already signed the deal? Shit. I hadn’t thought about that.

  “I…” I stood, my chair scraping against the tiled floor. “I have to go.” I grabbed my bag, threw my book inside it, not bothering to zip it up fully. I had to help Asher, even if it meant going behind his back to do it. I sprinted down the hallway and toward the main entrance, pumping my legs as fast as I could.

  “Elodie!” Leo shouted after me. “Stop!”

  I didn’t listen, just kept on going, knowing I needed to confront this situation as soon as I could. I slammed my hand down on the bar of the doors and they whooshed open. I practically jumped down the steps and didn’t stop moving until I was at my car.

  My shaking hands caused my keys to rattle, but it only took two attempts to get the key in the lock. As soon as I was inside my car, I clicked my belt in place, and turned the engine on. I’d already made my mind up to where I was going, so sped out of the lot.

  It only took me minutes to pull up outside the house, but my heart was racing so fast I thought it was going to explode out of my chest. I darted up the driveway and opened the front door. “Brody? Lola?” My feet carried me through the living room and into the kitchen where they both sat at the table with cups of coffee. Lola was still dressed in her pajamas, but Brody was fully clothed in jeans and a T-shirt. “I need to talk to you,” I gasped out.

  Lola stood, her eyes wide and face panicked. “What’s happened?” She reached for me and pulled me toward the table. “Sit down, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  I shook my head. I didn’t have time to sit. There was an urgency to the situation. Asher hadn’t confided in me about his case, and I understood why now, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t upset with him. I’d leaned on him more than anyone else I ever had, yet it was as if he didn’t feel like he could do the same. But deep down I knew it wasn’t the case. He’d told me things he’d never confided in anyone else.

  “I heard you talking,” I blurted out to Brody. “I heard you and Asher talking the other day.”

  Brody’s shoulders dropped, his gaze flicking to Lola who was still standing next to me. “I thought you had.” He leaned back in his chair and pushed his hand through his graying hair.

  “I need you to take me to his lawyer.”

  “His lawyer?” Lola asked, her attention swinging between me and Brody. “Why do you need to go to his lawyer? What’s going on?”

  Silence consumed us as neither Brody nor I looked away from each other. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her, not only that, but I’d only heard enough to understand what was going on. I didn’t know the ins and outs of it all, but I had a feeling Brody did.

  “The DA wants to charge Asher with attempted murder,” Brody told her, but he didn’t look away from me as he said it. His dark-brown eyes that looked so similar to Asher’s held a pride I’d never seen before. “He’s been given a plea deal.” He paused. “Twenty years.”

  “Twenty years?” Lola gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. “What the…how can they…” I felt her gaze on the side of my face, but I didn’t give her my attention. Brody knew what I was going to do without me having to spell it out to him. “But he was defending Elodie.”

  “He doesn’t want her to give her statement,” Brody confirmed what I’d overheard.

  “But how can the same DA who is prosecuting Knox do this to Asher?”

  “It’s not the DA,” Brody told her. “The two cases are under different assistant DAs. They either haven’t shared their files, or don’t care.”

  “That can’t be right.”

  “It’s not,” Brody gritted out. “But it’s the way it works in an office that big.” Brody glanced back at me, his eyes softening. “He thinks he’s protecting you.” He stood slowly. “He doesn’t want to make you have to relive it over and over again.”

  I chortled. “He doesn’t understand that I relive it every time I close my eyes. Every time someone knocks on the door. Every time someone gets too close to me.” I heaved a breath, trying to calm myself. “I don’t get to pick and choose when I remember what Knox did to me.” I wrapped my arms around my stomach, trying to protect myself from what I was saying, but it was no use because it was all trapped inside me. “If telling them what happened that night means he doesn’t get charged, then I’ll do it. I’d do it a thousand times over for Asher.”

  “I knew you would.” He pulled his keys out of his jeans pocket. “I’ve been in touch with his lawyer.”

  I tilted my head to the side and felt my lips lifting. “You knew I’d do this?”

  “Didn’t doubt it for a second.” Brody sauntered around the table and halted in front of me. “I see the way you look at my son, Elodie.” He smiled down at me. “It’s the same way he looks at you: like the world starts and ends with this one person.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “It’s exactly how I look at Lola, and I’d move heaven and earth if it meant protecting her.”

  Lola rolled her eyes. “Even in your old age you know exactly what to say to make me swoon.”

  “What can I say?” Brody shrugged and took hold of Lola’s hand. “Even after all these years, you’re the only one who impacts what happens here.” He patted his chest over his heart. “Always and forever.”

  They stared at each other as if they’d only just fallen in love, and my stomach dipped. I wanted that with Asher in ten years. I wanted it with him in fifteen years. But I wouldn’t get it if he’d already signed the deal. Twenty years of our lives would be taken away in the blink of an eye, and all because of Knox’s decision. He’d already tried to ruin everything in his path, and I’d be damned if he did it all over again.

  “I erm…” I shuffled from foot to foot. “I don’t mean to rush you, but…can we go?” I bit do
wn on my bottom lip, feeling uneasy. “Asher doesn’t know I know, which means—”

  “He could sign the deal at any minute,” Lola finished for me. “Go. Go.” She shooed us. “Go do what you need to do.” She pulled her cell out, her brows furrowing. “I’m going to call Asher and give him a piece of my mind.”

  “No!” I threw my hand in the air. “Don’t. Please. I don’t want him to know what I’m doing.” I hated the way my skin crawled when I said that, but it was the only option I felt like I had. “He kept this a secret from me for a reason, and if he knows what I’m about to do, he’ll try to change my mind.” I took a step toward the living room. “And I’m not letting him change my mind. I’m doing this, whether he likes it or not.”

  Lola’s lips curved up into the biggest smile as she dropped her cell onto the table. “You, Elodie, are perfect for my son.” She placed her hands on her chest. “Now go. Go and save my idiot son from himself.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  ASHER

  I adjusted my tie for what felt like the thousandth time, but no matter what I did, it still felt like it was strangling me. I was trapped in an invisible noose with no escape in sight. The courtroom was bigger—grander—than last time. The polished wooden bench the judge sat behind glistened where the sun hit it, as did the two tables ten feet away where the lawyers and I were. The room felt both cool and warm at the same time, or maybe that was just my body and my nerves.

  I was hyperaware of the people sitting in the first row behind me. I could almost feel the burn of their gazes in my back, but I didn’t turn, too afraid of what my reaction would be if I looked at them. Dad had suggested we all ride to the courthouse together and I’d snapped his offer up, knowing what the outcome was going to be today.

  Elodie had been relaxed the entire ride here, but I’d been on edge. Part of me wished I’d told her what was about to go down, but I knew I was doing the right thing. If she knew, then she’d have to face her nightmares all over again, and it’d all be because of me.

  The last few weeks I’d spent less time at home and more time at the shop. I was putting things in place for when I was gone, making sure Elodie would be taken care of while I was locked in a six-by-nine cell for god knew how many hours a day. My life was about to change dramatically, but she didn’t know that.

  I’d craved for each day to go by at a snail’s pace, but life never worked the way you wanted it to. Instead, time had whizzed by, and now I was here, about to agree to a plea deal and leave everything I’d built behind. I couldn’t describe how I felt, a weird combination of agitated and calm. My lawyer, on the other hand, looked like he didn’t have a care in the world. His files were stacked neatly in front of him, his posture straight and prepared. Today was just a formality, something he’d told me over and over again.

  “We’re here regarding case number 7937694,” the judge said, her voice carrying across the entire room. “I understand the commonwealth has prepared a plea deal.”

  The prosecuting lawyer stood from behind the other table. “We have, Your Honor.”

  “Terms?” the judge asked, staring down at something in front of her. My stomach rolled. It was all happening too fast. I’d thought I’d have been in here longer than this, but it was speeding ahead at a lightning pace.

  “The charge is assault with a suspended two-year sentence,” the lawyer replied. My head whipped around to face my lawyer, but his attention was focused ahead with a small smile on his face. What the fuck? “We have evidence surrounding the circumstances of the assault and believe this to be prevalent to the case.”

  The judge nodded as if she already knew this, and maybe she did, but I didn’t have a goddamn clue as to what was occurring around me. “Does the defense agree to these terms?”

  “We do, Your Honor,” Mr. Bennet stated as he stood.

  “Mr. Easton?” I blinked at the judge, not knowing what to do or say. How the hell had Mr. Bennet gotten the charges dropped down to assault? And a two-year suspended sentence? I was dreaming. I had to be dreaming.

  “Stand up,” Mr. Bennet whispered out of the side of his mouth.

  I did as I was told, trying my best to keep it together. Had they read the wrong case? Had they gotten their files mixed up? A thousand possibilities entered my mind, but not one of them made any sense. How had my charges been dropped from attempted murder down to assault without me even knowing?

  The judge cleared her throat. “Do you understand that by accepting this plea deal you’re waiving your right to an appeal?”

  “I…do,” I croaked out, feeling like I wasn’t in my own body.

  “Do you understand that if you get arrested at any time in the duration of your suspended sentence, you will have to serve out the entirety of your sentence in prison?”

  “I do, Your Honor.”

  “Okay, then. Counselors, you may sign the deal and hand it to me.”

  The judge leaned back in her seat as the prosecutor stepped toward our table. She slid the paper across to me, and I stared at it like it was a bomb about to explode. Were they trying to trick me? Was this really the original plea and they were playing some sick joke?

  “I’ve read over it and everything is up to scratch,” Mr. Bennet told me, handing me a pen. “Sign it.”

  “I don’t understand,” I croaked out. “How did this happen?”

  “I’ll explain when we’re out of here. Just sign the papers.”

  I swallowed past the lump in my throat and signed my name on each set of papers. My handwriting was shaky, not at all like it normally was, but my signature was there clear as day. Mr. Bennet gathered the papers and passed them to the judge, who took a quick glance at them, said something I couldn’t quite hear, then stood and walked out.

  I didn’t move an inch, sure this was too good to be true. People filed out of the courtroom, the sound of heels and dress shoes echoing through the vast space, but I couldn’t quite get my body to work. I was in shock. Completely flabbergasted at what had happened. I’d been preparing myself for months not to walk back out of this courthouse, preparing to only see Elodie and my family behind a screen and hear their voices through a phone piece.

  But none of that was going to happen now. And I still had no idea why.

  “Ready?” Mr. Bennet asked, placing his hand on my shoulder. I blinked out of my haze, and nodded, not sure I could get my voice to work. I followed him out of the now empty room and out into the hallway where my mom, dad, and Elodie waited.

  My gaze immediately landed on Elodie, and I halted in the doorway of the courtroom. It hit me like a freight train, and I felt stupid for not realizing before I’d signed the papers. “No,” I ground out. It was taking me a second to catch up with my own thoughts, but deep down I knew what had happened. Elodie had acted like today was just a normal day, because to her, it was. She didn’t know what I did, or at least, I thought she hadn’t.

  “Asher,” she murmured, stepping toward me. She could see the realization shadowed across my features, but I couldn’t talk to her right then. I’d only told two people the truth, and I’d demanded both of them to keep their mouths shut. They hadn’t listened.

  “Did you contact her?” I asked Mr. Bennet, my voice deep. I could feel my anger bubbling up to the surface.

  “I did not,” Mr. Bennet replied, turning to face me. He juggled several files under his arm along with his briefcase. “She came to me with your father.” I opened my mouth, but he didn’t give me the chance to say anything. “It’s a good job she did, Asher, because the assistant DA was determined to charge you with attempted murder.” He glanced over at my dad, then back to me. “He has ties with the boy’s father.”

  “I don’t care.” I clenched my hands by my sides. “I gave you strict instructions not to—”

  “You told me not to contact her.” He raised a brow. “You said nothing about what I should do if she came to me.”

  “You should have called me—”

  “Listen, Asher.” He h
uffed out a breath and stepped toward me. “I understand what you were trying to do, but it wasn’t the right call. They were trying to hang you out to dry. Don’t you get that?” I didn’t know what to say to that because it was true, and I knew it all along. But I didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on Elodie. She’d already been through enough. “I have to get to my next meeting,” Mr. Bennet said, taking a couple of steps back. “Enjoy your freedom and stay out of trouble.”

  His receding footsteps echoed in the otherwise quiet hallway, and I tried to push everything down and exude calm, but as my dad called my name, I couldn’t keep it inside any longer. I whipped my attention around to him, narrowing my eyes. “You told her?”

  “He didn’t,” Elodie informed me, stepping forward. I didn’t want to tear my gaze away from my dad and the steely look he was giving me, but as Elodie stepped closer, I couldn’t resist. “I heard you talking about it.” She pursed her lips, a clear sign she wasn’t happy with me and the way I’d handled the entire situation. “You should have told me about it.” She tilted her head back so she could stare into my eyes. “All of this could have been avoided if you had just confided in me, Asher.”

  “I was pro—”

  “Protecting me. I know.” She rolled her eyes and grasped the lapels of my suit jacket and then pulled me closer. “But it works both ways.” She paused, waiting for her words to sink in. “You protected me more than anyone else ever has, but I can protect you too. It may not look the same as when you do it, but it’s for the same reasons.”

  I took a breath, not quite getting the full oxygen I needed. “I didn’t want you to have to go through it all again.” My fight was leaving me the longer she spoke.

  “It doesn’t matter how many times I have to go through it, Asher.” She lifted up onto her tiptoes. “With you by my side, I could slay a thousand dragons. We’re a team. A team who conquers our demons together.”