Fallen Crest Home (Fallen Crest High #6)

He shot me an irate look. “How many physical fights have there been?”


Before I could answer, he shook his head, holding up a hand. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. I’ll go in and talk to Mason, but…” He turned to Logan. “Why aren’t your father’s lawyers here? Is there something I should know about Mason’s case?”

“Uh.” Logan and I glanced at each other. He tugged at his collar. “James asked us to give speeches at his wedding, and well—”

Another head shake followed. “Don’t say anything more. I got the picture.” His eyes lingered on me. “I forgot your mom got married today. How are you?”

“I’ll be better when we get Mason out of there,” I told him.

“Got it. That’s my cue.” He scanned the rest of the group as he walked inside the station.

Heather and Channing were still here, and some of Channing’s friends—Moose, Chad, and two others—had brought pizza. I was pretty sure it wasn’t coffee in their thermoses. We’d taken over a corner of the police station lot. Some sat on the back of Channing’s truck, some at a picnic table, and Channing’s friends had brought lawn chairs, too. Mark and Cass were still here, too. I thought Cass would be bitching more, but she’d been quiet.

Everyone had gone home to change clothes once they heard my dad had a three-hour drive, but Logan and I stayed. Taylor brought both of us a change of clothes. Logan had changed in his Escalade, but I was still in my dress from the wedding.

I’d change when Mason could change. That was how my mind was working at the moment. I was only focused on when he would get out.

A couple hours later, I pulled myself out of my lawn chair as Garrett exited the station. His tie flapped in the wind, and he rubbed briskly at his forehead. Logan stood next to me, holding Taylor’s hand on his other side.

“Bail?” I asked him.

“It’s Saturday, Sam. And it’s late.” He rested his hand on my shoulder briefly. “The judge won’t see him till Monday, and I won’t be able to do much until then. I did find out what they have on him. There’s a video showing this guy, and Mason comes in. He tackles him, and then the video zooms in to show him punching this guy. I have to say, this evidence is damning for Mason. That’s assault and battery, and they’ll probably bump it up to aggravated assault, too. That’s not good, any of it. What happened that day?”

I looked for Logan, but he wasn’t there. I shook my head. “I was working, and I saw—” Not a friend, not anymore. “—someone I knew. She wanted to talk, so we went to the side of the tent, then Caldron saw me. He was going to hit me. Mason got there just in time to defend me. It doesn’t show that on the video?”

“No. Who else was there whenever this video took place? Who would want to do this to Mason?”

Logan snorted. He’d reappeared. “The question is who wouldn’t.” He indicated the group with a quick wave. “These people here wouldn’t.” He paused, staring at Cass. “She’s still suspect, though.”

Cass had been sitting forward, her elbows propped on her knees, but jerked up at that. “Are you kidding me?” Her mouth fell open. She flung a hand up, almost hitting Mark. “We left, and I could’ve stayed home. I didn’t. Mark wanted to be here for you guys, and I’m here for him. I’ve been very nice to Sam this summer.”

She had. She hadn’t said shit to me. That was nice for Cass.

Logan quirked an eyebrow, and I shrugged. It was the only thing I could muster.

“Unreal.” She stood up. “Mark, I’m out of here.”

He caught her arm, pulling her back. “Stop. You two don’t have the greatest history. Chill. Stay, please.” He kissed her cheek. “For me?”

The fight left her before our eyes. Her rigid jaw and tight shoulders loosened at his soft request.

Logan rolled his eyes, turning back to Garrett. “No dice then? For getting Mase out?”

Garrett scratched idly at the side of his nose. “I don’t have a lot of pull, at least not legally. What I can do is recommend that you talk to your dad. He can call in some favors, I’m sure, and get Mason released. I don’t know if he can get the charges dropped, but I bet he can get them lessened.” He looked to me. “Who else was there that day? There’s been other history with Jared Caldron, correct? They mentioned another incident. Would he have the motivation to dig this video up and turn it in?”

Logan turned to me, too.

He could, but…I shook my head at Logan’s silent question. I didn’t think Caldron had actually done this.

As if reading my mind, Logan said, “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. It doesn’t feel right, but Caldron has plenty of motivation. Mason beat the shit out of him last weekend.”

“No charges were brought because of that, though?”

“Not against us. It was self-defense. Sixteen guys showed up.”

Garrett’s eyebrows raised.

“But this is a pussy move,” Logan continued. “Caldron deserved the beat down Mason gave him, but he doesn’t fight like this. Or he hasn’t in the past.”

“Yeah. I don’t know much about him, but he could sue Mason in civil court.” My dad’s phone started ringing, and he pulled it out and turned it off. “Okay, here’s the plan. Sam, I’m going to drive to Cain tonight, and I’ll bring Sharon and Seb back with me tomorrow. You can see your little sister, if you’d like?”

Mason was in jail. He was my first worry, but the thought of seeing little Sabrina—I felt my first smile in the last six hours stretch over my face. I nodded. There’d been a few holidays and some random times when Garrett and his wife were in Cain while I was, too. That’d been the extent of my time with my little sister. I’d been there for her birth, and I was already anticipating holding her hyper little two-year-old body in my arms.

“I bet she’s a handful now,” I murmured.

Garrett grunted, chuckling. “You’ll see for yourself tomorrow.” He shifted toward Logan and held a hand up. “I don’t know why I was about to tell you what to do. You weren’t there.” His hand came back to me. “You were there. Make up a list of who else was, too, and are you on good terms with the carnival? Are you still working there?” Then it hit him. “Why were you working at a carnival in the first place?”

Lost.

Hurting.

Bored.

And trying to avoid Analise.

“It seemed fun at the time,” I said.

Logan’s head dropped, and I caught a small cough. He was holding in a laugh. “Yeah.” The corner of his mouth twitched up. “We’ll head over there in the morning and see if they can help us.”