This can’t be happening. I fall back on the bed, and as I stare up at the ceiling, I flash to my childhood. After years of fighting to help my dad with no results, I stopped trying. When he died a few years after I left, the guilt was crippling. Even though months of therapy helped me see it wasn’t my fault, I’m not going down that road again. I won’t give up on Tristan, no matter how hard he tries to push me away.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Hannah. “Hey. How are you feeling?” she asks when she answers.

“I’ve been better. I’m calling because Tristan is on his way over to stay with you guys tonight.”

“No. What happened?”

“Oh my god, it’s such a mess. We just had a fight. I’m sure he’s going to tell you all about it, but the bottom line is he was arrested for caffeine consumption and is trying to convince me he doesn’t have a problem.”

“Whoa. Oh, Cassie. This has to be killing you.” Hannah knows about my father, and I think she understands how hard the situation is for me.

“Yeah. It is.”

“Do you want me to come over?”

“No. I—” I hate that I’m bringing my friend into my troubles, but I feel as if I haven’t got a choice. “Would you keep an eye on Tristan for me?”

“Sure. But you know we don’t have any caffeine in the house. Not after we discovered what it does to Jake.”

Before we understood what coffee can do to Eroscians, her husband tried it. It was only once though because it made his energy level reach manic proportions. “I know.” I say. “And that’s a relief.”

“Oh,” says Hannah. “Tristan’s here. I should go.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

“You got it. We’ll talk later.”

After I hang up I realize how tired I am, and I get ready for bed. Probably because I’m pregnant and exhausted from my day, I manage to fall asleep quickly and wake up feeling refreshed, even though I’m still worried about Tristan.

I’m in the kitchen drinking a morning energy shake wondering what my husband is doing when my phone rings. It’s Hannah, and I don’t get a chance to speak when I answer because she says, “Tristan and Jake have been arrested!”

My heart stops. “What?”

I hear a car horn honk and the rush of wind in Hannah’s phone speaker makes me think she’s walking outside. “Oh god, Cassie. They’ve both been charged with caffeine consumption. I’m on the way to the station now, but you have to come. I have no idea how I’m going to get them out.”

Oh my god is right. How the heck did Tristan suck Jake into his problem? “What did they do?”

“Nothing. Jake said they were walking out of the apartment building together this morning and that police pulled them aside and made them blow into a caffeine breathalyzer.”

Wow. I’d heard they were beginning to test that device, but I had no idea it was already in the field. My lawyer side immediately thinks we can fight the validity of the results for such a new machine. I say, “I’ll be right there. Don’t do anything until Henry Wyatt arrives. Got it?”

Hannah is sobbing, but she manages to croak out. “What’s going to happen to them?”

I close my eyes and fight back my tears as I try to remain calm for my friend. Even though Tristan isn’t getting out anytime soon, and I don’t dare think about the implications of that, Jake will likely be released on bail. I say, “I’m sure Henry will get Jake home with you in a few hours. It’s going to be okay.”

“Okay,” Hannah says and she sniffs. “But what about Tristan?”

I swallow down the lump in my throat, and my voice is hoarse when I say, “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

Once I get off the phone with my friend, I call Henry. He does his best to reassure me he’ll get Tristan out, but I don’t believe him. I call myself a cab and go to the bedroom to get dressed.

Yoga pants hug my thighs when I tug them on, and I let the weight of Tristan’s situation hit me. A second offense within twenty-four hours screams addiction no matter what spin Henry tries to put on it. We can try to get him out of it with the rehab option, but considering how adamantly Tristan denied the truth before, I’m not sure how successful we’re going to be in getting him to agree. I could be furious Tristan consumed caffeine within hours of being arrested, but I’m too familiar with an addict’s ways to be surprised. I can only hope this is my husband’s rock bottom.

I let myself out of my apartment and sit in my wheelchair to roll to the elevator. As the indicator dings and the doors open, I think about why the police might be waiting for Tristan outside Jake’s apartment building. Especially if he hasn’t done anything to show he’s a danger, even on caffeine. Unless Dr. Carroll said something? Could it be Sawyer, McCall, Underwood and Garret? I can see where Lara may not be thrilled that their prized client is helping me, but is she really that vindictive? One thing I am sure of is that my husband is being targeted, and I need to find out why.

When I get to the station I find Hannah in the lobby, and she tells me Henry is inside already. I have questions I need to ask her, but I’m concerned that the walls of the station may have ears considering the way the police were waiting for Tristan this morning. I say, “Let’s go for a walk. I need to talk to you.”

She frowns for a moment but says, “Sure.” The door groans as she tugs it open for me, and we exit to the busy street. Once we’re a good distance away from the station I say, “Tell me everything. Did the guys leave your apartment for any reason before they went outside this morning?”

“No. And nobody came over.” She stops and turns to me. “Jake consuming caffeine doesn’t make any sense. He hasn’t had any since the one time, and trust me, I’d know. He was a maniac on the stuff.”

“Maybe he didn’t know he was ingesting it. Did Tristan bring anything to eat or drink with him?”

She shakes her head and then suddenly stops. Her lips form a perfect circle as something comes to her. “The presidential tea!”

“The stuff Tristan gave Jake a couple weeks ago?”

“Yes,” Hannah says. “This morning Tristan asked for some since he didn’t sleep very well last night. When he discovered Jake hadn’t opened it yet, he insisted Jake try it.”

I recall President Stone sending me the case of tea that hadn’t been released to the public yet. It was a thank you for me stating to the press that accusations against the president claiming she had a hand in the Eroscians’ caffeine problem were nasty rumors. I shake my head, because how stupid is the president if she’s sending me caffeine-laced tea? Unless she thought I’d never figure it out. I was single at the time.

“Hannah, the president sent me that tea. Why would she send me something supposedly safe for aliens that contains caffeine?”

“It’s still in the testing phase, right?”

I nod.

Hannah squints her eyes at me. “Because the woman is evil. How much do you want to bet the packaging will change when she finally does release it, and any of the previous tea she sent out that gets tested, she can claim was stolen in an effort to frame her.”

“That sounds like a bit of a stretch.”

“This is the woman who wiped men off the face of earth. I wouldn’t put anything past her.”

“We don’t know she did that.”

Hannah puts her hands on her hips and squints at me. “The whole country knows she did it. Even I see it, and you know I couldn’t tell you what color the door of my building is.”

Wind is blowing around us and pushes a stray strand of hair out of my face. I recall how the package of tea arrived without any note. “Wait a minute.” While I was single at the time I received the tea, Lara knew I had just initiated a match with the Intergalactic Dating Agency, and she is blatantly racist against Eroscians. That was also the same time I’d begun to court Henry Wyatt. Lara tried to steal him from me, but he saw through her attempt and even chided her for it. Did my ex-boss go to extreme measures to hurt me using Tristan? “Hannah, I might know what’s going on. We need to get back to the station so I can tell Henry.”