My life has changed a lot since I came here for Grayson’s interview. I can’t believe that was only a handful of days ago. I make my way inside, pushing open the door, and approach the desk. The officer on duty looks up at me. “Hi, I’m here to pay bail for Tyler Knight,” I say.
“Sure thing.”
“Can you tell me what he was charged with?”
The officer turns to the computer on the desk beside him, taps a few keys, and says, “He’s charged with felony possession of the second degree. He was caught with a Schedule II drug with intent to sell.” He glances back to me.
“How much is bail?”
The figure he tells me gives me pause. I mean, I am now unemployed. But I hand over my credit card and put up the money.
“He’s in cell two at the moment,” the officer tells me. “I’ll call through and have him brought out to you.”
I’m sitting on the waiting room seats, halfway through a game of Candy Crush, when Matt Daughtry comes out through the door. He takes the seat next to me and I put my phone back in my bag. “You’re here bailing out Grayson Knight’s brother?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Do I even want to know why the assistant state attorney is bailing out the brother of the man she’s currently prosecuting?”
I meet his eyes and say, “I’m not an assistant state attorney anymore.”
I see the shock reverberate through him. “Since when?”
“About an hour ago.”
“Jesus, Mel. What happened?”
“It’s…complicated. I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”
He blows out a breath, staring ahead. “When I was told his lawyer was out here bailing him out, I thought they’d made a mistake when I saw you sitting here. So I guess…you’re his lawyer now?”
I sigh and say, “I guess so.”
I hear him exhale again, but I can’t meet his eyes.
“Look,” he says, placing his hands on my shoulder. “Just…be careful. I know Grayson Knight is a big celebrity, but…be careful, okay?”
I nod.
Matt stands, abruptly changing the conversation. “I’m having Knight processed. He’ll be brought out to you soon.”
“Thank you, Matt.”
“Since you’re his lawyer, you should know that his arraignment is set for two days from now. I don’t consider him a flight risk, but he’ll still need to turn in his passport tomorrow.”
I know the process, but I nod my head and thank him again.
“Mel,” he says, stepping close and lowering his voice. “I don’t know what the hell has happened…but I do know how much your job means to you. You need someone to talk to, call me. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Matt disappears back through the door he came through.
Fifteen minutes later, a disheveled, younger-looking version of Grayson Knight comes through the door. Matt is leading him forward with a tight grip on his arm.
“Thanks,” I say to Matt, getting to my feet.
Tyler looks at me and then back to Matt. “Who’s she?” he asks, jerking his chin in my direction.
“She’s your bail money and ride home,” Matt says to him, definite contempt in his voice.
I take a few steps toward Tyler and say, “I’m Melissa St. James. Your brother asked me to come and get you.”
Tyler stares at me. “Why didn’t he come himself?”
I glance at Matt and then back to Tyler. “He wanted to, but…it’s…difficult, with his…situation. So I offered to come.”
“You got this, Mel?” Matt says, heading for the door. “I need to get back to it.”
“Yeah, we’ll be fine from here. Thanks again, Matt.”
Matt pins Tyler with a stare. “Remember I want you back here first thing tomorrow to turn in your passport.”
“Yeah, yeah. I got it.”
Matt gives a frustrated look and shakes his head. “I’ll see you later, Mel,” he says to me. Then he disappears behind the door, leaving me alone with Tyler.
“Well, thanks for coming to get me out,” Tyler says as he heads for the exit. “Tell Grayson I’ll call him.”
“Tell him yourself.”
He stops at the exit and turns to face me.
“You’ll be seeing him soon. I’m taking you to his place.”
“And if I don’t want to go?”
“I’m not giving you a choice. You don’t come with me, I’m taking you right back in there to Sergeant Daughtry and telling him I’m rescinding bail.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I can do anything I want,” I say, and put my hands on my hips. “So what’s it going to be?”
He tilts his head to the side. “You’re not like Grayson’s other girlfriends.”
“That’s because I’m not his girlfriend.”
Though I’m not really sure what I am right now.
“Fine,” Tyler says as he walks out the door. I follow quickly after him. He’s waiting near the side of the road for me. “You got a car, then?” he asks.
“No. We’ll catch a cab to Grayson’s place,” I say. Then I stick out a hand to an approaching cab. It pulls over.
Tyler opens the back door and waves me in first. “I do have some manners,” he says after I give him a surprised look.
The driver pulls up outside Grayson’s house ten minutes later. Tyler and I haven’t really spoken during the ride over. I thought it would be best to wait until he and Grayson were together before I started questioning them.
I find Grayson in his living room, standing by the fireplace, a tumbler of whiskey in his hand. A flash of relief passes over his face when he sees Tyler. But then the relief is gone and anger settles in.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
“Nice to see you too, bro,” Tyler says as he throws himself down onto one of the plush couches. “You know, you look just like dad, standing there by the fire, glass in hand, pissed-off look on your face. I feel like I’ve just gone back ten years in time.”
“Screw you,” Grayson snaps, putting the glass down on the mantelpiece. He pushes his hands into his pockets and steps closer to Tyler. “How could you do this? You promised me that it wouldn’t happen again.”
“I didn’t exactly have a choice,” Tyler snaps.
“What do you mean you didn’t have a choice? There’s always a choice,” Grayson says.
“Maybe in your perfect world there is. But in my world”—Tyler gets to his feet—“there isn’t.”
“I don’t know how to help you anymore,” Grayson says, sounding lost and frustrated.
“I never asked you to help me in the first place,” Tyler says quietly.
“You’re my little brother…I couldn’t just…” Grayson’s words die out and his eyes come to me. It’s as if he’s remembering I’m still here.
Tyler turns to look at me, too.
“Don’t stop on my account.” I wave a hand toward Grayson. “I mean, I think I’ve pretty much figured it out myself, anyway. Tyler has a history of criminal offenses. The cops raid the club. He has a sizable amount of drugs on him. Enough to put him away for a long time.
“Grayson, you tell him to give the drugs to you, so if they get found, neither of you will go to prison, because your record is clean and you’re a notable figure in entertainment. You’ll probably get a slap on the wrist—at the worst a fine and be put on probation. Only when it comes to laws about drugs, you don’t know that Tyler was carrying enough to up the charge to possession with intent to sell.
“Because that’s what you were doing, right, Tyler? You were going to sell the coke. Grayson took the drugs from you, got caught with them, and now he’s looking at possible jail time. And I’m taking it the people you work for were not happy you lost those drugs that were seized from Grayson. Were they looking for their money back? Maybe you were out tonight, selling to try to make the money back to pay them off. Am I on the right track here?”
Tyler opens his mouth, but Grayson holds up a hand, cutting him off.
Grayson turns to me, his expression weary. He moves over to me, puts his hands on my arms, and says, “Mel…I need to talk to my brother…alone. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and Tyler. But just give me tonight with him to talk.”
Even though his voice is gentle, I feel stung by his words.
He wants me to leave.
“Trust me,” he adds.
I step out of his hold.
“Sure,” I say, as if everything is fine.