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Chapter twenty-six
Theo
I didn’t recognize thecop who entered Marked on Tuesday. He hitched up his service belt as he walked toward the counter, hand draped casually on his weapon.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“I’m looking for Theodoros Makris.”
My blood chilled. No one called me by my full name except my parents and Aiden when he was being a prick. Up until the cop did, I assumed he was dropping in to schedule an appointment for when he was off duty.
“That’s me,” I said, laying my hands on the counter where he could see them. Aries stepped out from the back but did an about face when he saw the officer.
“Theodoros Makris,” the cop said, pulling at the cuffs on his service belt, “you’re under arrest for violating Section 18.2-371.3—”
Everything he said after that was lost. Panic roared as loud and fast as a freight train through my body. My breath came indesperate bursts and my vision narrowed, the black creeping in from all sides.
“The fuck he is,” I heard Max shout as though he was on the other end of a tunnel.
I turned toward the sound of his voice and watched Max lunge at the cop. Aries rushed forward and yanked him back, but Max was strong and extremely pissed. More pissed than I’d ever seen him.
“Put your fucking cuffs away,” he shouted.
“Sir, you need to stand back,” the cop said.
“Hope you have two pairs of those,” Max said, fighting off Aries’s hold and stepping into the cop’s face. “Cause the only way you’re cuffing him is after you cuff me, asshole.”
The officer obliged, turning Max around and shoving him to the floor before locking a pair of cuffs on his wrists. Seeing Max restrained flipped something in my brain. I could freak out later, but right now, I had to stop Max before he got himself in serious trouble.
“It’s all right,” I said, placing a hand on Max’s shoulder as he struggled against the cuffs. I stepped between him and the cop and held my hands in front of me. Being cuffed behind my back was the last thing I wanted, so I hoped by offering the cop my hands in the front, he’d choose the easier option.
“This is bullshit,” Max shouted behind me. “I don’t care if he inked a fucking five-year-old, you don’t need to cuff him.”
“Max,” I said, calmly, as the cop snapped the cuffs on my wrists. “Don’t make this worse.”
That seemed to deflate him. “Don’t say anything until your lawyer arrives,” he said as he rose to his feet.
“I don’t have a lawyer,” I said.
“Not a fucking word, Theo,” he said.
Aries winked at me.
It was odd. Maybe he was trying to lighten the mood or send me some signal, but whatever it was, his meaning was lost on me.
The cop put his hand on my arm and Max’s shoulder and guided us toward the door. His grip wasn’t tight. Not like the cops who’d escorted me to and from places during my trial. It was more like the correctional officers after I’d proven to them enough times that I’d cooperate. I took it as a good sign.
We stepped onto the sidewalk, where a few people had stopped to gawk at the patrol car parked at the curb with lights flashing.
“Please, don’t take him in,” I said, motioning my chin toward Max. “He’s calm now, right?”
“The hell I am,” Max shouted.
“Watch your heads,” the cop said, opening the back door.
Someone shouted my name, and I looked down Main Street. Aiden sprinted toward us with Poppy trailing behind him, pumping her arms as she tried to catch up. No telling what either of them would do, let alone the pair of them.
“Let’s go,” I told the cop as I slid into the back. “Max is tame compared to those two.”