Nolan’s fingers gripped the wheel tighter, the crunch of the leather wrap a blunt, grating sound that forced my attention toward the passenger side window to keep from looking at my brother.
“This is about Teagan, isn’t it? You’re thinking about her because we’re on our way to pick up Soren from prison.”
His breath came out on a hissing sound.
“What the fuck ever, Olly. You and I both know Soren had nothing to do with Teagan’s death. For all we know, the whore decided to screw some stranger and got herself killed in the process. It’s not like we live in the safest area. We’re a few minutes outside of Taylor Mountain for God’s sake. It doesn’t exactly have a sparkling, squeaky clean reputation.”
Rolling my eyes at his reference to a serial killer that went on a spree twenty something years before we were even born, I spotted a deer in the forest as we raced by, its head bent down as it foraged for food. Why we even drove the scenic route, I didn’t know. All I remembered was Nolan mumbling something about avoiding highway traffic. I wasn’t sure if the traffic would have cost more time for the drive than these single-lane mountain roads.
“Yes, I’m thinking about Teagan. It’s hard not to. Everybody thinks Soren had something to do with her-“
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” The car swerved a bit as he interrupted me, his voice deepening and booming with his refusal to believe the great Soren Callahan could be guilty of any crime.
“And I don’t know why you’re so worried about it now anyway. You weren’t all that worried when you let Soren take your virginity.”
My eyes snapped his direction. “He told you?”
The car swerved again and I reached for the door to steady myself.
“Slow down, Nolan.”
Ignoring my request, Nolan must have punched the gas pedal harder, the car lurching forward, tail end sliding as he rounded a curve.
“No, he didn’t tell me. But I suspected it. You just fucking told me by admitting it.”
I should have known Soren didn’t say anything. One month shy of my sixteenth birthday, I hadn’t exactly been legal when I slept with him. Not that the State of Washington would have given much of a damn, but with Tristan’s detective brother breathing down Soren’s neck, he wouldn’t have bragged about another technical crime he’d committed.
“How stupid can you possibly be?”
Shooting me a glare that felt more like a bullet fracturing my skull, Nolan ignored safety while continuing at a fast speed, his anger damn near crushing me within the close confines of the car.
“You know he doesn’t give a damn about any girl he fucks and yet you spread your legs for him? The fuck, Olly? Are you planning on jumping him as soon as he walks through the prison gates? It’s been two years since he’s seen a chick. Maybe he’ll be desperate and decide to give you another ride.”
Mumbling under his breath, Nolan added, “I shouldn’t have brought you to pick him up.”
His hand slammed the steering wheel, knuckles blanching again as he gripped it and made his demand.
“You’ll stay away from him from now on.”
Laughter bubbled up my throat.
“Uh, that’ll be kind of hard considering you invited him to stay at our house for a while. Don’t you think?”
Shaking his head, Nolan took another curve, the corner of his mouth crooking up when I gasped and gripped the handle of the door tighter.
“Tell you what, Sis. Let’s just forget we had this conversation. We’ll be at the prison soon and I’d like to be happy to see Soren rather than punching him as soon as he steps through the gates. The deal is he may be staying at our house, but he’s off limits to you. Understand?”
What Nolan didn’t know was that I regretted the time I’d slept with Soren. He was right to say I’d been stupid to do so, and in the years since that incident, I’d dated Charley Holt who’d showed me what it felt like to be respected. It was too bad we’d parted ways for him to leave for college. Meanwhile, I was still finishing my senior year at Winter Ridge Prep after taking off for an extended absence after my parents died.
“Yeah, I understand.”
The rest of the trip to the prison was made without speaking, the radio and wind brushing against the car’s exterior the only sounds that filled the space between my pissed off brother and me.
I can’t say I was upset we weren’t talking. The last thing I needed was to spend half an hour getting lectured by my brother who acted more like my overbearing and protective father. But at the same time, I wasn’t happy to be left alone with my thoughts.
Teagan was still smiling in my head, her eyes still dead and cloudy, her body still strung up and displayed.
I never actually saw the body, but that’s how Tristan described her. He only knew based on what his brother had told him. The kids that found her had taken pictures to post on social media, but I never dared to look at them. They were taken down quickly, but nothing on the Internet really disappears.
Sighing, I stared straight ahead as we rounded another curve, my stomach revolting at the thought of seeing Soren again.
Would he still make me feel like butterflies were erupting in my stomach?
Or would Teagan’s beaming smile flash in my mind while Tristan’s whispered warnings played like a broken record in my head?
CHAPTER THREE
Olive
Pulette Pines Correction Center wasn’t exactly what one would picture when imagining a prison. While I was expecting large cement buildings and thick metal barred gates slamming open and closed with the finality of life lived in the worst of circumstances, what I was met with looked more like a summer camp surrounded by tall chain link fences with razor wire rolled over the top.
After passing a large sign reminding drivers they were now entering state property, we weaved along a narrow two lane road past office facilities until reaching a batch of cottage type houses surrounded by acres of farmland and forests.
My confusion must have been written all over my face because Nolan laughed and explained, “I thought the same thing when I came to visit him a year ago. But this is minimum security, so they don’t have to live behind iron bars all the time. You should see the uniforms. It’s more like a pair of khakis with a regular t-shirt.”
Scanning the groups of men walking in orderly fashion out to a field in the distance, I couldn’t believe the sight.
“Aren’t they worried someone will escape?”
“And do what?” Pulling into a parking space, he asked, “Commit more white-collar crimes?”
Nolan flashed me a grin, his handsome face framed with sun-streaked golden brown hair, the shade a tad lighter than mine. Green eyes pinned me in place, the anger he’d felt while driving gone now that we’d arrived.
“Soren had a damn good lawyer, Olly. He should have done another five years at a prison much worse than this, but because it was his first time and his family had money, his sentence was more like a vacation away than hard time.”
I blinked at the realization that the justice system in this state, or hell maybe even the entire country, was different depending on how much leniency you could afford.
“Come on, we need to get up to the gate. Soren said they would be letting him out around ten this morning. I’m sure they’re processing him now.”