The police interview room was cold, and the fluorescent lights hummed above us as the custody sergeant finished reading Daniel his rights. He sat there with that smug look, like he’d already won some game I didn’t know we were playing. I’d been called in as his appropriate adult, but from the moment I walked through the door, something felt wrong. “Sam, you don’t have to stay,” Daniel said, leaning back in his chair.
“I’ve got this. ”
“You clearly haven’t got anything,” I snapped back. “What were you thinking, getting into a fight with Adam? ”
He shrugged, like a night in a police cell was nothing.
“He deserved it. ”
“Deserved it? You nearly ended up in a hospital bed, Daniel. And instead of being grateful that Roy was there looking after you, you’re acting like this is all some big joke.
”
The custody sergeant, a woman with tired eyes and a stack of paperwork, tried to explain things clearly. But Daniel just rolled his eyes at her. “You gabbled through it like you were commentating on a horse race,” he muttered. “If this continues, I’m going to have to reschedule this interview,” she warned.
“That’s fine with me. ”
I shook my head. “After everything you’ve put everyone through? You need all the help you can get, and you’re just throwing it back in their faces.
”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I found the phone in a skip. I sold it. That’s why my fingerprints were all over it,” Daniel said. “The phone that connects to the murder investigation.
”
“And you think anyone’s going to believe that? ”
“No, but they can’t prove otherwise either. ”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You do not take my son without my permission,” I said, my voice low.
“If you let Adam try and take him again, you’ll regret it. ”
Daniel’s smirk flickered. “So, you’re threatening me now? In front of the police?
”
“You heard what I said. ”
The sergeant called the interview to a halt, telling us we could go. Daniel stood up slowly, brushing past me at the door. “Don’t say I never get you out of trouble,” he said, and walked out into the corridor.
I followed him, my mind racing. Sarah was outside waiting, her arms crossed. She looked past me to Daniel. “We need to talk,” she said.
“About what happened with Adam. ”
“I wasn’t going to let him near Hope,” Daniel said. “You know what he’s like. ”
“No, I don’t know what he’s like.
But I know you lied to me. You said you weren’t going to do anything stupid, and then you went and got yourself arrested. ”
“I didn’t get arrested for the fight. I got arrested because of that phone.
”
Sarah stared at him. “The phone that might have evidence about the murder? ”
“It was in a skip. I sold it.
That’s all. ”
“Why don’t I believe you? ”
“Because you don’t want to. But it’s the truth.
”
She turned to me. “Is it? Do you believe him? ”
I hesitated.
“No. Not about something that serious. ”
“Then what are we supposed to do? ” she asked, her voice trembling.
I looked at Daniel, who was already walking away toward the exit. “I don’t know. But I know we need to find out what he’s really hiding before someone else ends up hurt. ”
Sarah watched him go, then turned back to me.
“And what about you? What are you hiding? ”
The question hit me harder than I expected. I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out.
She was still staring at me when the station doors swung shut behind Daniel, and I realized I didn’t have an answer that didn’t make everything worse.
