The Criminal and The Vigilante (boyxboy) Bk 3

Chapter 20: For the lives of the innocent.

Chapter 20

The file jacket fell through my fingers and landed with a dull thud onto the work desk when the door opened suddenly and Adrian stepped in.

“Everything alright?” he asked looking concerned which I assumed was because of my shaky expression.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I thought of the implications arising if he were to find out about the evidence.

“Yeah, I’m fine, what’s up?” I questioned as calmly as I could manage, then I stepped in front of the desk to block the folder form sight.

He looked me over with a raised eyebrow but otherwise let it go.

“I’m going to see Marcus, I was just wondering if you wanted to come along.” He said and I answered with a quick nod, knowing that I was doing a poor job of acting normal but unable to do much about that.

“Alright let’s get going then, Scottie’s already there and he said he’s awake and talking.” Adrian explained and not a minute later we were exiting my study and heading out of the house.

When we arrived at the hospital, the atmosphere was tense at best. Marcus still lay helpless in bed as expected but he wasn’t as pale as he had been the night before. Scottie was gripping his hand firmly as if afraid that if he let go his brother would float away but Marcus didn’t seem to mind.

He greeted Adrian with a half smile when he entered the room and only appraised me with a bored expression which was a hell of a lot better that the way he usually looked at me.

“How’re you feeling?” Adrian questioned, going to stop beside Scottie but not moving to touch Marcus.

“Like I was run over by a Mac truck.” He answered, surprising me with his attempt at humor.

Adrian didn’t smile, if anything his expression remained the same but I could see the concern in his eyes as he spoke.

“Did you see the guy who did this? Can you tell me what he said?” he asked and Marcus shook his head slightly.

“No I’ve been trying all morning to recall but I can’t, I just remember walking toward my car, the lot was deserted, I heard a noise and turn around, I’m pretty sure it was a male but I only remember the figure…it was dark.” He finished his mood turning sour in light of his inability to be of much assistance and Adrian and I watched as Scottie reached up to run a hand through Marcus’ hair; to soothe him I guessed.

“That’s fine we’ve got a guy on it, a kid fessed up to accepting money from a guy in return for giving him updates on where you were at all times. We’ll find him.” Adrian assured and Marcus nodded. His expression grim.

“There is one thing…” he spoke softly and when he trailed off without continuing and my brows furrowed.

“What?” Scottie asked and Marcus glanced over at him.

“Screaming…I heard someone screaming.” He said and I drifted closer.

“Screaming?” Adrian questioned, “like a woman? Like maybe someone saw and was calling for help?” he asked but Marcus shook his head.

“No, a man; a boy, I don’t know,” he shook his head as if to clear it then went on “but he was screaming things, he sounded like he was in pain, he was saying ‘something’s wrong’ over and over again, then it was like he was begging someone he kept saying ‘please’.” He said, a bulging vein throbbing in his forehead.

I looked at Adrian.

“So a boy was screaming, was this before or after you were shot?” he asked, looking even more serious than he had been when he’d entered the room earlier.