The Slot (Rochester Riot #1)(42)

“Fuck,” Cole said and looked at her closely. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I think we should go to the police station and see what’s going on.”

He frowned. “Are you sure? I can go if you’d rather avoid seeing him.”

Exhaling a long breath, she shook her head. “No. I’m done being afraid. I want to go.” She gave him a little grin. “Besides, it might feel good seeing him behind bars.”

He kissed her. “That’s my girl.”

They found Trevor in the downtown lockup about an hour later, sulking but relatively calm. The officers had informed them they’d be keeping him overnight on charges of public mischief. When he saw her and Cole, he squared his shoulders and turned away.

“Trey, you had to know this would happen. I tried to warn you, man.”

“What’s she doing here?” Trey muttered with his back turned.

“I’m the Community Relations Director for the Riot,” Eloise said. “It’s my job to protect the image of the team, its staff, and its property. If I’d had a choice, I wouldn’t have involved the police.”

“Yeah, well you did,” he growled, pivoting to face them, his hands clutching the vertical bars of the cell. He no longer cut the golden boy football star profile that Eloise had once known. At the moment, he just looked like an angry bull, frustrated and trapped, putting on a tough-guy face to mask his fear. In spite of what he’d done all those years ago, she felt sorry for him. Nothing saddened her more than wasted potential.

“I thought you were my friend,” Trey spat, jutting his chin at Cole.

“I thought you were mine,” Cole tossed back.

“In what way have I not been your friend?” he asked. “We had a lot of laughs together. You’re practically my business partner. How have I ever let you down? Just because you’re f*cking someone from my past?”

Cole waved his hand around the dingy holding area. “Like this!” he said. “You’ve created bad publicity for my team, my career, only thinking of your own interests. If Murphy’s bar goes down, guess what. He may have to make choices – to cut his payroll and sell off a few assets. Like me.”

“Aw, don’t bullshit me about choices,” Trey whined. “You had a choice to help us and take our issues seriously, but no. You stood by and let the * millionaire’s pet project steamroll right over us.”

Cole’s eyes narrowed. “I tried to help you by using my status as a professional athlete to advertise your establishment. So did Eloise. And what do you do? Stab my employer in the back. On top of that, I find out you’ve deeply hurt someone I care about, in ways you can’t even imagine.”

Trey genuinely looked at Eloise for what seemed like the first time in twelve years. “Like how? A little make-out session in the woods? Jesus, we were just kids. Young and stupid. You seem fine now, with your high-powered job. I’m stuck in this frozen two-horse town, struggling to keep my business alive. I’ve got alimony to pay. I’m nearly bankrupt. How was I to know we’d end up in the same town all these years later – that you two would meet? Give me a f*cking break.” Trey pushed away from the bars and walked to the back of the cell.

“You wanna know how you’ve hurt her?” Cole said, his voice rising. “You sexually assaulted her, and you don’t even remember it.”

Eloise grabbed his arm to interrupt him. He jerked his face toward her. She shook her head. “No, don’t.” Cole bit back his unfinished sentence.

“You don’t know me, or what happened after you moved away, Trevor,” Eloise said. “Or what kind of person I am today or what I had to do to get here, and I certainly didn’t know what became of you when you left without even a goodbye. It’s water under the bridge. But I can say that it’s made me stronger.”

Trey folded his arms and turned toward her, face ashen with regret. “The bridge,” he said. “What happened?”

“You really don’t remember?” she asked.

“No. I’d just found out that my parents were divorcing and we were moving, like right away. I wanted to get drunk, to not think about how everything was going to change.” He stared at her. “I remember drinking but… then I remember waking up in my bed in a puddle of puke. My parents were fighting and everything was shot to hell. Then I was in Wisconsin trying to build a new life.”

He really didn’t remember. She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She would have to think about that later because right now, she had work issues to sort out.

“I’m sorry for your problems,” Eloise said. “You think I don’t understand the little guy? I worked hard at school and was lucky enough to get this amazing job. But my dad worked fifty-hour work weeks bolting up steel pipe for thirty years to support our family; so I know about trying to make ends meet, get ahead, and build something you can be proud of. But what I can’t understand is how you could put Cole in such a position of having to either side with you or protect his career. A true friend wouldn’t do that.”

Trevor stood facing the wall. He seemed to have shut down and stopped listening altogether. After a few icy minutes of silence, Eloise shook her head and turned to Cole. He cast a dark glance into the lockup, then back to her. “Let’s go. He deserves a night in jail.”