Read Online Shattered by Dani Pettrey - Free Book Online Page B

times.”
    “Why?” Piper asked. As the rest settled around the room, she dropped her purse and a package she had brought for Reef onto the table next to the sad excuse for a tabletop Christmas tree.
    “So Reef doesn’t try anything stupid.”
    “I’d say you killed any chance of that with your little flight-risk speech.” She still couldn’t believe he’d done that. Killed any chance of Reef being able to stay at home until the whole mess got sorted out. If her brother had to spend Christmas in this cold place . . . Heat flared in her again, despite the chilly temperature of the room.
    “What are you saying?” Landon sat on the edge of the table, hardly an inch from where she stood.
    She tried to ignore how his presence made her heart race. Frustration. It’s all out of frustration .
    “Please don’t tell me you were hoping he would run, Piper.”
    “Of course not, you big buffoon. Reef would never do that to us.” She glanced again at the Christmas tree atop the table by Landon’s elbow. Its drooping branches suggested underwatering, and the lack of light in the windowless room didn’t help matters. If someone didn’t show it a little love, it’d end up looking like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree before the week was out.
    “Piper, I couldn’t lie.”
    “I wouldn’t want you to. I just can’t believe you really think he’d run. . . .” Reef wouldn’t do that to them.
    “He’s done it before.”
    “Leaving Yancey, yes. Not running from the law. There’s a distinction.”
    “I was trying to protect your family.”
    “Protect us? How?”
    Cole leaned forward from his seat across the table. “Piper, I—”
    Landon put up his hand. “It’s okay, Cole. I can handle this. Piper, if you vouched for Reef and he ran, you’d lose everything.”
    “I keep telling you, he wouldn’t do that to us, wouldn’t take off and leave us holding the bag.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Of course.”
    “You sound sure, but your jaw just tightened.” His finger brushed her skin, and she tried to ignore how good his touch felt.
    “So?”
    “So, that’s what you do when you’re conflicted.”
    “You think you know me so well . . .” she said, diverting the subject. She wouldn’t admit for even one instant that she’d hesitated. Reef had been irresponsible in the past but not with something this significant. Not with something that could cost them everything if he took off.
    “I do.” Landon stood, his face now a breath from hers. “ Know you.”
    She swallowed, waiting for a retort to form, but the door opened, and Thoreau led Reef in handcuffed.
    “Remove the cuffs,” Landon instructed Thoreau.
    “But Slidell said—”
    “You can tell him to blame me if anything goes wrong.”
    Thoreau shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll be right outside the door.”
    Landon nodded.
    Piper wrapped her arms around Reef. “We’ll get this straightened out. I won’t let you go to jail for a crime you didn’t commit.”
    Reef smiled, but it was tight, forced. “It’s not looking so good.”
    She braced her hands on his shoulders, looking him square in the eye. “We’re going to get you out of here. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
    “The judge obviously doesn’t see it that way. What if the jurors don’t either?”
    “They will.” They have to . “What did Harland say?”
    “That it doesn’t look good.”
    “But he believes you?”
    Reef rubbed his hands together. “I guess so. We didn’t have much time before the arraignment. He said to visit with my family and then he and I will have a long talk.”
    She looked at Cole. “I don’t want someone who thinks my brother is capable of murder representing him.”
    “You don’t know what Harland thinks, Piper.” Cole stepped over to rub her shoulders. “Let him and Reef chat, and I’ll talk with him afterward, see exactly where he stands.”
    Thoreau tapped on the glass. “Slidell said five minutes.”
    “That’s all we get?”