"Please... please don't tell me..." I started, but Michael was nodding. He knew what I meant. "Please don't tell me it was... Barker." Michael kept nodding and I noticed he was crying. He was actually crying. "Why the hell would you do that?! Calum had nothing to do with that guy! That was my deal and my deal only."
"He did. Calum-"
"What did Calum do to him?"
"N-nothing. He was- he was trying to protect me. That's the whole point!"
"Why did he have to protect you?" I asked with a hint of a scoff in my tone. Michael could take care of himself. We all could.
"You know that Charlotte and I went there a few months ago when we were looking for you..." he began. I already felt guilt eating it's way through my body. Once again, all of this was my fault. As hard as I fight to protect my guys, it's always my careless personality that gets them into the most trouble. "He had the police all over his tail..."
"Yeah, I had to go down to the police station the other day. The chief wanted to know what I had on the guy..." I explained. I didn't want to tell Michael that, but it would be better to tell him now. Waiting until later would just make the matter worse. His eyes got wide but he wasn't accusing me of anything.
"W-well, Barker couldn't find me because I haven't been anywhere around there lately, but Calum had been. Calum practically lives over there... Anyway, he had some guys interrogating Calum and he was defending me, but called me down there because he needed some backup... Then Barker actually shows up, which was bullshit. You know he never does his own dirty work. But he came and he was going to kill Calum... and probably me too. I didn't have another choice. Once I- once I did it, all of his guys left. I don't think any of them went to the police though. You know they wouldn't show their faces around there. Especially now that they're all covered in blood."
"Where's Calum?" I asked.
"I- I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"He was freaking out. I'd never seen him like that. I tried to get him to come with me but he ran off. I've called him about fifty times since then, but he won't answer his phone."
"Ok, well we need to get out of here. Right now. Before the police start pulling through."
"What about Calum? We need to find Calum." Michael panted.
"We'll worry about Calum later. He didn't do anything to anyone so it's not like he's going to get arrested. He probably isn't anywhere near here anymore anyway. We need to get out of here unless you want to be arrested and sentenced with fifty years to life. We can't go to my place, though... the police department is going to think that I killed Barker. I was literally just at the station a couple months ago because of him."
"Then when are we going to go?" Michael panicked.
"Don't worry. There's a safe house about thirty miles from here. We'll just go there for now and figure something else out later. I'll call Calum when we get there and if he doesn't answer, I can go looking for him tomorrow morning, but you need to stay inside. Follow behind me. We'll take backroads. That way, we're not likely to run into any police officers. Let's get out of here." I grimaced, climbing into my car again. Charlotte's going to kill me...
When we got to the safe house, I felt sick. The last time I was here was with Louis just before Charlotte had been kidnapped. I never wanted to see this place again, but here I was. Michael was sat on a couch in front of a TV, but not watching it. I tried to call Calum several times, but he didn't answer. I wasn't even sure if he had his phone with him. The sun was already coming up. I didn't want to stay here and I didn't have to. I didn't kill Roger Barker. But I also knew that they'd suspect me. The authorities knew that I was familiar with Mr. Barker. I had clearly told them that the two of us weren't friendly. If they questioned me, it would be a lot harder to defend Michael. I'd stay here for at least a few days. But what about Charlotte... She'll call before the day is over, wanting to know where I am. Things had been relatively quiet lately. She'll freak out when she knows what happened. I sighed and joined Michael on the couch.
Chapter 38 ~Hide~
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