You Distract Me

Good Cop, Bad Cop

His lips twitched, but what was supposed to be a smile ended up being a grimace, the scars adorning his face hindering him. My heart broke into a million pieces.

"Anne of Green Gables," he said, flipping the book so I could see the typewriter-style title on the cover.

"Anne of Green Gables?" I frowned. "I thought you were reading some kind of Pig Latin autobiography. You've been on the first page ever since I first saw you reading it."

His eyes smiled softly, the slightest hint of sadness there. "Yeah, well, dyslexia does that to you."

Punch to the gut.

I facepalmed myself, floods of guilt assaulting me. How could I not have noticed? The way his eyes jumped around the page instead of side to side. His constant squinting, as though he was trying to focus.

"I'm so sorry, Byron," I said, completely embarrassed.

He chuckled nonetheless, acceptance brightening his eyes. "It's nothing to worry about, miss. It was an honest mistake, you wouldn't have known."

"Really, you're not upset?" I asked, wringing my hands together.

"Not at all—" He was interrupted by a frantic knock at the door. He immediately pushed off the sofa and went to open in.

In the next second Freya was pushing past Byron. Without a word, she went straight for the remote on the coffee table and aimed it at the TV.

I was just about to ask her what was happening when the late night news came on. The impeccably-dressed reporters—a man and a woman—sat behind the platform that had their network engraved into it.

"—come to you live with breaking news. CEO of Reyvox Records, Shayne West, is being arrested under suspicion of money laundering with connections to human and drug trafficking. LAPD managed to track her down to a mall parking lot where they're attempting to subdue her. Gaven Mann at the scene... "

The screen slid to an on-the-scene reporter, his hair flying about due to the commotion from the chopper's blades. "Thank you, Owen," he shouted into his microphone. "I'm out here at the mall while we wait for LAPD to take Shayne West into custody. She seems to comply—"

I zoned out on the reporter's words as he moved aside.

Shayne. The camera zoomed in as she slowly stepped back towards the police officer firing out words at her.  Her tattooed hands were in the air. Her demeanor appeared relaxed and not at all panicky.

She lowered herself to her knees while the police officer brought her hands down and slapped on the handcuffs. When she stood and turned, her face was in view of the camera.

My heart did a sickening somersault.

Her face was blank and devoid of any emotion, except for that perfect jaw that was clenched impossibly hard. Her absolutely gorgeous eyes gave nothing away either.

She looked diabolically unfeeling, and yet I still wanted to hold her against me and feel her strong arms wrap around me.

A sob threatened to make its way up my throat just as the screen slid back to the two reporters.

Freya turned to me, "Don't worry, sweetie. I'm sure it'll all solve itself, don't ya worry."

I simply nodded, avoiding Byron's perceptive eyes. "Excuse me."

When I went back into the bedroom, I barely got half way to the bed before my knees gave way and my body dropped to the floor with crushing despair. I sat on my calves as the shock hit me.