CHAPTER 85: GUESS TRAUMA MAKES ODD FRIENDSHIPS

My stomach twisted. The walls looked the same, the flickering light over the front entrance still hadn’t been fixed. A part of me wanted to stay in the car, but Dominic was already getting out.

"You good?" he asked.

My palms were already sweating.

I nodded once. Not convincingly. "Yeah. Just... weird being back."

"I understand, but we need to go see Alia." He pushed the door open for me.

We walked in together. Immediately the glass doors slid open, a voice from behind made me flinch. "Ash!"

I turned to see who it was. It was June. She and Ian were just stepping out of their car, rushing across the lot to catch up.

I blinked. June... with Ian?

I gave him a Dom side glance, still stunned. "How did this happen? She literally hates him."

Dominic chuckled, clearly catching my confusion. "Oh... he probably gave her a ride, since she couldn’t find Ren."

Still, I stared as they walked side by side. She was saying something to him, and he kept nodding along like he was listening to her.

I couldn’t help whispering to Dom again, "Since when do they talk like that?"

Dom smirked and raised his brows. "Guess trauma makes odd friendships."

Instead, I just nodded. "Hi, June. Hi, Ian. Thanks for coming."

June smiled softly. Ian gave a short nod.

We all entered the station together.

The moment my shoes hit the tiled floor, I heard someone call out from the front desk.

"Rivera?" she asked, standing.

"Yeah," I said, forcing my voice to work. "I got a call. About my sister.... Alia Rivera."

She nodded and called over her shoulder. "Harris!"

I froze.

A door creaked open, and out came Detective Harris, the same man who interrogated me last week.

He stopped mid-step, eyeing me. "Well, well. I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon."

Dominic shifted closer beside me. Trying to be protective.

Harris didn’t look mad. Just surprised. "You’re here for the little girl, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. She’s my sister."

He motioned with his hand. "Come on. She’s in the back room. Been a bit shaken, but unharmed."

I followed him, my legs felt a bit stiff. Dominic walked beside me, and I could hear June and Ian still whispering behind us.

And then, as Harris opened a side door, I saw her.

Alia.

Sitting on a bench, wrapped in a blanket, her little feet kept swinging above the floor. Her hair was messy, damp in places. She looked up.... and the second her eyes found mine, she stood.

"ASH!"

She ran straight at me.

I caught her in my arms, bending to my knees as she threw herself into me, clutching my neck with both arms.

She was crying. Talking too fast for me to follow.

"I didn’t know where I was.... I was playing in the hallway, then someone held my hand...but it wasn’t a nurse, it wasn’t...and it was raining, and I think I fell and then the man tried to take me away. Then, another man punched him."

"Shh," I whispered, holding her tighter. "You’re okay. I got you."

"I was scared," she sobbed into my neck.

"I know, baby. I know. It’s over now."

I held her like that for what felt like forever.

One of the officers leaned toward Harris. "She’s been saying some stuff that’s kinda weird keeps insisting someone tried to take her, but we figure she just wandered off and got scared in the storm.

My grip on her tightened. No way this was just her imagination.

Because Alia never makes things up. Well, she does, sometimes.

But right now, she looked scared. She meant every word.

Someone tried to take her. And someone else stopped it.

"Someone tried to take her?" June’s voice echoed. She crouched beside us, pulling Alia into her arms. "What the hell?" she mutterred, brushing a hand down Alia’s soaked hair.

"Who the hell would try to take a kid from a hospital?" Ian asked, stepping closer.

I glanced up at him.....of all people. Ian Han. My biggest bully. And yet here he was, standing just behind me like he actually cared. That’s shocking.

Dominic’s hand landed on my back. "She’s safe now. That’s all that matters," he said quietly, but the way he looked at me... there was something deeper in his eyes. Like a silent promise: I won’t let anything happen to either of you.

I pulled back gently. "Alia, the man who helped you... did he say anything?"

She nodded, wiping her nose. "He had a leather jacket. He said, ’kid, you’re lucky I’m here."

I turned to Harris. "Can I talk to the guy who brought her in?"

He nodded and pointed down the hall. "He’s filling out a statement in Interview Room B. Said he didn’t want any credit, just made sure the girl got here safe and sees her family."

I stood and handed Alia carefully to June.

"I got her," June said gently, as Dominic stepped in too.

"Can I come along," Dom asked.

I saw Ian and June give each other weird glanced.

"I’ve got this." I nodded, as I followed officer Harris, as he led the way.

I didn’t know what I was expecting. Some stranger. A dad maybe. A Good Samaritan, cos right now, he’s literally my savior.

The figure sat casually in the small interview room, wearing a leather, tapping the edge of a coffee cup on the metal table. He looked young, maybe early thirties. Black jeans, black boots. A silver ring on his index finger.

He looked up.

And I froze.

Mr. Blake.

The new teacher at school.

The one who always wore that leather jacket. The one who never quite acted like a teacher.

The same teacher that gave me detention on this week.

"Ash Rivera?" he said, standing and offering a hand.

I shook his hand slowly. "You brought her here?"

He nodded. "I found her near the edge of Rosewood Park. She was crying, it’s a long story but I’m glad she’s okay."

I stared at him. "Thank you. Seriously. I don’t even know how to...."

"Don’t worry about it," he glanced around the room, then leaned a little closer. "You need to be careful."

I blinked. "What?"

He lowered his voice. "There are people around you... people watching. I don’t know what you’re mixed up in, but getting too close to it.... asking the wrong questions, it could put people you love in danger."

My heart skipped. "What are you talking about?"

He was about to answer, when his phone buzzed.

"Excuse me," he said, stepping aside and lifting the phone to his ear. He turned his back to me as he answered.

"Yeah?"

I took a slow breath, trying to process everything he’d just said.

But something pulled at my attention.

My eyes dropped to his arm....the one holding the phone up.

And just as he shifted, the sleeve of his leather jacket slipped down slightly.

I froze.

There it was. That same serpent coiled tattoo.

The exact one I’d seen on the man who attacked Liam. The same one Scarface had. The same one Baldy had. The same one burned into my nightmares.

And now it was on him. On my teacher.

I took a step back.

Everything inside me went cold again.

He was one of them.

My stomach twisted.

He was still talking on the phone, unaware.

Still turned away.

Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure who the good guys were anymore.