The Billionaire's New Year Gift. Emma Darcy

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ it up off the bedside table and looked at the caller ID.

      Julie.

      The digital clock on P.J.’s side of the bed read 4:43 a.m.

      “Damn,” he muttered, pressing talk and getting out of bed as quietly as he could. “This had better be important,” he whispered, moving toward the hallway.

      “Alex,” Julie cried. “I’ve…I’ve been arrested!”

      “What? Why?”

      “I didn’t do anything, but they won’t listen to me. They hauled me down here to the police station just like a common criminal!”

      “Calm down. Why were you arrested?”

      “It was a drug raid. I—I was at Sandpipers and some of the kids were doing coke and stuff.”

      “Jesus, Julie.” Alex pushed his hair back from his forehead in frustration.

      “Well, I wasn’t part of it. I was just there. They had no right to arrest me! Oh, God, I don’t want Mom and Dad to know. Can you come?”

      He sighed. “Yes, I’ll come. Where, exactly, are you?”

      After she told him, he said, “It’ll be an hour, hour and a half before I get there.”

      “Okay,” she said in a small voice. “Thank you, Alex.”

      By the time Alex had dressed and gathered his stuff, P.J. was stirring.

      “You leaving already?” she said sleepily, sitting up in bed.

      “I have to.” He walked around to her side of the bed, leaned down, and kissed her. “I probably won’t get back before noon.”

      Her brow furrowed. “Is something wrong?”

      “I just got a call from my sister. I’ve got to drive to Seattle and bail her out of jail.”

      P.J.’s eyes widened. “What happened?”

      “It was a drug bust at a club. Look, I’ve got to get going. I’ll call you later, okay?”

      She nodded. “Be careful driving.”

      He made it to the precinct where Julie was being held in record time, but even so, it was almost six-thirty before he walked in. It took another thirty minutes before he was allowed to see her.

      She sat on a bench in a holding cell, along with a dozen other young people. Alex gritted his teeth when he recognized the infamous Penn, who sat with his head in his hands. He looked up when Alex and the duty cop approached. Alex nodded in the boy’s direction, even as he wished he could pound some sense into him and the others. He did notice that the beautiful Phoebe wasn’t part of the group. So, obviously, she was smarter than Julie.

      “Alex,” Julie said, getting up and coming toward him. Her mascara was smudged, her blouse wrinkled and dirty, her face pale and exhausted-looking. A lone tear rolled down her face as her blue eyes met Alex’s.

      Alex reached through the bars and took her hand. The duty cop unlocked the cell and let Julie out.

      “Fifteen minutes,” he barked after taking them to a small, windowless room with a table and several chairs. “Then she’s gotta go back till bail is set.”

      “When will that be?” Alex asked.

      The cop made a show of looking up at the large, ugly wall clock. “Lemme see, it’s seven-ten. Judge Winkle won’t be in chambers till nine. So that means at least two hours, prob’ly more.”

      “Two more hours!” Julie said.

      “Yeah, cutie. It’s no fun here, is it?” With that the cop left them.

      “Alex,” she cried, the tears starting in earnest now.

      He let her cry for a while. Just held her in his arms and rubbed her back and made comforting sounds. When she finally stopped, he handed her a clean handkerchief. “Sit down, Julie. Tell me what happened.”

      “I told you. We were just at Sandpipers and—”

      “Who’s we?”

      “Me, Bits, Crystal, Logan, Phoebe—”

      “Phoebe? I didn’t see her back there,” Alex said, interrupting her again.

      Julie rolled her eyes. “She ran. The cops didn’t see her, I guess.”

      “Who else was there?”

      “Russ, Terri, and Penn. You met some of them at my birthday party.”

      “Penn’s the one who was busted before for drugs. The one your dad was worried about. The one I told you to stay away from.”

      She hung her head. “Yes.”

      Alex sighed. “Hell, Julie, when are you ever going to learn?”

      “But I wasn’t doing anything. I was just there. It’s so not fair. Couldn’t they give me some kind of test or something? Did they have to arrest me?”

      “Haven’t you ever heard that old saying that you’re known by the company you keep?”

      The tears began again. “Daddy’s going to kill me.”

      “He should, but I doubt he will.”

      “I don’t want him to know. Please don’t tell him. You won’t, will you?”

      “On one condition.”

      Her eyes, so big, so blue, so frightened, perpetuated the myth that she really was as naive and sweet as she appeared to be. But Alex knew better. Sure he loved her. And yes, he wanted to protect her, especially from her own bad judgment, but she was already too wise in the ways of the world and far too sophisticated and indulged for her own good. Right then he was torn between feeling sorry for her and wanting to turn her over his knee and give her the spanking she should have had many years ago.

      “What’s the condition?” she asked.

      “You have to promise me nothing like this will ever happen again.”

      “It won’t! I promise.”

      “Because if it does…” He paused to let his next words sink in. “I’m not going to come to the rescue.”

      She nodded solemnly. “I understand.”

      “I hope so.”

      A few minutes later, the same duty cop came back. He opened the door without knocking, said, “Time to go, Missy.” His pale eyes met Alex’s gaze. “You can wait out front.”

      It was almost ten o’clock before bail was set. By then Alex had drunk half a dozen cups of bad coffee and had a whale of a headache. The only good thing СКАЧАТЬ