Mrs. Roman's voice carried down the hallway to Zay's office and he frowned. He had no idea who had incurred her wrath but he was glad it wasn't him. The door burst open and two men stepped into the room. Both wore suits and looked stern and unapproachable.

"Zayden Walker?" one of the men asked.

He frowned at the men and rose slowly from his seat. "Yes, I'm sorry I'm with someone can you wait a few minutes?" He gestured to the boy who sat in front of his desk.

"No, we can't wait. I'm detective Ferrel with the auto theft task force, this is my partner Detective Blaine. Mr. Walker, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent ..."

"Wait, under arrest? For what? This is a mistake!" he protested as the officer stalked over, grabbed his arm, and placed him in cuffs.

"Don't say a word, Zayden, I'll call a lawyer," Mrs. Roman shouted as they dragged him from his office.

"This is ridiculous, I haven't done anything! You can't arrest me!" he protested.

"We can, Mr. Walker. You see, someone tipped us off to your little operation," Ferral told him smugly.

"Operation? I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"In the car, Mr. Walker." The detective placed a hand on his head and shoved him down into the car before he slammed the door shut.

He continued to protest all the way to the precinct, though the two detectives didn't respond. Not until they had him in an interrogation room.

"Can you please explain to me why I am under arrest?" While he wanted explanations, the thing he wanted most was to call Seth and have him here for support.

Detective Ferrel placed a large manila envelope on the table between them. "A kid dropped this off earlier today. He said some guy paid him fifty bucks to bring it here. He's been questioned but he can't identify the man. You have one chance to tell us where to find your associates and shut down the theft ring, if you don't want to roll on your partners well then, Mr. Walker you will be going to prison for a very long time."

"Excuse me?"

The detective opened the envelope and pulled a stack of photos from it and began placing them on the table in front of Zayden in a neat row. "Those look remarkably like you, Mr. Walker. Do you want to make this harder than it has to be? We all know you did it, so let's skip the protestations and just go right to the confession bit."

He swore his heart stopped beating the moment he looked down at the images spread before him. Most of the images were familiar, he recognized them as the ones Seth had taken on some of the nights he'd rode along with him. How had someone gotten them? Unless ... he cut that thought off refusing to acknowledge it. His eyes remained fixed on the pictures as he battled the urge to cry.

"Nothing to say now, Mr. Walker?" Ferrel asked him.

"I'm not saying a damn thing until my lawyer gets here. I don't know where you got those but I'm not a car thief."

"That's funny because the evidence says otherwise." The detective pulled a stack of papers from the envelope. "According to statements from several witnesses they saw this truck moments before this list of vehicles went missing." He placed a photo of the tow truck Seth routinely drove on the table and beside it a list of cars. "According to the company the truck was reported stolen six months ago. It would make it easier to grab cars with a tow truck, don't you agree?"

Zay remained silent. If he opened his mouth he'd lose what little composure he had left.

The detectives stared silently at him for several minutes. "If you aren't willing to help yourself then we can't help you." Ferrel tapped the stack of papers. "The tow company tells us along with the truck one of their tablets was taken. A tablet that would allow someone to falsify paperwork stating a vehicle was up for a legitimate tow in case someone confronted the person. Convenient, isn't it?"

The door to the room opened and an officer stuck her head into the room. "The boy's lawyer is here."

A man in an expensive suit pushed his way past the officer. "Detectives, I do hope you weren't harassing my client?"

"Your client has a mountain of evidence against him," Ferrel told him.

Zay's eyes went to Detective Blaine who stood back silently with a shoulder propped against the wall. The detective stared at him steadily until he finally looked away.

"If you'll give me a moment with Mr. Walker, gentlemen," the lawyer told the detectives.

The two detectives scooped up the envelope and its contents and left the room.

"Hello, Zayden, my name is Angelo Salazar and I'm your attorney."

"Did Mrs. Roman send you?"

"Indeed she did."

"I can't afford a lawyer," he told the man quietly.

"No worries, Mr. Harrison pays my fees."

"Josh Harrison?" He was a little surprised Josh would offer any assistance.

"No, his father. Now, tell me what's going on."

"They have an envelope full of evidence, pictures showing me hooking up cars to a tow truck and they have a list of cars that were stolen that coincide with the pictures."

"And?"

He looked down at the cuffs on his wrists. "I did it."

"I doubt that," Salazar replied.

He looked up at the lawyer. "Why?"

"Because I've spoken to Joshua and Alyssa and I know about Seth Bradford. Can I assume he is the source of the images in question?"

"Yes, I mean I think so. He took them with his phone and I can't see how anyone else could get their hands on them." He still didn't want to believe Seth had something to do with this.

"All right, let me see what I can do about getting you out of here. Do not say a word to those detectives."

"I can give them the yard where Seth takes the cars and some of the shops we dropped cars off at. Isn't that worth something?"

"Possibly, but let's not tip our hands until we're certain there's no way out of this. I'll be back in a moment."

Zay watched the lawyer exit the room. The moment the man was gone he let his head drop to rest in his hands. Seth cared for him, he'd never done anything that said otherwise. He couldn't have done this, could he? There was no reason for him to do this. The accusations West had made floated into his mind and he shoved them aside. There had to be another explanation. Maybe Seth lost his phone and someone else compiled that evidence. Darrel Kootz, Seth still spent some time with Darrel and the guys in the gang, maybe one of them did this. They weren't exactly happy that Seth wanted out, maybe this was their way of keeping him in. If they got him out of Seth's life they might believe that Seth would stay in the gang! That had to be it.

Time passed and still, he remained cuffed in the interrogation room. After several hours Mr. Salazar returned. "They aren't going to release you, they have that envelope of evidence and they're using it to hold you. Unless a judge sets bail at your hearing you'll remain here. I'm sorry, I tried my best to get them to release you."

"I have no record! I've never been in trouble before why in the hell would I suddenly become a car thief?"

"That is exactly the argument I proposed, however, they believe it has something to do with the fact you left your home and moved in with Seth."

"I take it they think Seth is the problem?"

"They didn't say as much, but they kept talking about how you ran away from home after an argument with your parents and moved in with some boy. Their words, not mine."

"So what, I have to stay here locked in some cell?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm going to prepare a case for your hearing but in light of the evidence, we should be prepared for it to go against us."

"Great, that's what I needed to hear." He slumped in his chair.

"Those detectives want to play hardball. They want a confession and quick conviction. Keep your lips sealed, do not answer any questions unless I'm here. I wouldn't put it past them to drag you back in here after I'm gone and try to play let's make a deal. A confession for a barely reduced sentence that they'll attempt to convince you is an awesome deal for them to offer you."

He nodded. Mr. Salazar left and the detectives returned and moved him to a holding cell. He laid down and stared at the ceiling. His thoughts were a chaotic whirlwind and he couldn't nail down a single one. He wanted to call Seth but he was afraid of what he might say.

***

Alyssa paced the living room, weaving around the furniture. "I can't believe this. Zayden is no thief!"

"We all know that, Lyssa," Josh told her, craning his neck around to follow her progress. "Come on, this has to be Seth's doing."

The front door opened and Weston came into the living room. "Well ... that was not the most fun I've had this week."

"What did they say?" Alyssa asked anxiously.

"Darrel hasn't seen Seth in months. He told me Seth walked away from the gang after he told Darrel to go fuck himself."

"Well, I suppose he told Zay the truth then," Josh said with a shrug. "He is getting out and trying to go straight."

"Yes, and no." West sighed and took a seat on one of the chairs by the couch. "Darrel said Seth left because he was tired of small-time shit. He told the guys he was big time and they were slowing him down or some bullshit like that."

"So he's out there planning something huge?" Alyssa asked as she skirted an end table.

"I'm guessing so. Whatever he's planning, he decided to get Zay out of his way before he dives in." West shrugged.

"He's probably already in, you can bet the car thefts are going to keep happening. With Zay in prison, they'll be looking at him and trying to find the connection so they can arrest his cohorts. They'll have shit luck since Zay has no underworld contacts," Josh told them.

"Except for Seth," Alyssa said with a snort.

"Yeah, but Seth has no record. They'll check him out I'm sure, but we know he's an exceptional actor. He'll be wounded by what he'll call Zay's betrayal and he'll make himself look as innocent as the Virgin Mary." West slumped slightly in his seat.

Josh fell over sideways on the couch with a groan. "I hate this! If Zay had only listened to us!"

West sighed. "It's too late for that." He looked up at them. "I need to go to the station. If I show them the picture I have and explain things, tell them about Seth, maybe I can get Zay out of there."

"Yeah maybe, or maybe you'll both end up stuck in there!" Alyssa snapped. "Getting yourself arrested will help nothing! Mr. Salazar will do everything he can to get Zayden out of there!"

West jumped up from his seat. "And in the meantime, we what ...? Sit here and do nothing while hoping the judge isn't going to throw the book at him?"

"It's all we can do!" Alyssa shouted.

Josh rolled off the couch and stood between them. "Arguing is going to get us nowhere."

Alyssa harrumphed, spun away, and moved her pacing to the face side of the room. The bell rang and West turned and stomped from the room.

"I'll get it," he muttered as he left. He returned a short time later with Mr. Salazar.

Josh sighed. "Thank God, what happened?"

"They have a mountain of evidence against Zayden, an entire envelope full of photos showing him hooking up stolen cars to a tow truck. I wasn't able to get them to release him. His bail hearing will be on Monday."

"He has to spend the entire weekend in jail?"

Mr. Salazar nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so, Alyssa."

"This isn't fair!" she wailed.

"Look, I'm going to do all I can to poke holes in their case. Zayden has never been in trouble before. I'm hoping the judge will consider that and set bail. It will help his case that he has a respectable job with the social services office."

"I'll put up the bail," Josh told him.

Mr. Salazar nodded. "All right. For the moment there isn't anything more we can do. You three stay out of trouble and stay away from Seth Bradford. We do this my way and hopefully, we can get Zayden out of there."

"Yes, sir." Josh followed him to the front door. "Thank you for this."

"Any time, Joshua. Call me if there's any trouble." They shook hands and the lawyer left.

Josh pressed his forehead to the door. Alyssa was going to be difficult until Zayden was set free. She was angry and he hoped he could keep her from marching over to Seth's place and beating him to a pulp.