Chapter 166

After trying and failing to keep up with me, Miles let me be. He definitely knew what Austin had been up to and he was helping him out. The second I got into the station, I was forced to think of my mum. I'd had to go and pick her up from there three times in the past. The first time she had slapped a customer at one of her previous jobs and the lady had reported her for assault, the second time had been when she had worked at a small supermarket, organizing the things, and when the manager refused to pay her because she rarely showed up to work, she went completely nuts and started destroying everything in sight, the most recent and last time had been about five months ago. I didn't like to think about that one,but it involved her being drunk as well as an affair with a married man who did not have the most forgiving wife. 

I stood in the middle of the floor and looked around, trying to see whether I'd be able to spot Austin anywhere. But I, and itmsde me wonder where they could have taken him. 

I knew how bad his relationship with his dad was, and I had known that if I went there with him and explained things on his behalf then his father wouldn't have been too harsh on him had he found out. But now he was going to be in even more trouble. And their relationship had slightly began to improve. They were still distant and didn't communicate but at least there were no unnecessary and endless arguments and fights. But because Austin thought he knew better than anyone, he had gone against our agreement and decided to shoulder the entire issue on his own. 

I took in a deep breath and after letting it out, I walked over to the officer at the desk where his backpack was. I was never going to be a fan of initiating conversations with strangers, so it took a lot for me to just master up the courage to go over there and talk to him. He looked up at me when I got there, his eyes flickering up and down my form with an overly uninterested expression. He was middle-aged with blonde hair and quite a nice physique, but his attitude was clearly one of his deficiencies. 

" You need something kid?" He asked with a plain note to his voice. Then he reached over and took a coffee mug from the desk's surface before taking a very long sip. He technically just slurped the beverage and it made me particularly dislike him even more. 

" Yeah. Could you please tell me where the owner of this backpack is?" 

He looked at the bag in question, then at me again and asked why I wanted to know. 

" I just need to find him, "

" Why?" 

" We were supposed to come and make a report but I ran a bit late. "

He made a grumbling sound, like he was tired or angry about something, then he looked around and started to shout to another officer at the very opposite end of the room. Raising his voice so that he could be heard. 

" Gibson, where'd the kid that was just here go?" 

" Which one?" 

" The one that was just here! Kept looking at us like he was planning revenge for something. "

" Oh...that one. I think he went out back with Granel, apparently he's got some Intel he wants to share. "

It was a good thing that Austin had listened to me and decided to report the matter, but he had gone at it the wrong way. I was sure he hadn't even say down to think about his actions, he just acted however he wished to. I was asked what I wanted to report, as well as a number of other things. Every question left me more confused and unaware than the last. They wouldn't even let me catch a breath. And it felt as if it was all on purpose for some reason. They had even made me sit down so that they could further mess with me. I literally considered shouting Austin's name until he heard me and came over to check. Those cops were of no help, they'd just ask me things that had nothing to do with Austin.

It was one of those cases where they believed they help all the power so they could keep me there waiting for as long as they wished to. 

Luckily though, another cop showed up and helped me out. He had been the one that somehow always ended up dealing with my mum, so he knew me to a very specific point. He had previously only ever seen me when I picked up my mum from there, so he assumed that was it, 

" What did she do this time around?" He asked when he got to where I was seated. 

" And why wasn't I informed? The little miss has a liking to me, " he added. I hoped he was joking because I always hated to hear those sorts of things concerning my mother. It's why I never wanted anyone at school to find out who my mother was. It would have been an awful experience, and I had always known that if anyone decided to dig in and discover details about her, things would have been really difficult for me. 

After some back and forth exchange of words with the cop where I proceeded to inform him that my mother wasn't the reason I was there, he was ready to help me. I had told him about Austin and the urgent report we had intended to make. And just like before I lied about us having to do it together and me being late. He volunteered to take me to where he believed Austin was, and the second I walked through that door I was able to spot him. He had been seated at a desk with another cop, writing down something on a sheet of paper. 

As if he could fell my presence around there, he instantly looked up, then his eyes widened in unhidden shock. How could he have thought that I wasn't going to figure out what he wanted to do when I had known him for so long. Despite how hard he tried to conceal things from me, in the end I was always going to end up with the total truth. 

He looked down at the paper in his hand, then at me again. I instantly saw the regret as it flooded into his eyes. It's just that I wasn't sure whether he was regretful of having tried to trick me or the fact that I had caught on to him. 

The cop that had helped me out led me there. 

" Granel, I have one more guest for you. "

The cop, Granel, looked at me, then he sighed and shook his head. I thought he had already had enough with everything Austin had told him and he couldn't believe that there was still more, but that wasn't the reason behind the sighing.

" You're that crazy lady's son, aren't you? Don't tell me she's back here again.." 

All that talk and thoughts about my mum reminded me that I had intended to call her yet again but had failed to do so. And I would have called her later on but currently I was in no mood to do anything. 

" He's with me, " Austin briefly explained. I didn't care what sort of guilty look he gave me or how many times he was going to apologize afterwards. I was going to give him an earful. 

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" So you also knew about the suspect's crime?" 

Twenty minutes later and we were still there. It's not even that we hadn't explained everything, it's just that the officer that was interrogating us kept asking the same questions over and over despite how many times we had replied to them already. I nodded in response to his question, then I asked him what we were supposed to do after that. I was just as lost as Austin. 

" You should really have reported this earlier. Friend or not, there are laws. You're also clearly old enough to understand them. "

The cop was talking to both of us, and that remark wasn't helping to ease my worries.

" What's gonna happen? Are we in trouble?" 

I couldn't help but ask. Austin had been about to do so as well but I decided to just go ahead. 

" I wouldn't exactly say you're in trouble. You might have delayed it, but the good things is that you decided to come forward with this. "

" And Chris? What will you do about him?" 

" You said he's messing around with you guys?" 

" That's right. "

" How exactly? I'll need every detail that you haven't given me already. "

Austin had been about to answer but I placed my hand on his thigh and took over. He hated explaining the same thing repeatedly. it made him cranky and he'd naturally just start speaking however he wished. So it was better if I did it, just like we had originally planned.