Page 49 of Wicked Games

I can’t defend her because I don’t know what her motives were. “Yeah, they were pissed off at her, but not because of Theo. She testified against Titus Jenkins and her testimony put him in prison. The detective handling her case thinks it’s revenge.”

“No. It’s more than that because Theo’s involved. Maybe she was working with the Reapers to make up for testifying.”

“That’s ridiculous. She never would have done something like that.”

He scoffs. “What did she see that made her a witness?”

“Sex workers in Ashfield were disappearing and she was investigating, trying to figure out why. It turns out Jenkins was raping them and then killing them. He said he owned that part of the city and he wanted people to know it. She was on Covington Street when she saw him take one of the women and she followed him. He spotted her and almost killed her, but she and the woman managed to get away. The cops picked him up a few weeks later.”

“That was brave.” He scrubs a hand over his face.

“That was Hattie. I have a really hard time believing she would have hurt your son.”

“You might have a hard time believing it, but that doesn’t make it any less true. She was there and didn’t stop it. She didn’t fucking stop it, Avery. She sat there drinking coffee while she watched them shove Theo into a van. What the fuck do you think?”

“I don’t know!” I say, my voice rising to match his. “Were Brooke and Hattie friends?”

“Don’t you dare bring Brooke into this.”

In a gesture of surrender, I lift my hands, my palms facing him. “Okay. I’m sorry. I’ll go.” I get up off the couch and step across the room, pushing back tears. It all went as I expected it would go.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to go back to the city and talk to Detective Mueller. I need to show him the post she trashed and tell him you know that she was at the park that day. Then, I don’t know what. She knew to be there, but I don’t know how. Someone was giving her information. One of her sources, or someone approached her, thinking she’d pay. But someone also told his kidnappers where the tracker was in that bag.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t your sister?”

“No, I’m not sure, but that doesn’t change the fact that someone on your side was leaking information. Who do you know that would have wanted to use Theo like that? They got away with five million dollars. What did they want with it? You said Detective LaSalle thought Theo’s death was an accident, so it’s all about the money, right? Hattie was there and she didn’t stop it. She might have been working with someone you know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I’m a part of this. I’ll give the cops my full cooperation.”

He looks at me, his face a mask, sparks of anger shooting from his eyes.

I’m still wet and I can still smell him on my skin.

“Thank you for this week. You made me feel something that I haven’t felt in years, and that means a lot to me. That you could see me as a person to spend time with and talk to, not just a— Well, you already know how Darren treated me. So, thank you.”

I turn and walk out of the room, through the kitchen, and out onto the patio. The sun’s setting and the crickets are chirping. The grass brushes my ankles, but I won’t have to mow after all.

My junk’s everywhere and the fridge is full of food. Kelly’s going to charge me for having to clean this house, but it can’t be helped. I pick up what I see in the kitchen and trot up the stairs. My clothes are put away and I start pulling panties out of the dresser. It’s going to take me an hour or more to pack and I swear under my breath. It’s easier to be angry than sad.

Holding a fistful of panties, I sink to the floor and sit.

My cell phone chimes in the dark, but I don’t answer.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Seth

Iwatch her go, my body shaking. I bring our glasses to the kitchen and dump the rest of the wine in the sink.

I’m not angry, not really. Well, I am, but not at Avery. I believed Violet when she said she didn’t think Avery was involved because her reasons made sense. She only is now because Hattie turned out to be her sister instead of a friend, but that doesn’t change much. Avery was caught up in her troubles with Darren and Hattie wouldn’t have told her something like that anyway. The fewer people who know a secret the better that secret can be kept.

I miss her already and I lean tiredly against the counter. She’ll go back to Ashfield where Darren’s obsessed with what he lost, and he won’t leave her alone because he knows what a terrible mistake he made. She might fight him off, she might not. Whatever Hattie was mixed up in is going to blow up and she won’t want to deal with that alone.

Fuck.

I pick up my phone to call Violet but put it down again. What would she say? Go after her? She was never part of this so why am I standing here like an asshole? And she wasn’t keeping anything from me because she didn’t know for sure Hattie was at the park that morning and she didn’t know Theo’s and Hattie’s deaths were linked until today. Would Violet tell me to stay away from her? Being together could create a conflict of interest and I can hear LaSalle asking, “How did you two end up renting houses next to each other in a town four hours from Ashfield?” Lakehaven Falls is a tourist trap and these houses are booked out far in advance. I got lucky and the family who was going to rent this house had to cancel because one of their daughters caught mono from her boyfriend. I’m willing to bet a lot of money that Avery and Darren had rented that house months ago, maybe even last year, planning a summer vacation. No, it was just by chance we ended up here together, and I knew the minute I saw her that I’d want more.

I should have left that day. I wasn’t ready and I’m still not, but I already can’t live without her and this situation isn’t going to turn out well for anyone. I love her and maybe she loves me, but that doesn’t mean we’ll get through this once all the chips have fallen.