Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
“We agreed she wouldn’t get a phone for another four years—at least,” Alex plowed on. “What’s the fucking point of us setting boundaries if you’re going to trample them for every stupid, insecure thought that—”
“Get serious, guys!” Micah dropped his grin fast. “I didn’t get her the phone because of some damn cupcakes. I only said that because she was in the room. I got it for her because two women have been murdered in our daughter’s home in the last two weeks! I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I do know I feel a lot safer knowing that Lily can reach us and we can reach her in case of an emergency.”
The wind blew out of Rhodes’s and Alex’s rants like a popped balloon.
Alex slumped in his armchair, scrubbing his face. “Fuck, I wasn’t thinking of it like that but... you’re right. Things have gotten insane around here, and it doesn’t help that all the cops are gone,” he said, flinging out his arm. “They declared their case closed and cleared out, so if he or she really wasn’t caught—”
“She wasn’t,” I stressed. “Courtney did not kill my mother. I’m as sure of that as I’m sure Lily didn’t commit the murder. Courtney just didn’t do it. The end.”
“If you’re sure,” he agreed, but he sounded hesitant. “But that means not only did they arrest the wrong person, the true killer is still running around free. Now is a good time for Lily to have a cellphone.”
I could feel how much the four of us hated it, making Lily grow up faster because of the dangers in the world, but that’s just where we were now. How could any one of us feel safe when evil entered our home and walked right up the stairs?
“But, sorry, Sue, I’ve got to ask.” Rhodes eyed the television. I was running at armed cops for the eightieth time. “Why are you so sure this woman didn’t kill Omma? You barely know her. Plus, if what they said was true, your mother wrecked her relationship with her parents and robbed her of millions. People tend to get pretty murderous over things like that.”
I was shaking my head the whole way through. “I do know her. Courtney was my best friend from middle school and all through high school. I never told you about her because she’s ten times prettier than me, and you never bring your hot best friend around your three hot husbands. That’s tempting fate in the worst way.”
All three of them rolled their eyes at me.
“Now who needs to stop saying stupid things,” Micah muttered. “But that does sound like some shit you’d do.” Getting up, Micah came over and sat next to me, drawing my head down on his lap. My eyes fluttered shut as he softly rubbed my temples. “What now? Alex is right, the cops are done with their investigation. They’ve got means, motive, and opportunity. How will you get them to believe someone else killed your mother?”
“They didn’t find a blood-soaked dress.”
“That’s a detail,” Rhodes said gently. “A bloody knife in her bag is fact.”
I blew out a hard breath, frustration strangling me. I knew there wasn’t any point in them filling my head with fantasies, but right then, I needed someone to say Detective Balogun would call in ten seconds, apologizing for arresting the wrong best friend and announcing she caught, arrested, and was already giving the lethal injection to the real killer.
I waited—counting the seconds to ten... but no call came.
Fine, I thought, sitting up. If that’s how she wants to play it.
“I have no choice,” I rasped. “I told her to find the killer. I wanted her to find the killer. But she bungled it like the lazy dumbass everyone called her and her partner. She’s left me no choice.”
“Uhh, excuse me?” Alex drew out. “What does that mean?”
Red descended on my vision—exploding the white-hot heat of the bursting pit within my soul. “It means I’m going to find that fucker. I’m going to make him confess, and I am going to get Courtney out of jail and back with her daughter. And when I’m done,” I forced through clenched and cracking teeth, “Balogun can have whatever’s left of him.”
The three of them traded looks.
“Sue?” Rhodes knelt in front of me. “I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now. You want justice for your mother, and she deserves that, but you have to know that you can’t go charging after a violent, psychopathic killer. It’s too dangerous. Plus, where would you even start?”
The hard set to my chin didn’t go away. “I’ll start in the same place the detectives did—with the nine other people who were in the ballroom this morning.”
“I was kinda hoping you’d say six,” Micah deadpanned, pointing to himself and his fellow husbands. “Because we sure as fuck didn’t do it.”