AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rhea throws her hands up like she doesn't give a damn what time it is, but she glances at her phone. "11:30."
"11:30?"
Shit.
I don't know what time we got back to the house, or when Claire ran from me. I'd been rereading the police reports Jack had sent when my eyes got heavy. The next thing I know, Rhea was beating my door down. "You said Elaine hasn't seen her since this morning?"
Rhea's eyes narrow on me. "She said you're the last person who saw her."
"Dammit." I grab my phone off the bed where it must have fallen from my hands and look at my last call to Jack.
3:30.
My heart hammers against my ribcage as I realize the gravity of the situation. Nobody has seen Claire in eight hours.
"Did you try calling her?"
"Of course, I tried calling her." Rhea snaps. "But whatever you did to her, she isn't answering. So, I'm going to ask you, one last time, and if you give me anything less than the truth, I will never talk to you again." Her chest heaves up and down as she gathers her thoughts. "Did you kill her?"
The question shocks me into gaping at her with my mouth open. "You really think I would do that?"
My fingers had itched to close around Claire's neck when I thought she'd been lying to me. I can’t blame Rhea for wondering if I had it in me to take her friend's life. Or, at least, I shouldn't blame her for thinking it. It certainly isn’t outside the realm of possibility. "That's not an answer, Remy."
"I didn't kill her." I sigh. "And I didn't fuck her. But I did fuck up."
"How?" She demands.
I pinch the bridge of my nose in a futile attempt to drive away the headache wedged between my brows. It feels like someone is driving an ice pick into my brain.
I’m not sure how much Rhea knows, so I’m not sure if I should tiptoe around the truth or hit her over the head with it. "I've had Jovich digging into her, and I had some questions about things that didn't make sense. I pushed her too hard."
"Well, she's not made of glass,” Rhea snaps, her eyes narrowed on me, “so what did you do?"
"I forced her to tell me things she didn't want to... things that I shouldn't have, about her past and that last foster family."
Her suspicion is tangible. "I'm not buying it. She doesn't like talking about her childhood, but it wouldn't make her run away without telling me. So, what am I missing, Remington?"
It hits me then that Rhea doesn't know what I do. She doesn't understand the depth of pain, the torture I've made Claire relive as I demanded she explain the violence from her past while threatening her with further violence. I've known I’m a piece of shit, but I didn't realize just how badly until this moment. As close as they are, Claire hasn't ever revealed that private piece of her past to my sister. And within three days of storming into her life, I bullied her into confessing it to me.
The pounding in my skull only grows worse. "Call Jovich and ask if he's seen her. Ask him for the security footage of the front door from 3:30 on." I push past her hard enough that it knocks her slightly off balance.
Rhea plants her hands on her hips and stares daggers after me. I can feel her anger radiating off my back, but I can't be worried about that right now.
I’m already down the stairs by the time her voice calls after me. "Where are you going?"
It’s a question I don’t know how to answer, so I don’t even try.
Elaine is waiting at the bottom of the steps, pacing back and forth. When she sees me, she straightens and positions herself firmly in my way. "Elaine." I tip my head in acknowledgement, expecting her to step aside. Instead, she lifts a hand and presses it firmly against my chest, stopping me in my tracks. I meet her eyes and am surprised at the anger in them.
"Where is she?" Elaine demands.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out." I say impatiently, trying to sidestep her.
"Remington," her voice carries a warning that I've never heard from her, hysteria bordering on a threat. "I swear if you did anything to that girl..."
"Elaine," My jaw is straining as I hold back the impulse to scream at her. "Do you really think I killed my sister’s best friend?"
"I want to say no. But I've seen the way that she looks at you, and I've seen the way you look at her. The two of you left together, and now you're here but she's not. You understand how that looks?"
