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My entire world begins to spin.
Just then a flash of black zips past my peripheral. Banjo leaps to attack one of the journalists.
“No!” I lunge forward, but because my hands are secured behind my back, I have no balance, so I throw my body toward Banjo, attempting to form a barrier between him and the photographer. A body slams into mine. I am twisted mid-air and land on Kellan’s body as we hit the concrete with a hard thud.
Banjo whines and nips the air as Shepherd drags him into the garage.
“Are you okay?” Kellan asks, trying to cradle me into his arms, but instead, I am pulled up by an agent and hurried to one of the unmarked cars. The door opens, a hand grips the top of my head and pushes me inside.
The door slams shut.
Faces swarm the windows. Behind them, the agents are trying to clear the crowd. Shepherd is yelling somewhere in the distance.
Noise, so much noise.
The passenger-side door opens and Kellan slips in, quietly closing the door behind him.
“Are you okay?” he hisses, chest heaving. A trail of blood drips down the side of his face from where he hit his head on the concrete after catching me mid-air.
I can’t speak. A million words on the tip of my tongue, but none come out.
“Jesus, Rowan,” he seethes. “What the hell? I’ve been trying to call you—to warn you. Rowan, shit.” His eyes fill with emotion. “You are in some serious shit, Rowan.”
Tears fill my eyes. Over his shoulder I see a journalist trying to get a clear shot of him.
“They’re taking your picture, Kellan,” I hiss, my voice sounding so small, and disconnected from my body. “They’re literally filming you right now. Get out of here. Get out, K?—”
“Talk to me,” he snaps. “Fucking talk to me, Rowan. I’ll fix this—just tell me what happened.”
“Kellan, leave?—”
“Rowan you have to talk to me. I need to understand so I can help. Your therapist, Amber Bailey, told us that she told you about the women.” He’s speaking so fast my head is spinning. “And they’ve got a statement from Amos Hoyt who saw you in a baseball cap dumping what appeared to be ashes into the lake next to Mirror Lakes neighborhood the morning after Macy Swift was found dead.”
“None of that is enough to convict me, you know that.”
“No it’s not, but this is: they compared your DNA—which was already in the system—to unnamed DNA found at Cora Granger’s murder scene. The captain rushed it through—the DNA matches yours, Rowan. They literally got the results twenty minutes ago, which is why they’re here, arresting you. How the hell can you explain that? Rowan!” he yells when I don’t answer. “How can you explain that?”
The door opens. “What the hell are you doing, son?” Agent Brian Briggs grabs Kellan’s arm. “Get out of here.”
My heart roars as Kellan is dragged out of the car.
The door slams shut.
Shepherd is surrounded by agents, questioning him. I read his lips: No, officer, I didn’t know a thing. I don’t know how she could have done this.
Our eyes meet.
A single tear runs down my cheek.
FIFTY
AMBER
“Mrs. Bailey, thanks for coming in this afternoon.”
“Of course,” I say. Although in all honesty, being at this appointment is the absolute last place I want to be right now. Rumors of Rowan’s arrest have spread like wildfire. I have two voicemails on my phone from Detective Palmer, and I just missed a call from an agent named Brian Briggs with the FBI requesting to meet with me “asap.” Somehow my name was leaked with her arrest and my neighbor just texted me that a journalist is parked outside our home. I had to tell Mark about everything—about the notebook and about my visit to the police station. I wasn’t going to but I have a feeling that things are about to spin out of control. To my shock, Mark was mildly empathetic (he’s “trying”). He even insisted on coming with me to this appointment, something he would have never done before. But, ironically, I’d rather be here alone. Mark’s presence adds a level of stress to my life, and I don’t need any extra right now.
I’m sitting here wondering if everyone in this clinic knows that I’m involved in Rowan’s arrest, instead of worrying about what the doctor is about to tell us.
