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“You want me to do it?” I ask, and she nods.
Seems a little perverse for me to go see the damage I caused, but if she can’t do it… Richard didn’t really have any relatives that actually liked him.
“Ok.”
She lifts up and launches herself at me.
“Thank you.”
“Are you ready?” the officer asks, waiting for a confirmation.
He then proceeds to nod to a guy who leads me to a window.
They gave me some drivel about death being traumatic and how a body can look different and how upsetting this can be, what the fuck ever.
Just get this shit over with.
The guy on the opposite side of the window stands over a table, a body shape covered by a blue sheet before him.
With a nod from the officer he pulls back the sheet and Richard’s mangled face appears.
They’ve made an effort to clean him up, but fuck, this would have destroyed Ebony.
I nod. “That’s him,” I say, making my face drop and tears spring to my eyes.
I turn away, pretending to need a minute, then ask,
“Any leads?”
“Unfortunately that road isn’t used often, and there are no cameras for forty miles in either direction. It’s going to be hard to find those responsible.”
No it’s not.
I wait for an hour after leaving the coroner’s office before ringing the county tip line.
“My neighbor came home with blood all over his car last night.”
“Can you give me the address and your name, sir.”
Yes to the address.
Fourteen
Chapter
ALICE
What the hell is happening? I re-read the text from Reese.
Message received you fucking bitch. My leg is broken in three places.
Before I can reply, my heart begins a nervous pounding as I see a police car pull up outside our house.
“Ash,” I call up the stairs while rushing to the door.
“What?”
“The police,” I whisper yell.
He turns white as a ghost, his muscles tightening over his skeleton.
“They’ve stopped at the car,” I frown, biting my nails anxiously.
Coming down the stairs and pushing out the door in nothing but a pair of sweats, Asher exudes confidence.
“Officer, can I help you?” he asks in a matter of fact tone.
Hands on hips, the policemen nods to the car. “This yours?”
“My dad’s, why?”
“We had a call come in, telling us this car may have been involved in an incident we’re investigating.”
Shit.
I bet it was Asher’s blonde bitch cousin calling it in like a traitorous whore.
“Do you mind if we take a look?”
“Do I have a choice?” Asher folds his arms and looks over his shoulder at me, the tendons in his neck bulging.
“Is your father in?” the other officer asks.
Crap. He’s stayed in the room with my mother all day.
When Asher questioned him about the car, he said he couldn’t remember how he even got home.
Just as Ash begins to open his mouth, I sense Fred come up behind me.
My stomach dips when he steps around me and all eyes land on him.
He looks dirty and hungover.
“What’s going on?” he asks, stepping down the steps into the yard.
“This your car, sir?”
“Yeah.”
“Where were you last night around one a.m.?”
He doesn’t even try to hide his guilt, it’s written all over his face.
Vacant eyes searching the empty space in his mind, trying to conjure up answers.
Pulling the tarp off the car, the officer nods his head to his partner who steps forward and tells Fred he’s under arrest.
“I’ll get you a lawyer, dad,” Asher tells him.
What the hell is going to happen now? Will I become my mom’s guardian if Fred goes to prison?
The officers talk in hushed murmurs to Asher then they lead Fred to the patrol car.
Shit, this is really happening.
“Alice!”
I jump at the sound of my name barked from Asher’s lips.
“What?”
“They’re booking him for a hit and run.”
Da dum… da dum…da dum…
“The man is dead. He killed someone.”
Reaching up onto my tiptoes, I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him.
We’re in new territory with this. What the hell are we going to do?
Fifteen
Chapter
ERIK
Staring at Maggie standing on my sister’s doorstep wearing oversized sunglasses and a black coat, I nearly laugh but manage to refrain.
“What are you doing here?”
She gasps and places a hand over her chest.
“I saw the news an hour ago, Erik. I’m here for Ebony. Geez, I’m not a monster. How could you think I wouldn’t be here?”
There’s a weird pitch in her voice. It’s shaky, on edge.
Rolling my eyes, I hold the door open and let her waltz inside.
She marches down the hallway with her arms outstretched until she reaches my sister standing at the other end, glaring at me for letting her in.
“I’m so sorry about Rich, Ebs.”
Ebs? She’s crazier than I am. Not once has she ever referred to her as Ebs.
“I actually need to go into the office if you’re ok to stay with her for a while?”
“Sure, anything for the family. I came straight over when I saw the news, it’s just devastating.”
