AllFreeNovel
Share Us
* * *
“I only have till tomorrow until the crime lab figures out these samples never made it to forensics.” I hitch the cooler strap higher on my shoulder, securing their safety on my person.
I follow Sadie’s lead toward a private area of the club. The Lair isn’t my first choice for a confessional, but it’s ironically fitting. When admitting to developing a potent aphrodisiac to help stimulate your own dwindling libido, and in turn having inadvertently supplied that drug to possible criminals…where better to confess your sins than a sex club?
Luckily, as it’s the middle of the day, the club is closed. Far less chance for anyone to spot me here. There’re a couple of people wandering the ground level, unboxing merchandise and setting up displays, but otherwise this is as secluded as it comes. I can’t imagine Quinn suddenly popping up in a place like this.
A stage is set before us, with contraptions I couldn’t name if I tried. The walls are painted black. It’s chilly and quiet and, even though we’re alone, I feel as if I’m standing on a platform, about to bare my soul.
“Colton’s in his office,” she says, pulling out a couple of stools for us around a table. “We’re alone.”
Her confirmation is encouraging. I trust Sadie. If not for her, Price Alexander Wells—the vile monster—might still be out there. Even with all the evidence we had against him, he still might’ve gotten off on a lesser charge. I’ve seen it happen time and time again in the system. Wells was a topnotch lawyer, with other topnotch lawyer and judge contacts. Wells being set free to mutilate, rape, and kill other women wasn’t a chance either of us was willing to take.
“I think I screwed up,” I say, laying it all out there at once. I tell her about the cocktail, about my darknet contacts. About the ambrein compound that carries my signature. Which has just been discovered in my lab and entered into the chain of evidence for our latest vic.
“It’s circumstantial,” Sadie declares, her voice level. Through my whole story, she didn’t crack once. “What you developed isn’t illegal.”
“It’s not approved by the FDA,” I counter.
“Neither are half the cold meds out there, but we consume them just the same.” She offers a slight smile. Her green eyes widen with sincerity as she pushes on. “Quinn’s a good cop.”
I roll my eyes. “Believe me, I know. And damn stubborn when he gets a whiff of something hinky.”
She smirks. “He’ll get to the bottom of it, Avery. He’s like a dog with a bone. You had nothing to do with harming this woman. This is not your fault. And you don’t even know how the ambrein compound was entered into her system, or if it has anything at all to dowith how she died. Let Quinn do his job and find out. I promise you, he won’t let your name be tarnished. Regardless of what you may think, he does want justice, but he wants that justice to come without implicating those he cares for. He will back you up until he finds reason not to…but he will never stop searching for a way to help you. He’s a goo
d cop who still believes in other good cops and good people.”
I inhale a full breath, then free it, releasing some of the anxiety I’ve been carrying since I first recognized the compound. “As his partner, I guess you know better than anyone.” I raise an eyebrow.
For the first time, I see a flicker of doubt cross her pretty face. “Partner might be a stretch these days. I think the serial case has finally gotten to him. Now that he’s had time to process everything.”
“You don’t think—”
“No,” she cuts in. “Even if he did suspect, I’m the one who fabricated the evidence. Not you. It’s all on me, Avery. And when the time comes, I’ll be the one to confront Quinn on it.”
I swallow down my unease. The plan was set. Sadie was to take care of Wells—I didn’t ask questions; she made it clear I wasn’t going to know the details—and I was responsible for planting the shellfish toxin in his gastrointestinal tract. When the moment came, however, with the monster cold and lifeless on my slab…I froze.
Sadie took over to complete the deed where I failed.
“I owe you so much…too much,” I tell her. “Had I just been able to—”
“Some dark things in this world we can’t unsee,” she says, her hand finding mine. “Once it takes root, we only have two choices. Let it consume us, changing us, manipulating us into its likeness, or destroy it.” Her grasp tightens. “I’m glad I was there to take the darkness in your place. That you didn’t have to make that choice.”
I feel the burn of tears behind my eyes, and I hate them. I hate feeling so powerless and weak. “You shouldn’t have had to make that choice, either,” I say. “Because honestly, Sadie, I fear it’s too late. That the things I’ve seen…what I’ve suffered…the darkness has already consumed me.”
She shakes her head, and a warm smile slants her mouth. “You being here right now, conflicted over what to do, is proof that it hasn’t, Avery.”
I nod, trying to accept her words, wanting to believe in them. I’m just scared that when I walk out of this club, the choice to do the right thing won’t come as easily to me as she believes.
As she walks me toward the exit of the voyeur room, Sadie says, “This is where I met Colton.”
I send her an unguarded smile. Sadie is the only person I’ve never caught staring at my scar. My gaze drops to hers out of reflex; the jagged scar marring her collarbone—the one she has always hidden until now. Whatever has changed for Sadie, whatever reason she has for no longer wishing to conceal it—at least the demon who branded her granted her that option.
“You’re lucky you found someone,” I say, thinking of how much happier she seems lately.
She pauses at the red rope, turning to face me. “It’s also where I first met Wells.”
A shiver slithers through my body.
