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“It’s not mine. ” I gestured to the bloodstains on my face and clothes.
He pulled me away from Holden and wrapped me in a protective embrace. Normally I might have resisted such a public display of affection, but as it was I was happy to be close to someone. I tucked my head against his chest and breathed in the comforting limey flavor of him. The coiled pressure inside of me unwound, and I relaxed almost instantly.
Desmond stroked my hair and held me closer. Holden hung back, and Nolan danced uneasily from foot to foot.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, only now realizing I hadn’t called either of them.
“You weren’t at home, so I called the office,” Desmond explained. “Nolan explained what you had him looking for, and when you didn’t answer your cell, I called Mercedes to find out if she knew where you were. ”
Now I was going to have to explain to Cedes why I had multiple men claiming to be my boyfriend. That was going to go over swimmingly. For all the times she had demanded I find Mr. Right, I don’t think she expected me to find two at the same time.
Yet somehow it really didn’t seem to matter right now.
“She said you were here,” Nolan finished. “So we came to find out why they were keeping you. ”
Desmond lifted my chin with one finger and stared at me.
“What happened?” His gaze darted down, looking at the blood. He was definitely misreading the situation, so I had to wonder what Mercedes had told him. I could tell from the look in his eyes he was convinced I was in troub
le for something.
I wasn’t sure he was wrong.
“I didn’t come in like this. ”
He ran a finger over the blood, and it came off still wet. His brows shot up with surprise.
“What happened?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. ” Tyler emerged from the back room. He had changed into a clean shirt, but his face was still red from the clinging streaks of blood he hadn’t been able to clean off.
The detective looked at me surrounded by a collection of good-looking men, and the expression on his face made me push Desmond away so I was standing alone. I glared at Tyler defiantly, not in a mood to be judged right then.
“Detective Nowakowski. ” Holden spoke for the first time. “I believe we’ve said all we have to say on this subject to your officers. Miss McQueen and I have been through our fair share of traumatic instances tonight, and I don’t think your suspicions of us have any foundation. If you know something, feel free to book us for it. But as we are guilty of nothing other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, we’d appreciate it if we could leave now. ”
Mercedes had come in about halfway through Holden’s speech and moved to stand between Tyler and us. Tyler’s face had gone red, and I wish I knew why he was so hell-bent on proving me guilty of something. His suspicions went beyond lingering ego bruises. There was a darker element lurking under the surface, and judging by his flushed features and red-hot aura of anger, it was threatening to boil over.
“Of course you’re all free to leave,” Mercedes said before Tyler had a chance to speak. She shot him a look that said more than words could, and he remained silent.
Tyler went back up the stairs into the main workroom, and I nodded my thanks to Mercedes.
“Secret,” she said, stopping me. She came closer and whispered so the receptionist couldn’t hear. “I don’t know what happened in there, and I know you’re not responsible, but this isn’t human and it’s not normal. I need you on this. We can’t stop something that can place a body in the ceiling of a police station and vanish. ”
“I know. ”
“This is up to you now. ”
Chapter Eight
Five days later I lay awake as dusk settled over the city, staring up at my ceiling and waiting for the world to cave in on me. The cracked plaster was as changeless as ever, but I was too on edge to look away. I kept expecting blood to start leaking from the cracks and little bits of body to come tumbling out.
In five days I’d scoured the city top to bottom, and all I’d gotten was more rumors and no real answers. I was out of places to look, out of ideas and out of time. Another body had turned up yesterday, this time in the lobby of Trump Tower, and now the city was in an absolute panic.
I didn’t know what to do, and since Mercedes had dumped the responsibility onto my shoulders, she’d also loaded all the guilt and worry that went with it.
None of the four missing teens had been found yet, leaving the police and Nolan with unsolved cases. Though part of me was grateful they weren’t among the body count, the realist in me knew it was only a matter of time.
I needed a new lead or a clear head. I needed to get my mind off the depressing hamster wheel of unhelpful thoughts it was currently spinning through.
