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“You’re welcome. You looked really good up there.”
Somehow, she smiled even brighter. “You really think so? I lost my footing in that twirl in the second act, and I—”
“Don’t even sweat it. It was barely noticeable.”
Her smile faded a bit. “But you noticed.”
“Kay…”
“I know, I know,” she shook her head. “Don’t beat myself up, etc. etc. But you know how important this is to me. I’ll never be principal with that kind of mistake.”
“Fine, so you have a note for improvement for next time. But what you’re not about to do is let a tiny mistake ruin your night.”
She sucked her teeth. “So what am I about to do instead?”
“Well, don’t you have an after-party to go to?”
“Maybe.”
I chuckled. “Okay well thenmaybeyou should get yourself ready, instead of dwelling on small stuff. Cool?”
“I guess…” She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t keep a smile from breaking free as she looked down at the flowers again. “Thank you for coming tonight.”
I shrugged. “Told you… nowhere else I’d rather be.”
We talked for a few more minutes, and she introduced me to some of her peers in the ballet company I hadn’t met. After that, I left her to it, knowing she had a busy night ahead, and made my exit.
The police car out in front of the theatre didn’t immediately raise a red flag. Police presence at large events wasn’t anything to lift an eyebrow at, so I walked right past it, heading to my car when I heard, “Chadwick LaForte, stop right there!”
The gasps from the remaining crowd mirrored my own shock as I stopped walking to turn and see what the fuss was. I took a step back, surprised, as I found myself facing the barrel of several guns.
“Man, what the hell is happening?” I shouted at the police officer closest to me, as the others moved to pin my arms behind my back to strap me into handcuffs. It took everything to quell my immediate reflex to get them the fuck off of me, knowing that local law enforcement tended to be trigger happy.
“Chadwick LaForte, you’re under arrest for the murder of Kellen Stuart. You have—”
“Who thefuckis Kellen Stu—”
Oh.
Oh,shit.
“Wait a minute,” I insisted. “I don’t even know that motherfucker to have—”
“Save it,” one of the cops said, as they shoved me into the back of a police cruiser. “Of course you didn’t do it. That’s what they all say.”
I started to say something back, but he’d already slammed the door, which was probably for the best. I had plenty of smart-ass shit to say, but none of it would help my situation. Sitting back, I closed my eyes, focusing on pulling myself together. There was no point in arguing with the cops when the word “murder” had been thrown around. There was only one thing I needed to say to anyone.
“I want to speak to my lawyer.”
“What the hell have you gotten yourself into?” Demetria asked as she walked into the interrogation room, already looking more exhausted than I was used to seeing her. Working a few doors down from her atFive Star Enterprisesmade her a pretty regular fixture in my life, and she always looked put-together and ready to destroy someone or something.
She still looked like that now, only… tired.
I shook my head in answer to her question. “Some bullshit. I didn’t fucking kill anybody. Youknowthat.”
Demetria gave me a curious look at she sat down beside me at the table. “I mean… do I? We both know you haven’t always been the computer repair guy, so…”
“You’re pulling my leg right now, right?”
