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The little traitor nudged into the detective's palm, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
“No, it's … it's fine,” Detective Sam said, gesturing for us to continue eating.
“Cool.” I swallowed my eggs and lifted a slice of buttered toast to my lips, wishing my fucking hands would stop shaking. “So, what'd you guyswannachat about?”
Ray's wide eyes darted toward mine. “Um, should we …”
She was already starting to rise from the table when I lifted my hand, stopping her.
“No, it's okay. Finish eating. Whatever they have to say, they can say it with you guys here.” I glanced toward Detective Sam. “Right?”
He was hesitant to nod, but still, he did. “Well, um …” He cleared his throat, pulling a pad of paper and pen from the breast pocket of his button-down shirt. “Soldier, can you tell us when the last time you saw Diane Mason was?”
The toast was already being lowered back to my plate when it slipped from my fingers altogether as the sound of my mother's manic voicemailsechoed through my brain.
“Diane Mason?” I parroted as Detective Miller rose from the couch to wander over to the table.
“Yeah. Youdoknow her, right?” he asked, narrowing his eyes with a sneer of his lips. “Sheisyour mother, correct?”
Ah, so this guy likes playing the bad cop. Got it.
“Yeah, but …” My elbow dropped to the table as my palm cradled my forehead. “I … no, I, uh … I haven't seen her in a little over a month.”
“She called this morning though,” Ray added for me, holding her own with more strength in her tone than I thought I could muster in my pinkieat the moment.
Detective Sam's head nodded gently as he began to scribble on his pad. “Around what time?”
“Um …” Ray grabbed my phone from the table and punched in the passcode before navigating toward the call logs. “She called three times at three seventeen, three forty-two, and four twenty-one.”
“And, Soldier, where were you?” Detective Miller’s voice was full of accusations.
My eyes met his as I dropped my hand to the table with a heavythunk, rattling the silverware. Noah's bewildered eyes shot toward me while mine stared ahead at the detective, who was waiting for my response.
“I washere,” I said. He raised a single brow and stared for one second too long, and I scoffed, shaking my head incredulously. “Seriously, man? Do you really think she'd be calling me if I waswith her?”
“Hey.” Detective Sam’s voice drew my eyes away from his partner’s. His smile was apologetic, and I appreciated it. “We’re just doing our job, Soldier. You know that.”
Ray laid her hand over mine as I pulled my lips between my teeth and blew out a heavy breath, calming the rapid beat of my heart and the tremors in my limbs.
Then, after I mustered enough calm to speak civilly, I said, “I was sleeping in my bed. I woke up because I'd heard something, didn't register what it was, and went back to sleep. It wasn't until I woke up again that I realized she had called.”
More scribbles of pen against paper, more nods.
“Are you ever going to tell me what this is about?” I demanded as Detective Sam continued to write.
Detective Miller went to the plate then, almost like he'd been waiting for this moment since they'd arrived.
A surprising look of sympathy fell over his face, then, “Your mother's body was found this morning.”
What?
No.
No, no, no.
“Oh my God,” Ray uttered, holding her hand over her mouth, as Noah eyes volleyed quickly between me and her, not knowing what to say or do.
Ray went to wrap the hand lying over mine around my fingers, but I pulled away as I pushed my chair back and rose quickly to my feet. Rushing to the sink, gripping the lip of the countertop, I ground my teeth together. Clamping my jaw shut. Shaking my head and wondering if I had heard him correctly.
