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“No,” I said.
She nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
I shook my head, unable to take what she was telling me. “So you believe me?”
“Of course,” she said. “I trust you. Besides, you wouldn’t be sloppy enough to leave your cufflinks behind if you really did kill him. You love those things.”
And then, right there and then, something bloomed in my chest.
Something that felt strongly like love.
23
EMILY
I was sitting in the kitchen and staring off into space. My mind was murky, cloudy with thoughts I couldn’t sort through, but most of them focused on what happened last night.
Chris told me he had feelings for me.
What was that about? I couldn’t figure out why he would say it or what he wanted. Or could it possibly be how he actually felt?
Was he actually falling for me?
Impossible.
The thought was punctuated by a jangling sound, and it took me a few seconds to realize it was my phone. I sighed deeply when I saw Angel’s name on the caller ID, feeling the tension knot in my neck. I still had nothing for him. Chris had refused to give me any names or anything to use to buy time.
I knew Angel was quite possibly going to blow a gasket when he found out, so I steeled myself for the experience.
But I wasn’t prepared for what he said when I answered the phone.
“Jordansen has struck again.” His voice was tense. “Another body was found floating in the Centennial Lake. This man stole from Jordansen years ago, and Jordansen said he would get him. I guess he finally did.”
My heart pounded once, then twice, scattering my thoughts. “Are you sure?”
“What do you mean? Am I sure? Would I be telling you something if I wasn’t sure about it?” Frustration lined his voice, and I could practically envision him running his hand through his curly hair in that annoyed way of his. “The man is a fucking menace. They even found his cufflinks at the crime scene.”
“How do you know it was his?” I couldn’t help asking again in a quiet tone.
“What the—his name was on it.” Angel pretty much yelled the last part, and then his voice dropped in suspicion as he asked, “Why are you asking so many questions?”
“Am I not supposed to?”
“No, but I thought you would be freaking out by now and demanding to be taken off this mission.”
I was freaked out, although not for the reason he probably thought.
“I just…I guess I’m in shock and trying to wrap my head around the whole thing.”
And I was. I was having a serious crisis of faith as I was questioning everything I ever believed about Chris. Angel continued to describe the scene, telling me how brutal it was. The man had been gutted like a fish, with his insides pouring out and staining the entire river. I felt sick to my stomach at the graphic detail, and everything in me shook like it was going to fall apart.
Could I have been wrong about Chris?
Had Chris been manipulating me this entire time, using me as an alibi for his heinous act? All the while, he was going around murdering people, with me being none the wiser.
Had I really fallen for a murderer’s lies?
“Emily? Are you there?”
