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Another man knocked and poked his head into the room. He held a file. “We got a hit.”
Detective Jenner beckoned him forward, took the information, and studied it a moment. His forehead furrowed in a deep frown as he sat back in his chair. “Is this some sort of joke?”
“Both prints matched ones from those taken when he was arrested for drug possession two years ago.”
Detective Jenner rubbed a hand over his shaven jaw. “Shit. Thank you, Detective.”
The other man walked out, leaving the three of us in thick silence.
My pulse raced, and I struggled to keep my facadein place as I waited to hear the name of the man I couldn’t wait to bring to justice. I wanted to move on with the new life ahead of me, one with the possibility of fulfillment with the sweet man beside me. He seemed the sort who would accept me regardless of my shortcomings and neediness, but the fact I worked as an escort for Elite? That truth didn’t ever need to be unearthed.
I would find another job. Become a janitor and live off bread and water if it meant being able to continuing to provide for Marin’s family and have Jasper’s affection.
“This…” Detective Jenner shook his head, his lips thinning as he closed the file, set it on the table, and leaned forward, arms crossed atop it. “Does the name Joseph Delaney sound familiar to you?”
The blood rushed from my face. Mask ripped off, my feigned confidence was reduced to ash in a blink. Sudden ringing in my ears promised I sat on the verge of passing out.
“TheJoseph Delaney?” Jasper asked before I could find my voice.
My attacker had been a smaller man—had slashed my shoulder with a sharp blade.
Oh fuck.
Bile attempted to choke me as Detective Jenner offered an affirmative answer.
“C-Can I see the knife?” I questioned, my voice nothing more than a ragged whisper.
He nodded and left us for a moment, saying he would be right back.
Jasper scooted his chair closer to me and gathered my hands in his, but I kept my head down, my focus on the table. My entire body trembled.
“Mason?”
I swallowed hard, shaking my head while clinging to his fingers.
Did I need a lawyer?
Could I call Micah before answering any more questions? Shit. I couldn’t mention Micah, or the cops would investigate his business—or had I already used his name? I wracked my memory to see if I’d saidMicah Foxor mentioned the fact it had been his birthday party I’d been at but came up empty.
My brain rattled as a chill settled in my bones. The door opened behind us, and adrenaline jacked through me, heating my blood where ice had frozen only seconds before. My mouth dried, and my palm grew clammy against Jasper’s.
Detective Jenner sat and slid a bagged item across the table toward me.
My tumbling emotions hit a solid wall, knocking my heartbeat off rhythm. There was no mistaking the boar’s head pommel with its bit of tawny leather wrapped around the handle. It had been custom-made and cost a pretty penny.
I would know—I was well acquainted with the blade that had dragged over my flesh…
Rubbing at my chest and the still-tender scar between my pecs, I closed my eyes, fighting off the vivid memory. The weight of him on my chest. His troubling, obsessive words…
Reality came in like a Mack truck, barreling through my newfound hope for something better regardless of how I attempted to leap from its path. What I had avoided for two weeks had arrived, no matter my intentions to keep the truth a secret. My past would no longer remain buried.
I imagined the rumbling thunder of the approaching shitstorm and readied myself to embrace the escape that had been engrained in me since childhood.
A complete emotional shutdown.
“You’ve seen this before.” Detective Jenner didn’t ask a question.
Stomach churning, I swallowed hard. Fear overran my body, and I clutched at Jasper’s hand, sensing the false sense of peace I’d hidden behind as a kid creeping in along the edges of my mind.
