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I look up at her face. She’s not lying. Or at least, she believes every word coming out of her mouth. “The hell does that mean?”
“Read the first death certificate. The one I printed out and put on your desk with a sticky note before I snuck out of the compound to meet the lab tech to get the address of the original M.E. so we can question her.”
I should punish her for being so smug. Turn her over my knee and spank that bare ass from pink to red, and then?—
Focus, dammit.
My hand still on her waist rubs down to the curve of her hip and squeezes. Not hard, but firm enough to let her know I mean business. “Tell me everything. Now.”
She tries to hide the subtle bite of her lip, but I see it. And damn if I don’t want to make good use of all this adrenaline in the best way possible.
Clara clears her throat and takes a deep breath, probably to clear her head of the same fog mine keeps wanting to drift into. “The original cause of death was listed as a myocardial infarction due to toxins found in his bloodstream. Which he ingested.”
My frown deepens. “The fuck?”
She slowly nods. “Yeah. Whether Tolya shot him or not, the truth is: Michael Little had a heart attack because someone poisoned him. He probably died before the gun ever went off.”
5
DEMYEN
I’m not holding Clara for my own selfish needs anymore.
I’m clinging to her just to keep myself grounded as the world spirals around me.
He probably died before the gun went off.
Which means someone severely fucked all of us over. Michael, Tolya, me…
And Clara most of all.
She offers me the tiniest smile and lifts her hand to touch my arm, then seems to think better of it. “I told you: I’m on your side. And I’m not going to rest until we figure out what the hell actually happened to Michael Little. So we can get Tolya out of that prison and back home where he belongs.”
I stuff the paper into my pajama pocket and scoff. “You could have done that just by recanting.”
“Could I?” She arches a brow. “You’ve met my father, the arresting officer. And you’ve dug up enough of my life to knowexactly how wellthatwould go. Even if the court believed me, what would stop him from punishing me behind their backs?”
“I would.” Both my hands firmly hold her hips and pull her just a little bit closer to me. “You know I won’t let him—or anyone—get near you.”
She smiles softly at me. “I know.”
A thousand contradictions are swirling around in my brain. I knew for a fact that Tolya wasn’t there—until he confessed that he was. I knew for a fact that Clara was a selfish, lying bitch—until I found out she wasn’t. I knew for a fact that Michael Little was shot and killed—until now, with a new lead on an entirely different cause of death.
Clara breaks through the whirlwind with her gentle voice. “Now that we have this new lead, once we have the testimony and evidence, I can help you file another appeal. With my statement and their evidence, there’s no way a judge can ignore the obvious.”
“You would do that?”
“Go in front of a judge and courtroom full of people who adore my father and tell them how he beat me until I said what he wanted me to say?” Clara’s fingers lightly stroke over my chest. She smiles and looks me in the eye. “Yeah. I will. Because it’s the right thing to do. And… because I know you’ll be there with me when I do it.”
I don’t know what shakes me more: her newfound courage or her implicit trust in me.
Trust that I’ll stand by her.
Trust that I’ll protect her.
“You’re damn fucking right I will.”
It’s the only thing I’m able to grind out before my mouth collides with hers.
