by Stella Bixby
“Well, she’s not alive, so it doesn’t matter.”
“You seem confident in that fact.”
“I saw the crime scene. There’s no way she lived.” As hard as she tried to act tough, she was getting flustered.
“They didn’t find a body, so I guess you never know.” I kept my voice calm.
“They found her arm. I’d say that’s enough to be certain.”
“I guess you better hope so.” I shrugged. “Where were you the night Desmond was murdered?”
“Here,” she said. “Asleep.”
“Did you take a sleeping pill too?”
“Of course not.” She looked down at her stomach. “I’d never do anything to hurt the baby.”
“But Jacob did. So he wouldn’t have known whether you were in bed or not, right?”
“Other people can attest to my whereabouts.”
“Like Cedric?” I asked.
“No, not Cedric.” She said his name with pure hatred. “I have my own security.”
“These people who can confirm your alibi—are they all under your employ?” I knew it wouldn’t be beneath her to pay someone to lie.
“I didn’t do it. I’m pregnant. How would I have killed him?”
“It doesn’t take much to fire a gun.”
She stopped talking and stared at me. Her security guard stood with his gaze firmly on the floor. He’d been trained well.
I stood. “Tell the police the truth, and I’ll give you what you’re looking for.”
“What if I don’t?” she asked.
“Then I’ll destroy it.”
She said nothing, and I couldn’t read the look on her face.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Maurice, take her home,” Elodie said.
The man who pulled me from the pool led me to the giant door. Before I stepped outside, I paused at the spot Selena stood the last time anyone saw her.
“She deserves justice,” I muttered under my breath.
“Mmm-hmm,” Maurice grunted, opening the door to a shocked Luke.
22
“What are you doing here?” Luke asked. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
I pushed past him only to find myself facing a bunch of cameras just outside the front gates. “Damnit.”
“I’ll take Ms. Cooper home,” Maurice said, stepping between Luke and me.
“I have questions for her,” Luke said. “She can come with me.”
“What questions?” I asked. “I just came to talk to Elodie.”
“After trespassing in another person’s yard?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.
“Why are you soaking wet?”
“That’s my fault,” Maurice said but didn’t elaborate.
Luke ran a hand through his hair. “If this wasn’t my last shift, I’d care. But I’m tired of worrying about you.” He turned away. “Take care, Rylie.”
A piece of my heart broke off like an iceberg crashing into the sea.
He was angry with me.
And he was leaving.
“Ready?” Maurice said.
I watched Luke walk past the cameras—a hand up, indicating he wasn’t going to give them a statement.
“Why are you taking me home?” I asked.
“The last thing Mr. and Mrs. Marquez need are those vultures getting a statement from you.”
“What makes you think I’d give them a statement?”
“Will you?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.” I wouldn’t, but I had no other way to get home. And this way, I could ask him about Elodie’s alibi.
“Come on.” He led me to the huge garage that could have comfortably housed all five of the Escalades Jacob leased, but only three were there.
“Where are the other cars?” I asked.
He looked at me out of the corner of his eye.
“Jacob told me he leases five of them.”
“Cedric has one,” he said. “The other’s in the shop.”
My ears perked up. “How long has it been in the shop?”
“A month.” He opened the passenger door of the nearest SUV and motioned for me to get in. I was starting to rethink this. Obviously, it would have been safer going with Luke. Why hadn’t I just gone with Luke?
“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. The cop knows I have you.”
That was true. I got in.
The garage and the gates both opened automatically, and we drove out past the slew of reporters.
Luke had already gone.
“Where was she the night Desmond was shot?” I asked.
He didn’t take his eyes off the road. “With me.”
“Where?”
“Here. At home.”
“You live at the Marquez residence?”
“I meant her home.”
“Is that the only place you were?”
He sighed.
“You can tell me,” I said. “I’m not the cops.”
“You work with the cops.”
“Not anymore, I don’t,” I said. “You saw back there. Luke and I aren’t exactly on good terms.”
He didn’t respond.
“Did she kill him?” I asked.
“What do you have that she’s looking for?”
“If you’re honest with me, I’ll be honest with you,” I said. What did I have to lose?
He didn’t look at me.
“I could tell you wanted to say something back at the house. You don’t like lying for her, do you?”
“I didn’t know she would kill him,” he said, a tear in his voice. “I thought we were just going to scare him.”
“We?”
“She said she wanted to get him to leave town.”
I pointed for him to turn.
“Then she pulled out that gun.”
“Did she kill Selena too?”
“And now I’m just as responsible as she is.” He wasn’t listening to me anymore. “But I can’t say anything. I can’t go to jail. They’ll kill me in jail. The only reason I’m alive is because Mr. Marquez saved me from the gang.”
“Whoa, whoa. Stop,” I said, laying a hand on his arm.
He yanked his arm away. “I shouldn’t have told you anything.”
“You’re not just as responsible. You didn’t pull the trigger. You didn’t even know she was going to.”
“But I went. I knew she was up to something.”
“She’s your employer. And it sounds like you can’t afford to lose this job.”
He glanced over at me. “Why did I tell you?”
“Because I would tell you something in return.”
“Don’t bother. I don’t want to know.” He pulled the car over. “Just get out.”
“But I’m soaking wet,” I said. “And my apartment is miles away.”
He turned his gaze toward me. The look in his eye was dangerous.
“Okay, I’ll call an Uber.” I hopped out. “But I’m also calling the police to tell them what happened.”
“Don’t bother. I’m turning myself in tonight.”
“Turning yourself in?” I asked. “But you didn’t do anything. You were just there.”
Before I could even close the door, he hit the gas and tore away from the curb.
I pulled out my phone to find it dead—whether from a low battery or the dip in the pool didn’t matter. I had no way to call an Uber. Or anyone.
I shoved it back in my pocket and began to hobble down the street, every second step like a bolt of lightning shooting up my leg.
Being after midnight, there wasn’t a single car on the road. All the businesses that lined the street were closed. My only option was to walk to a gas station and hope they’d let me use their phone.
But halfway down the block, a car pulled up next to me.
“Want that ride now?”
I nearly cried when I saw Luke behind the wheel.
He cranked the heat when I slid in, my arms wrapped
around me.
“Th-thanks,” I said through chattering teeth. “I thought you’d given up on me.”
“I did too,” he said. “I’m leaving in two days. I need to give up on you.”
“You don’t have to leave.” The cold seeping into my bones was making me emotional.
“Yes. I do.” He didn’t look over at me.
I didn’t respond. I didn’t have it in me to fight him anymore.
“But while I’m helping you, I want you to know something.”
“What?” I asked.
“The arm your kids found wasn’t the arm Selena was using at the time of her death.” Luke turned down the road toward my apartment. “She had to get a new one because she’d lost so much weight with the cancer treatment. The one we found was reported missing after a break-in at the Marquez residence several years ago.”
“How long have you known this?”
“Basically, from the beginning. I think that’s why Detective Bryant didn’t want you helping. There was no case. Not really. Other than the shoe, maybe.”
“The shoe wasn’t the same as the pair Selena wore the night she disappeared,” I said. “I saw a picture of her at Jacob and Elodie’s house, and the shoes are definitely different.”
“We suspected the shoes were planted too. Though we suspected they were just good reproductions.”
“Then why was Jacob arrested for Selena’s murder?”
“Like I said, there wasn’t a case. We knew the evidence was probably planted.”
“By Desmond,” I said.
“Yes. We found the matching shoe in his closet.”
“In his closet?” I asked. “Not under the bed?”
Luke turned his gaze on me for a moment, his eyes suspicious.
“I’m just surprised he’d have left them out somewhere the police could easily find them, that’s all.”
“Uh-huh.” He didn’t believe me, but he let it go. “We found the shoe in his closet the night he was killed.”
If the police were there when I was there, someone else must have been in the house with me. They must have moved the shoe while the police were chasing me. The noise I’d heard hadn’t been a cat.
“You okay?” Luke asked.
I didn’t respond. I would bet it was Elodie or Maurice in the house that night. And if she had seen me, she probably would have shot me too.
Was she setting it up to look like Desmond killed Selena? Why would she move the shoe? To be sure the police found it?
“Maybe I should take you to the hospital.” Luke’s voice was worried. “You could have hypothermia.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “This is all just a lot. You were going to tell me why Jacob was arrested.”
“Right. Well, that was thanks to you.”
“Me?”
“You and Elodie,” he said. “Elodie recanted on confirming Jacob’s alibi, which allowed us to bring him in.”
“Didn’t Cedric confirm it too?”
“From what we can tell, Cedric has gone on his monthly hiatus.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“Since we came into contact with Cedric, he’s taken a monthly hiatus.”
“And you just let him?” I couldn’t tell whether Luke knew Cedric went to Florida for the non-profit. “What if he’s the real killer?”
“You clarified that for us. Your recording of Jacob talking about the night of Selena’s murder was enlightening.”
“How?”
“Let’s just say his original story was very different from what he told you.” Luke pulled into my apartment complex as the sun was lifting over the horizon.
“And that was enough to arrest him for murder?”
Luke shrugged.
“What if I told you he didn’t murder Desmond?”
“He still could have killed Selena.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But I’m leaning toward Elodie or Cedric on that one.”
“Not Desmond?”
“Desmond wanted justice for his sister,” I said. “Not for her to die.”
Luke looked out his window so all I could see was the back of his head.
“Thanks for the ride,” I said.
“The guys are throwing me an impromptu going away party tonight if you want to come.” He turned to face me. His eyes were sad.
“Where?” I asked.
“At the wings joint.”
“I’ll be there.” I pushed his shoulder and smiled. “I’d never miss a good party.”
He smiled back.
I would miss that smile.
“And by the way, thanks for telling your mom I was leaving. It took everything I had in me to get her off the phone.”
I laughed. “Serves you right.”
23
A pile of mail and a tired Fizzy were on the bed I felt like I hadn’t slept in for weeks. I scratched my dog behind his ears and stripped out of my wet clothes. Yoga pants and a sweatshirt never felt so good. I plugged in my phone, hoping it was only dead because of lack of battery rather than from the water.
My eyes were heavy as I thumbed through the envelopes. It was mostly bills. Cherry Anne’s car payment was due, twisting a knife I didn’t realize had been buried so deeply into my heart.
I threw the mail on the floor and let sleep take over.
When I woke up, it was dark, sending my brain into a state of confusion. I’d come to bed when it was just getting light outside.
I checked the time. Luke’s party was in an hour. I’d slept all day.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and forced myself out of bed. The floor was cold and covered in mail. I reached down to pick it up when a small envelope caught my eye. I hadn’t seen it the night before, and it didn’t have a return address.
Inside was a photograph and a plane ticket.
The photograph was aged and blurry, but I could easily make out Cedric and Selena hand in hand, their eyes locked and smiles on their faces. It had to be an older photograph because the tattoo from Cedric’s neck was missing. That, and Selena was still alive.
On the back of the photograph was a note:
Go find the truth, Rylie.
The plane ticket was for the next morning.
To Tampa, Florida.
I showered as quickly as possible, considering all the reasons someone would send me an airplane ticket. Was it from Desmond? Did he want me to go down and investigate the non-profit? And why would he have sent this to me rather than just telling me over the phone?
The flight didn’t leave until nine the next morning. I had time to think about it.
I blow-dried my hair, put on a coat of eyeliner and mascara, and found the cleanest pair of jeans from the floor vowing to get my laundry done when I got home.
My mind went to the check in my jacket pocket. I pulled it out and stared at it. One hundred thousand dollars would make quite a difference in my life, especially with my car payment looming.
But I couldn’t cash it. It wasn’t right.
I tore it into pieces and tossed them into my wire garbage can.
I shoved the photo and ticket I’d gotten in the mail into my back pocket and checked my phone. It was still dead. First Cherry Anne, then my phone. What was next? My apartment burning down?
On the counter was a set of keys and a note from Shayla.
Garrett ordered you a rental car. It’s the blue Mazda in the parking lot. See you tonight.
-Shay
The bar was packed when I arrived. Luke was a popular guy.
“Can I sit with you?” I asked a sad-looking Nikki offering her one of the two beers I’d ordered from the bar.
She took it and nudged a bar stool my way.
“I can’t believe he’s leaving,” she shouted over the noise.
“Me neither,” I said. “I’m surprised you came.”
“It wouldn’t be right for me to miss it. We did date for a while.”
Something in her eyes told me she hoped he would stay. “Have you seen Luk
e?”
“He’s over by the bar, I think,” she said, and when I looked, he was exactly where she pointed.
“Can I sit?” An Italian voice said behind me.
Nikki nodded, and Antonio sat next to me.
“You look flushed,” Nikki said to him.
“I was chasing naked guy,” Antonio said, raising his beer to his lips.
“Did you get him?” she asked.
“Nope, not that I really wanted to.”
We all laughed.
“I hear you helped police nail the murderer,” Antonio said.
“They got the wrong guy,” I said.
Nikki and Antonio both gave me questioning looks.
“You’ll see,” I said. Elodie’s guard had either already turned himself in or would soon. “I need to use the restroom.”
I downed the rest of my beer and made my way through the crowd veering slightly toward where Luke was.
When I was about four feet from him, I noticed his smile fade. People were between us, so I couldn’t see who he was talking to.
I pushed through a group of women who had obviously already had too much to drink.
Luke was chatting with Shayla, who was still in full uniform. He nodded and began following toward the doors leading outside.
My bladder could wait. I needed to hear what they were talking about.
They walked out one set of doors through an entry hallway and then outside.
I followed but not too closely.
Once they were outside, I cracked the door just enough to hear.
“I have to arrest her,” Shayla said. “I can’t believe it, but I have to.”
“Do you really think she did it, Shayla?” Luke asked. “This is Rylie we’re talking about. Your best friend. My—”
“Why else would she have spoken to him minutes before he died but not said anything to anyone about it?”
How did they know he talked to me?
“How do you know it was his phone? They never recovered a phone from the scene.”
Shayla hesitated.
“Bryant pulled her phone records, didn’t he?”
“He had to. She wouldn’t tell us anything,” Shayla said, though her voice wasn’t convinced.
My heart was beating so loudly, I was surprised they couldn’t hear it.