Chapter 26 #2
“You did look into him, right?” Her eyes blazed as she stared at me. I couldn’t look at her. Even though I was an adult and had no reason to feel guilt or shame over not investigating my boyfriend, I couldn’t help but feel a tendril of dread at the way her eyes bore into my soul.
“Jesus Christ, Aiden. You swore to me that you were looking into this guy and had gotten information on him.”
I wasn’t sure what was worse, Victoria’s hurt or anger.
But then again, I was hurt and angry too.
Because there was no reason for anyone to be treating me like a fucking child.
Just because something terrible had happened to me when I was a child didn’t mean everyone had to treat me with kid gloves.
Everyone was driving me insane with their shit.
Instead of answering her questions, I turned the topic back to work. My non-answer would be enough for her to know the truth. And I knew it wouldn’t be long before she cornered me again.
“I want to go talk to that witness again, the one who found the last body. So, I’m going to head out.” I stood and grabbed my coat, hoping to put some distance between Vic and me.
As I tugged my coat on, I ignored the concerned looks she sent my way. But I couldn’t talk to her about what I was thinking or feeling, and I shouldn’t have opened that can of worms.
Because the truth was so much worse than she thought. The answer was simple—it didn’t matter. I didn’t care who he really was or what he was capable of. I had fallen in love with Nathan Turner and he was mine. Not to mention, when he told me I was his and that he’s never let me go, I believed him.
I couldn’t walk away from him even if I wanted to. And God help me, I didn’t want to.
“What are you doing?” I spat out as she got up and put her coat back on.
She looked at me in confusion, as though I was the crazy one.
Maybe I was.
“You said we were going to talk to the witness.” The way she said it, slow, like she had to draw it out for me to understand, made me want to scream.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm the raging storm that swirled in my chest. “No, Vic. I said I was going to go talk to the witness.”
With a huff, she grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the precinct and onto the street, away from the prying eyes and ears of our colleagues. When we got into the blistering cold December air, she pushed me against the side of the building, with a finger against my chest.
“You listen to me, Aiden Cooper, and you listen good. I don’t care what the fuck you think or say right now. I am worried about you. And I have every fucking right to be worried about you. I think you’re making a huge fucking mistake with this guy.”
My face slid into an impassive mask. She was my best friend and I never thought I could be so angry with her, could hate her.
“Back up, Victoria. Now.” My voice was low and dangerous. I’d never spoken to anyone like that before in my life, and certainly not to her. The way she backed up, eyes wide and darting around the street said that maybe I’d gone too far.
Then again, so had she.
I needed to get myself back under control. She was just trying to look out for me, and I knew that. So, I didn’t know why I was reacting like a crazy person.
Like… like someone who was obsessed. Fuck. Maybe I was. Maybe I was just as obsessed with him as he was with me.
My head fell back and scraped against the gritty stone of the building at my back, but I didn’t wince at the pain. I deserved it for being such a shitty friend. But my head was such a mess, I didn’t know what was up or down anymore.
But I did know she had one point, though I’d never admit it. I did need to find out more about Nate. Because I realized in all the time I’d known him, I’d never even been to his house. Hell, I didn’t even know his goddamn address.
Closing my eyes, I dug my nails into the wall, letting the sting ground myself. “Let’s just get to this guy. He should be at work. We can ambush him there, where he can’t ditch us.”
Victoria eyed me like a specimen under a microscope but didn’t make any further comments as we made our way to the car.
Smart woman. Of course, that made the drive to Star Bird Realty and Development all the more uncomfortable, but I knew I had no one to blame but myself.
Okay, maybe she was to blame a little. But it was mostly on me.
When we walked in, I whistled at the opulence that greeted us.
“Holy shit,” Vic whispered and I couldn’t have agreed more.
There was a long, white marble desk with several receptionists, or secretaries, I wasn’t sure, who glanced up and smiled at us as we walked in.
The floor was black be-speckled black granite and the walls were a soft baby blue.
There were a few white plush couches and chairs strategically placed for visitors who had to wait, along with a gray stone and glass coffee table and some plants to make it look welcoming.
My eyes were drawn to the paintings on the wall, even though I wasn’t sure who the artist was or what they even were. It was abstract art, but they provided vivid splashes of color: reds, purples, and blues.
Victoria had left me to gawk and had gone to the table as I tried to get my bearings. Something about the place threw me off, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But I did my best to shake off my unease and joined her at the desk.
“I told you, Mr. Carter isn’t available at the moment.
He’s in a meeting and I don’t know when he’ll be able to speak to you.
But you’re more than welcome to leave your card or make an appointment, though as I stated, he’s booked until next month.
” The woman looked frustrated and two seconds away from calling security.
It made me wonder what Victoria had said before I had approached. Usually, she was the calmer one of us.
“Ma’am, I understand you’re just doing your job.
But so are we. And we are investigating a murder.
And we need to speak to him. Now.” I hated to barge into people’s lives and throw my weight around, but someone was dead and Christian Carter was going out of his way to evade us and it was going to end now.
Behind the desk, a door opened and our witness stepped out, looking just as frustrated as I felt. I went to take a step around the desk, ignoring the woman who tried to stop me. Until my eyes locked onto the man who followed behind him.
What. The. Fuck?
Our eyes locked and all the breath left my lungs as my mind swirled with a hundred thoughts. But none of them made any sense.
“Mr. Carter!” Victoria stormed off toward our witness, unaware of my inner turmoil.
Nate’s eyes snapped to her and he whispered something to Mr. Carter and with one more glance my way, slipped back behind the door before closing it behind him.
My feet carried me over to where Victoria had stopped and I looked at the witness in a whole new way as I tried to figure out how he was connected to Nate, and how Nate was connected to this place.
Fuck. I really did need to find out more about him.
“Detectives.” Mr. Carter sounded weary as he greeted us, arms crossed over his chest. “I already told you all that I know. I don’t appreciate being harassed in my place of employment.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I hardly call one visit, where we haven’t even said anything yet, harassment, Mr. Carter.”
“As I’ve said, I already told you everything I know. If you have anything else you’d like to discuss, you can do so through my lawyer.” He reached into his pocket and took out a business card and handed it to Victoria, who stared at it, lips pursed, without saying anything.
“Good day, Detectives. I’m sure you can see yourselves out. Unless you need security to do it for you.”