15 – Ciara
“ A re you sure you’re okay?” Serenity asks, her eyes wide with concern.
I nod. “Yeah, I’m just a little shaken up.”
“Whoever did this to you is going to feel my wrath,” Addison mutters to herself. “This is out of control.”
Pressing my fingers to the wound on my head that thankfully didn’t require stitches, I think about the night, and I’m still just as confused as I was before. I don’t know why this person is so adamant on seeking revenge when there is no proof I killed Alyssa. Not a single drop other than the fact that I happened to find her. So why are they so obsessed with me?
“We need to get to the bottom of this,” Jackson mutters, arms crossed as he stands in front of where we are sitting in the garage.
I have Mercy sleeping in my arms, and even though I know I should take her home and put her down, I just don’t want to let her go. Not yet. Danny is playing with Skye and Max, the two of them sitting on the floor surrounded by toys, and Ava is off in dreamland. This is my family, and, tonight, someone tried to take me from them.
I’m done being nice.
I want to know who did this.
“Damn right we do,” Spike grunts, pacing around, his jaw tight.
He didn’t take the news well; I don’t blame him. It was scary as hell.
“I don’t think you should go back until we figure this out,” Cade offers, his voice less clipped but still tight.
My eyes swing to his. “No, that’s not happening. I’m not bailing out because some idiot is trying to scare me.”
“They’re not just tryin’ to scare you, Tom Cat, they’re tryin’ to fuckin’ end you,” he argues, his gaze narrowing as he pins me with it.
“Well, either way, I’m not running. Whoever this is needs to be found, and the only way to do that is for me to be there. If I run, they will just find another way. This matters to me.”
“Cade’s right,” Spike murmurs, his eyes pinning me. “You can’t go back.”
Anger bubbles in my chest. “Well, I am going back.”
The flash of his glare tells me he doesn’t want to argue, but the fact is, I’m not hiding from this. I need to find who did this, and I’m not going to stop until I do.
“Not arguin’ with you, Tom Cat, I’m tellin’ you ...”
“And I’m not arguing with you. I will be going back, Danny. End of discussion.”
The room falls scarily quiet, and it’s Jackson who decides to speak.
“Maybe her goin’ back is a good thing, because we can get eyes on her and her surroundings and figure out who is doin’ this. If they don’t suspect we are there, we might figure out who this is.”
“I agree,” Serenity chimes in. “Send her back, let it seem like normal, and we can be watching. Whoever is doing this is doing it when she’s out so we need someone there to keep an eye on the situation and see when someone arrives.”
It’s actually a good plan.
“Someone could wait in her room while she goes out, or by her car, or anywhere that this person is bound to show up. All we need is a face ...” Addison nods, impressed with herself.
“It’ll be me waitin’ in her room,” Spike hisses, fists clenched. “And when that fucker enters, I’ll take his fuckin’ head off.”
“Then we have a plan,” I say, before anyone else can argue. “I need to figure out who this is.”
“Tell us what you have already,” Jackson encourages.
I tell them everything we have managed to figure out, and as they listen, I can see their brains ticking over.
One thing seems to stand out to Spike, something I hadn’t considered. “Someone was harrasin’ Cheyenne.”
I tip my head to the side. “That’s what mom said. She said that this person was really bothering her and it was scaring her but I think it was a student ...”
“What if it wasn’t?” Serenity throws in. “What if it was a powerful, married man and she got herself tangled up just like Alyssa did. What if this isn’t about Alyssa at all ...”
I frown, never having considered that, but as I think more about it, it makes sense.
“Mom said the man attended the school, so I don’t think it’s possible.”
“Cheyenne lied, if she was seein’ someone she shouldn’t have, she might have made up an excuse so she could go and be with him,” Spike points out.
Gosh.
Have I been thinking about this all wrong?
“Do you think the person they are talking about is Cheyenne and not Alyssa?” I whisper. “Is this some kind of revenge on me because of what happened to her?”
Addison’s eyes widen. “Oh my gosh. It makes so much sense when you think about it. Cheyenne went with Spike, and you were the one who introduced them. If this person was obsessed with her, he might consider that you were the reason Cheyenne died ...”
“It was so long ago,” I whisper. “Why now?”
“Because you’ve shown up in town and this person finally has a chance,” Jackson mutters. “You’ve sparked an old feeling, and whoever this psycho is, is playing on that feeling.”
My heart skips a beat, and I look to Spike. “Did she ever say anything about a man who was strange before she was with you?”
He thinks on it. “She did mention someone that she was seeing before me, but she said they were out of the picture. She only mentioned that this person stalked and harassed her, even trying to abduct her when she ended it, but to be fuckin’ honest, I thought she was lying. Cheyenne was good at makin’ shit up.”
He has a point. Cheyenne liked to exaggerate, but what if in this case, she was actually telling the truth.
I didn’t pay a great deal of attention back then.
That’s when things went weird and I distanced myself from them. Spike and Cheyenne left not long after they got together, and I suppose whoever this was, stewed on that for all these years and me showing up has sparked some kind of insane rage in him. What I don’t understand is who the hell is it?
“I’ll look more into Cheyenne’s time at the school, see if I can figure anything out. Mom still has a heap of her stuff in boxes. I’ll go through it, maybe I’ll find a diary entry or some kind of information on this man.”
“I’ll come with you this week,” Serenity offers. “I’ll help.”
“Me too!” Addison chimes in.
“We’ll put eyes on your car, your dorm, and any other location you go,” Jackson nods. “We’ll figure out who this fucker is.”
Gosh, I hope we do.
I really hope we do.
“WE NEED YOU TO COME down to the station to speak about the case involving Alyssa.”
I stare sleepily at the police officer at my door, who woke me from a much-needed sleep in. I rub my eyes, trying to clear my vision and figure out what the hell is going on. Spike steps up beside me, shirtless, Mercy in his arms, and judging by the look on the officer’s face, he’s giving him an expression that is less than impressed.
“What do you mean?” I ask, my voice still groggy.
“There has been some new evidence in the case, and we need to speak with you again.”
I look to Spike, who hasn’t taken his eyes off the officer standing before me.
“What did you find?” he orders, his voice gruff.
“We can’t discuss that with you.”
“Like fuck you can’t.”
I reach out, curling my fingers around Spike’s arm. “It’s okay. I’ll go. I won’t be long.”
I get changed and follow the officer to the station in Spike’s truck. There is no way I’m getting in his. Spike told me as I was getting dressed not to say a fucking word, no matter what they presented to me. I nodded in anxious agreement and followed the officer.
When we arrive at the station, I go into an interrogation room where two officers are waiting. It’s the same two who interviewed me earlier. Rochelle and Greg. Well, this can’t be good. I hold my breath, exhaling slowly as I sit down in front of them, curious about the file they have in front of them that no doubt contains information about whatever they’re going to tell me.
“Thanks for coming in,” Rochelle tells me. “It’s much easier when you decide to cooperate with us.”
“Can you tell me why I’m here?”
“We collected your car yesterday from the scene of the accident, and when we did, we found something inside.”
I shake my head, confused. “Okay?”
“We found some of Alyssa’s items.”
My blood runs cold, because I know for a damn fact that I have never had Alyssa in my car, nor have I touched any of her things. Are they talking about the photo? Maybe that was still in my car. Still, there is no way they could prove that was Alyssa. The only reason Halo knew was because she recognized the handbag.
“I don’t understand ...”
“We found some items of clothing in your car. We also found a pair of shoes and a handbag.”
This must be some kind of cruel joke.
It has to be.
There is simply no way her things could have been in my car unless they were put there.
Oh .
My .
God .
He put them in there. When he cut my brakes, he put her things in my car. He’s going to make me go down for this murder, and I’m starting to wonder how the hell I’m going to get out of this.
I don’t know what to say.
I don’t know what to do.
“Can you explain to us how those items got in there?” Greg asks, a smirk on his face, because he knows he’s got me.
He knows it.
I need to come up with something, and fast, because if I don’t, they will probably arrest me right here and I’ll lose every chance of clearing my name.
Think, Ciara.
Come on.
“You claimed you have never met her, yet her things are in your car,” Rochelle says, her voice kinder than Greg’s, but even now I can see she doesn’t believe me.
“I have never met her,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm even though I want to scream.
“Then are you going to explain it?”
I have no choice but to lie, and I need a lie that is believable. Something that will work, and I need someone who will back me up, but at the same time if I mention anyone they could immediately become a suspect, and that wouldn’t be fair.
Dammit, I don’t know what to do.
“I’d like to make a call to a friend to organize a lawyer,” I say.
I don’t actually want a lawyer, but I know they have to allow me to make a call to organize one. It will buy me a smidge of time to come up with something that makes sense here.
Rochelle looks to Greg, and I know they think that I’m asking for a lawyer because I’m guilty but right now, I don’t care what they think. I know my rights, and they can’t stop me from making a phone call.
“Yes, you can.”
They let me step out of the room and the person I call isn’t the one I probably should call. I dial Paulie’s number and tell him very quickly what’s going on and what the police have found, I also tell him about the Cheyenne theory. I know Paulie loves this kind of drama, and I also know he’ll have my back.
“Girl, here’s what you’re going to do. You tell them that I had Alyssa’s things because we were friends, and we were dropping them to her mom’s place, but we got distracted. There is no way they can prove I wasn’t friends with her.”
“What if they call her mom?”
“Alyssa had heaps of friends, even if they ask her, she probably won’t recall what her daughter was doing. Just you let me worry about that. Go and tell them what I just told you, they have no legal right to hold you because it isn’t enough evidence to prove you did anything.”
“Someone is trying to frame me,” I whisper.
“I know, but we’re not going to let them.”
Hanging up the phone, I join Rochelle and Greg once more.
“I have someone helping me with a lawyer. I am aware I shouldn’t speak without one, but I’m also not hiding anything so I’ll tell you the truth. My friend Paulie and I were taking those things back to Alyssa’s mom, but we ran out of time. He and Alyssa were friends, and he still had a few of her things lying around. He thought her mom would like them.”
The two of them stare at me, then at each other.
“You can confirm this with him, and her mom,” I say confidently.
“So what you’re saying is that a friend of yours put those items in your car?”
I nod.
“Is there a reason you didn’t say that when we first asked you?” Greg questions.
“Because I want to cover my bases. You think I did this, and I know I didn’t, but this isn’t going away so I want to have legal support going forward.”
They have nothing, and they know it.
They can’t argue with me, and they don’t have enough to arrest me.
Not yet, anyway.
They let me go, and I get the hell out of there.
I need to end this before they find something strong enough to keep me.
I’m running out of time.