8. Cassie
CASSIE
“Oh my god,” I breathe, placing a bracing hand on my chest. “You scared the shit out of me.”
My heart skitters, racing to catch up with the beats it missed.
My ex-boyfriend, Russell, takes a slow step forward.
It was relief I felt initially, realizing I knew the person in the shadows and that he wasn’t a danger, but as he takes another deliberate step down the front porch toward me, a shiver of caution races down my spine.
I don’t like the look on his face, either. It’s been a long time since Russell looked happy to see me, but right now, he looks downright hostile.
He reaches the ground and continues toward me, and I have to root myself to the ground to keep from taking a step back.
I glance at the driveway quickly, then back at him. “I didn’t see your car…”
Because his car is not in my driveway. I resist the impulse to look for it on the road.
“I walked,” he says, voice low.
“Oh. Uh, w—what are you doing here?”
“What was he doing here?” he asks, sending another jolt down my spine.
“Um… Tor, he gave me a ride. I don’t have my car.”
His gaze drifts to my driveway, raking resentfully over the blue Lexus he knows I can’t afford. “Looks like you have one now.”
I swallow. “It’s Tor’s car. I mean… one of them. He’s just letting me borrow it until I get mine back.”
“How generous.” His gaze meets mine again, and I can’t help thinking he looks different than when we dated. More grown-up in a way, but now that he looks at me with bitterness instead of love, his gaze is harder to take.
My chest begins to feel tight, and I look longingly toward the front door I dreaded opening mere moments ago. “Anyway, it’s late, and I have to get inside.”
“House is dark. I’d say they’re asleep.”
I lick my lips. “Right. But it’s been a long day, and I’m exhausted—”
“Long night, too, huh? With Tor?”
I don’t miss the sarcastic twist when he says Tor’s name. He sounds jealous, but I don’t know why. We’ve been broken up for too long for him to still care.
“Did you need something?” I ask, wanting to get this over with.
“Yeah, I do. I need what belongs to me.”
I hold his gaze uncertainly.
His dark eyebrows rise. “I need my gun back.”
“Oh.” My stomach rocks with nerves. “Right. Of course.” The pounding of my heart increases, my breaths turning shallow. “Um, the thing is, I don’t have that right now.”
He laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “You don’t have it? You just happened to misplace my gun the night after someone was murdered?”
“It’s not misplaced. I know where it is.” The words are out before I even realize they’re not true.
He advances on me, and this time, I retreat. “Where is it, Cassie?” he asks carefully.
I grimace, realizing the answer won’t go over well. I can’t tell him Tor has it. “Did the police contact you?”
“They sure did.”
My stomach hurts, but I nod, understanding that he has to cooperate for his own sake. “And did you… did you tell them I have your gun?”
“Not yet. I heard the craziest fucking shit, things I knew couldn’t possibly be true, and like an idiot, I wanted to talk to you first. I wanted to get your side of things because I knew what everyone was saying wasn’t true.
It couldn’t be.” He jabs a finger toward the road, his eyes widening.
“Then I see Torrance fucking Walters dropping you off.” His voice rises as he takes another step toward me.
I retreat two steps, but he keeps moving closer.
“You’re fucking him now?” he demands. “Really?”
“Why do you care?” I ask, shaking my head, at a loss.
“After what you say Tim did to you, you couldn’t stand to be touched by me, your boyfriend, and now you’re fucking the guy who has the same face as your rapist?”
My heart stops. An icy numbness sweeps over me, stealing the air from my lungs.
“I loved you,” he says, near to shouting, and I flinch as I retreat farther, faster.
Too fast.
I gasp as I back into the Lexus.
“He doesn’t fucking love you,” he says, gesturing wildly to the road again. “He doesn’t give a damn about you, and him you’ll fuck? What the hell is wrong with you, Cassie?”
“Please stop,” I say, squeezing my eyes closed, then burying my face in my hands. “You’re making me very uncomfortable.”
“You’re uncomfortable.” He laughs. “How do you think I feel? I have been so goddamn patient with you, Cassie. I’ve been a fucking idiot. Now I just want my shit back, so tell me, where the fuck is my gun?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he put you up to asking for it?”
I uncover my face, frowning. “What?”
“Mr. ‘I’ve got your back as long as you have mine,’” he says, making my blood run cold.
He heard Tor’s parting words to me, so what else did he hear?
What did Tor even say?
My mind races to recollect every word, to piece it all together and remember what we actually said once we were out of the car.
Did he hear anything incriminating?
My skin is heated, and it’s not the midsummer weather’s fault. I try to shove down the fear, but I can’t think straight.
“Why would he put me up to asking for your gun?”
“I don’t know. I have no fucking idea what you’ve gotten mixed up in.
I know my mom was right about you. She used to make me so mad when we were dating.
She said you weren’t right for me, that your expectations were fucked up, that you wanted a guy who would jump through hoops for you.
Maybe she was right,” he says, looming closer.
“Maybe you want more than a guy who will jump through your hoops, Cassie. Maybe you want a guy who will kill for you.”
Another chill shoots down my spine, but I straighten my shoulders, doing my best to conceal my discomfort. I used to feel safe with Russell, but it’s clear I’m not anymore, and if he’s turned on me, then…
Then I don’t know, honestly. I’m screwed. Russell can tell the police he gave me the weapon, even if they can’t find it, and if he’s angry enough and wants to punish me, who knows what else he’ll say.
“You need to leave,” I tell him.
“Why? Am I hitting too close to home? The pussy must be pretty fucking good if you convinced the guy to murder his own brother for you.”
“That’s insane. What you’re saying is crazy.”
“Tor Walters is fucking crazy, and now you’re spreading your legs for him, so it seems like you like that in a guy.” He leans closer, and I have to resist the urge to shove him back.
“Do not take another step toward me, or I will scream my head off,” I tell him.
He shakes his head, looking down at me. “You’ve changed.”
“So have you,” I state, my tone making it clear I’m not a fan of the remodel.
He glares at me for a moment, then says, “Tomorrow, I’m going to the cops, and I’m telling them everything I know.”
“You don’t know anything,” I say, though my voice wavers.
He laughs, a short, mean little sound. “No? I was there last summer, Cassie. I know how much you fucking hated Tim Walters. You got the gun from me. I don’t think you have it in you to pull the trigger, but I absolutely wouldn’t put it past you to manipulate Tor into pulling it for you.”
“Oh, I’m manipulative now?”
“I think you always were. I just couldn’t see it before. Too blinded by love.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh, short and mean. “That wasn’t love.”
He stares at me for a moment, then mutters, “Felt like love.”
My heart gives a little, the piece I used to let him hold.
But he doesn’t hold it anymore, so the feeling passes.
He takes a step back, then another, still watching me.
Finally, he turns and makes his way down my driveway.
I know I should call him back, try to talk to him, reason with him, and find out what he’s really going to say about me to the cops tomorrow, but I can’t bring myself to do it because I don’t want him to come back.
Russell had the capacity to be a jerk before, but he never made me feel threatened. Not like tonight.
I wait until he’s out of sight before I click the button to unlock the Lexus, then I open the door and drop into the driver’s seat. I don’t turn on the car, but I open my purse and take out the new phone Tor gave me.
I only consider it for a second before I shoot off a text. “Ugh, I wish we would have finished the popcorn. It was so good. I should have probably listened to you about the fruit punch, too.”
I press send, then look back over my text, lingering on the keywords.
Initially, I was torn on whether this was a yellow or red situation, but Russell is going to the cops tomorrow.
I don’t think anything can be done to change his mind, but I need to give Tor a heads-up.
He needs to get rid of that gun if he hasn’t already.
A minute passes, and then the burner phone starts ringing. At the same time, my regular phone registers a return text from Tor, but it just says, “Next time, you better listen to me so you don’t miss out.”
I swipe the phone screen and put the burner to my ear. “Hello?”
“Hey.”
My scrambled insides calm a little at the sound of his voice. “Hi.”
“You said a variation of that already,” he points out, lightly amused. “Just testing out the code words, or…?”
“No. Is it okay if we talk?”
“Yeah, it’s okay.”
“Um… after you left, I was about to go in my house, but it turns out Russell was waiting on my front porch when you dropped me off.”
“Your ex-boyfriend.”
“Yes. I don’t know how much he heard, but I know he heard you saying you had my back as long as I have yours, and he was really mad.”
“Why was he mad?”
“I—” I pause, unsure how to even answer that without feeling immensely awkward.
“He heard about what happened, and whoever told him must have mentioned the part about me sleeping with you. He seemed… jealous. And then he told me he wants his gun back, but of course I don’t have it.
He said all this stuff… and then he said he’s going to the cops tomorrow to tell them everything he knows. ”
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No, of course not. I mean… he was an asshole, but I’m fine.
I don’t know how long I will be, though, because like I said, he was really angry, and he can tell the cops I had his gun.
Since the gun was his, he knows more about it than I do.
He can probably even give them the information they need to match his gun to the bullet that was used to kill Tim, so…
I’m probably fucked, but I don’t want you to get in any more trouble than you have to, so I think you need to ditch the gun if you still have it, and tomorrow you should probably talk to your lawyer or the cops. Get ahead of it.”
“Okay. But Russell’s not there anymore, right? He left?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure he’s gone?”
“Yeah. He’s walking home. He probably lives like ten minutes away.”
“Okay,” Tor says, and I can hear his gears turning. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I don’t want you to stay at your mom’s tonight. Are you in the house?”
“No, I’m in the car.”
“Go inside and pack an overnight bag for yourself. Make it quick. Toothbrush, charger, clothes, just whatever you need for the night. We’re going to meet up at the motel by the freeway, the one next to the gas station the semis use. You know where I’m talking about?”
I nod, but realizing he can’t see me, I add, “Yeah, I know the place.”
“Okay, good. Get your stuff together and head there as soon as you can. Text me on your regular phone that you’re there.
I’ll go in and get us a room. There’s a camera in the lobby, so we’ll be seen checking in together.
Then you can settle in and go to sleep. I have to go out and ditch the gun, but I’ll come back.
We need each other for an alibi, and since we went on a date tonight, it’s not suspicious if we get a motel room. ”
We went on a date?
My mind snags on that casual statement, but it’s obviously not what I need to focus on right now.
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll see you there.”