Chapter 2
I’d never been inside a police station before. One
might think I lived a boring life. No parking tickets to appear for. I’d never
been fined for speeding. Even as a teenager, I obeyed the law.
Well, I did do a little underage drinking here and there,
and I most definitely smoked a bit of weed in my day, but I’d never gone
overboard.
And I’d been clever enough to not get caught.
But now I was sitting in one of those rooms that I’d only
seen on reality TV. I was sure the camera in the corner wasn’t for show.
Although I’d done absolutely nothing wrong, I half expected a barrel-chested
detective to burst through the door and start throwing accusations at me.
My fingers curled around the crumbled tissue I’d been
holding for what felt like hours. The man I’d kamikazed into had
called the police since I hadn’t been able to figure out how to get my phone
out of my purse and use it.
Shock.
That’s what the EMTs who’d arrived right behind the flashing
red and blue lights of the police cars had told me. They had wanted me to go to
the hospital to get checked out, but the responding officers were
understandably impatient. They needed answers. I was a witness to a—to a
murder.
Because that man in the alley was dead.
And there was nothing seriously wrong with me. My palms were
a bit raw and my body ached from my tumble. The cuts on my cheeks were nothing
compared to what had happened to the man lying facedown in the alley.
I would be fine.
My breath caught, and I refused to close my eyes for
anything longer than a second because when I had as the police officer drove me
to the station, I saw the bald man firing the gun. I heard it crack. I saw the
man fold like a paper sack.
I saw the bald man pointing the gun at me.
Terror resurfaced, and I shut it down before it took hold,
but it was a struggle to not think about the fact that the murderer had seen my
face. He knew that I was a witness. That was terrifying because there was no
doubt in my mind that he would have no problem putting a bullet in me.
He had no problem doing it to that man.
Folding my arms across my chest, I stared at the near-empty
paper cup in front of me. I’d all but gulped it down when the officer had
brought it to me. A shiver rolled across my shoulders. It was so chilly in
here. Even the tip of my nose was icy.
Instead of keeping my thoughts blank, I focused on what had
happened. How much time I thought had passed between when I left the bar and
had walked in front of the alley. What I saw was important. Someone was
murdered, and I’d seen the persons responsible. Whatever information I had
would help bring them to justice.
So I replayed the events over and over, up to the horrifying
moment the gun had gone off, despite how badly it made me shudder and how I
wished I had kept walking. That may be wrong, but I knew that until my dying
day, I would never forget tonight.
That man died with his face pressed into an alley that
smelled of urine.
I shuddered again. Never in a million years had I thought
accepting a date with Rick the Dick would end with me sitting in a police
station after witnessing…a murder.
I had no idea how long I’d been sitting in this room, but at
some point an officer had shown up with my car keys. After confirming the make
and model, the officer had left again to retrieve my car from the scene. I
wasn’t sure if that was protocol or not, but I appreciated the gesture.
The last thing I wanted to do was return to the scene.
A shaky breath puffed out as the door opened, causing my
chin to jerk up. Two men entered. The first thing I noticed was that both were
dressed like I expected detectives to be. The first man wore tan trousers and
the other one had on black. The first man’s dress shirt was slightly wrinkled,
as if he had gotten the call in the middle of the night and had picked the
first thing up from the floor. He was older, possibly in his fifties, and his
dark gaze was sympathetic as he moved closer to the table. The scent of fresh
coffee wafted from the cup he held. He placed a closed file on the table.
“Ms. Ramsey? I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I know you’ve
had a long night. I’m Detective Hart.” He stopped, turning halfway. “And this
is Detective…”
I was already looking up at the other guy, taking in how the
pressed, white polo was loose at his trim waist and a bit tighter along a
clearly defined chest and shoulders. Right now really wasn’t the best moment to
be checking out a guy, so I forced myself to look up. My gaze had just moved to
his face when Detective Hart introduced the second detective.
My heart stopped for the second time that evening.
Oh my God.
I could feel my eyes widen as I gawked at the second man,
who was openly staring back at me with the same look of disbelief on his
unbelievably handsome face. I didn’t even need to hear his name spoken. I knew
who it was.
Colton Anders.
Oh my God, there was no mistaking him. Those high, angular
cheekbones, the cut line of an often stubborn jaw, his full lips and those
bright and piercing blues eyes had spawned an embarrassing amount of fantasies
in high school and beyond.
God, it probably made me a terrible person. I had a
boyfriend all through high school—a boy who ultimately became my husband—but
there had always been Colton. He was the untouchable god in high school, the
boy you went to school for and lusted for from afar, even though an icicle had
a better chance of surviving in hell than you did when it came to gaining his
attention.
Colton was classically handsome, just like his younger
brother, Reece, and he looked more ready to arrive at a fashion shoot for a
men’s health magazine than he appeared ready to investigate a homicide.
So shocked at the sight of him, the question blurted out of
me. “I thought you worked for the county?”
“I did, but I transferred to the city.” Colton lifted his
arm, running his hand over his dark brown hair. Did he still live in Plymouth
Meeting? Had he moved to Philadelphia? Those questions were so inappropriate,
and I was amazed I kept my mouth shut as he stared at me. “Damn, Abby. I had no
idea it was you in this room.”
He knew my name? Let alone, remembered it? The Kool-Aid dude
could burst through the one-way mirror and I wouldn’t be any more surprised.
Colton and I hadn’t run in the same circles, and I was sure, a hundred percent
positive, I hadn’t been on his radar in high school.
“You two know each other?” Hart asked with a frown as he
glanced between us.
Colton gave a tight shake of his head. “We went to high
school together, but I haven’t seen her…” He lowered his arm. “I haven’t seen
you in years.”
Oh, but I had seen him around town. Not often. At the
grocery store once in a while. Once at the movies. I’d been with my friend and
he had been with this statuesque blonde.
“I…” Swallowing hard, I glanced at Detective Hart. Off
kilter from what had happened, I already felt like I was stuck in a dream. Or a
nightmare. “I left for college and then moved to New York after I graduated.
I’ve been back for about four years.”
Colton stepped around Hart and those blue eyes, framed by a
heavy fringe of lashes, narrowed. “Are you okay?” His head jerked back toward
the other detective. “Has she seen an EMT?”
“From what Officer Hun said, she was treated and refused to
go to the hospital.”
That narrowed gaze landed on me sharply. “You need to get—”
“I’m fine.” How bad did my face look? I resisted the urge to
glance at the one-way glass window. “Really, I am.”
“You were shot at,” Colton stated.
I flinched, unable to stop myself. Either the responding
officer had filled him in or that info was in the file. “The bullet must’ve hit
a nearby wall. It was chunks of brick.” Pausing, I wetted my lips. “It’s not…”
Colton’s gaze dipped to my mouth for a second too long for
me to have completely imagined it. His eyes met mine quick enough as he slid
into the seat closest to me on my left. “Have you called your husband?”
What the…? I blinked once and then twice. He knew I’d
married? Granted, it wasn’t like it had been a secret or anything. Kevin and
I…we’d gotten married right after graduation, during the summer, and by winter
we had moved. Yes, we all went to school together, but I had been completely
invisible to him.
Drawing in a shallow breath, I loosened my grip on the
tissue as I refocused my thoughts. “Kevin passed away four years ago. It was a
car accident.”
“Shit.” Colton straightened as the look in his steeling blue
gaze softened. “I didn’t know.” He reached over, placing his large hand on my
shoulder. The weight was shockingly comforting. “I’m sorry, Abby.”
“It’s…” It wasn’t exactly okay even though I’d long come to
terms with the loss of Kevin. Some days it was still hard. Something small,
like a certain scent or a song on the radio would remind me of him and how
uncertain life could be. “Thank you.”
He squeezed gently and then lowered his hand, the tips of
his fingers brushing the bare skin of my arm. “Okay. Let’s get this over so you
can go home.”
Hart arched a brow as he eyed Colton. He took the seat
across from me. “I know you’ve already given your statement to Officer Hun, but
we’re going to want you to start from the beginning, okay?”
I nodded slowly. “I was leaving the bar Pixie’s and walking
to my car. It was parked a couple of blocks away. Maybe three or four blocks.
It was early. Maybe around eight-thirty. I was on a…a date, but the guy was a
total douchebag.” My cheeks heated as my gaze darted to Colton. “I’m sorry.
That’s not really important.”
Colton’s lips twitched. “Everything is important.”
I forced myself to take another slow, steady breath. “All
right. I was walking to my car and I really wasn’t paying attention. That area
of the city isn’t bad and so I wasn’t expecting anything to happen, you know? I