The taxi pulls up in front of my dad’s house a little after six.He eyes me speculatively, no doubt hoping for a big tip.I push a bunch of bills in his direction, not even looking at them.It should cover the trip from Anacortes and his tip.
He pulls away before I even have both feet on the ground.
I march up the steps, my heart pounding.I’m running on pure adrenaline.Pure rage.But I want to look Marnie in the eyes and ask her why.I want her to explain it to me.Why did she take my dad from me?Why does she hate me?What gives her the right to play the grieving widow when she’s the reason he’s gone?
“Raven,” she says as soon as she throws the door open.She doesn’t look surprised to see me.Did Rhys call her?Does he know I found his file?
Of course he called her.He probably warned her that I know.
My heart screams in protest.It bleeds.God, it hurts.
“You killed my dad.”
Her eyes widen in shock.
“You killed my dad!”I scream.And then I’m crying again, sobbing so hard I can’t breathe.
“Come inside,” Marnie says, grabbing my arm.
I’m too damn miserable to argue.I’m too damn miserable to do anything but follow along like a broken little doll as she pulls me into the house.As soon as she does, I realize just how badly I messed up.Because she isn’t alone.Jack Hale is here, and he has a gun.
He’s pointing it right at me.
ChapterTen
RHYS
“Yo, Flannery!”
I stop walking and turn as Rodrigo shouts my name from across the parking lot.
“Tawnie McAllister just called.She said your girl was just at her place ten minutes ago,” he says, jogging toward me.“Said she looked like she’d seen a ghost.She thought you’d want to know.”
What the fuck?
I frown, instantly worried.I already know Raven won the contest last night, so I know that’s not the problem.Four different people have brought it up today.They wanted to know when she’d be singing again.I’m proud as hell of her.She sang like a fucking angel last night.I’ve never heard anything like her before.There’s no way I’m letting her run Brant’s company.I’ll quit the force and do it myself before I let her give up her dream.She was born to be on stage.
“Thanks,” I mutter to Rodrigo, jogging to my truck.I fish my phone out of my pocket and dial her number.After the fourth ring, it sends me to voicemail.“Call me when you get this, songbird.”I disconnect and shoot her a text before hopping in the truck.
I’d hoped to be home by now, but paperwork is a bitch.There’s always a ream of it when it comes to gun deaths, and Jonas Reamer’s wasn’t pleasant.He didn’t mean to kill himself, but guns and alcohol never mix.He was showing off and accidentally shot himself.His family is broken up over it.We had to interview everyone who was out there and go through the whole scene.It took a while.
I pull out of the parking lot and head toward the house, keeping an eye out for Raven along the way.By the time I pull into the driveway, I haven’t seen her.She hasn’t answered her phone either.I hit the garage door button and pull in.
“Raven?”I shout as soon as I’m over the threshold, but I know immediately that she isn’t here.I can sense her when she is.It’s as if she’s a piece of me, connected to me on some level that goes beyond the physical.I check through every room anyway, my worry intensifying when I find my desk chair toppled over and her phone on the bed.She never leaves the house without it.
I scroll through it, looking for any hint of what might have upset her.Aside from my calls, the only other one she got today came from the bar.Something is wrong.Seriously fucking wrong.
My instincts are screaming that truth at me.
I pace toward the desk, the air leaving my lungs in a rush when I see a photo on the floor beside the chair.It’s one of her and Brant, the same one I’ve taken out of the case file a thousand times and looked at.
The case file.
I drop to my knees, reaching beneath the desk for the file.
It’s gone.She knows.
Where is she?
