Niyah sipped from the glass. “Umm. This is delicious. What is this?”
“Moscow Mule.”
“I’ve heard of that.” She took another sip. “I really like it.”
Niyah quieted when her thoughts returned to her sister, the evidence she had removed from the crime scene, and the DNA she’d destroyed. Maybe she deserved to have her license stripped away. Maybe she deserved to go to jail.
Xander moved a loose loc off her shoulder and swirled the sponge over her back. “Where did you go?” he asked, pulling her back to the present.
Niyah closed her eyes and allowed her head to fall. “Xander, I-I... I’ve done something.”
“Okay.” His voice was deep and filled with concern.
“Somethingbad, Xander. I’ve done something really bad.” Niyah heard the weakness and vulnerability in her voice. Telling him what she’d done could be a disaster. She could possibly bring about her own condemnation. What would stop Xander from turning her and Naomi in?
Xander dropped the sponge in the water and rubbed her shoulders. “What did you do?”
Niyah wiped a tear from her cheek. “I broke the law.”
Xander gripped her shoulders. “There are a lot of laws, Niyah. It’s easy to break one or two.”
“I tampered with evidence,” Niyah confessed.
Xander’s silence filled the room like carbon dioxide. It was like she could hear the inner workings of his brain. Niyah suddenly wished she could go back in time before she’d confessed to a crime.
“Niyah.” Though his voice was soft, the sound of it made Niyah jump.
“Xander, I--”
“Wait. You’re a death investigator. So, what you're saying is you covered up a murder.”
“Yes, I covered up a murder,” Niyah admitted in the tiniest whisper.
Xander moved from behind her and crawled to the side of the tub. He reached in and grabbed her hand. “Why did you cover up a murder?”
Niyah hesitated. It was one thing to confess her own sins, but another to tell her sister’s.
“Why did you cover up a murder?” Xander repeated.
Niyah sighed. “I had my reasons.”
Xander used his thumb to swipe a tear from her face. “Does anyone else know?”
Niyah nodded. “Yes, but she won’t say anything. At least, I don’t think she will.”
“Bella,” Xander muttered under his breath.
Niyah neither confirmed nor denied.
“Does anyone else know?” he asked again.
“Yes,” Niyah admitted.
“Yes?” Xander repeated in disbelief. “Niyah, how many people know?”
“Four now, including you.”
His eyes grew wide with concern. “Can you get away with this?”
