I wanted to laugh. No one could comprehend how I felt about him. The overwhelming, almost unbearable sensation I felt in his presence. Sometimes joyful, often painful. Always uncontrollable. For nearly all of my adult life, he’d been both my greatest source of happiness and my greatest source of pain. My safe haven and poison all at once.
But not anymore. This was the end. I wouldn’t be dragged back in, wouldn’t lose control again.
I allowed myself one final look as he posed for the cameras. His eyes met mine for a fraction of a second before he glanced away, as if I was no one to him. I dug my nails into my palms, trying to pierce skin with my sharp acrylics while his mouth turned up into his famous crooked smile.
It was a weird feeling, to want to escape into someone’s arms and also murder them at the same time.
Chapter 23
No. No. No. This can’t be happening. Naomi’s phone drops to the floor. She lifts her hands to her head and squeezes.
When? How? For the police to have arrested Harlow in the first place for not one but two murders, they must have had strong enough evidence to convince a judge to sign off on the warrant. So how the hell does the case just get dropped in less than a week?
Naomi rereads the article, scouring the page for further details of what prompted them to drop the case or if they have another lead. But there’s nothing else. All it says is the DNA wasn’t a match, and the judge felt that was grounds for dismissal.
Naomi clenches her hands into fists as anger bubbles inside her. How could they let her go, this potentially deranged murderer, without even having another lead? How could they just rip justice away from the families like that? From Emily. From Naomi.
She scoffs, shaking her head. She knows exactly what got her released. Money. Power. Influence. People like Harlow always get away with everything.
“Fuck!” she yells out in frustration, hot tears stinging her eyes.
Her hands tremble as she bends down to get her phone. She exits out of the article and calls Leo, desperate for answers.
He answers on the first ring. “Hey.”
“Harlow,” Naomi cries. “She’s been released. All charges dropped.”
“Well, yeah. Must be innocent.”
He sounds wildly confused by her intense reaction. “Sorry, I feel like I’ve missed something. You find some evidence I don’t know about?”
She pinches the bridge of her nose, imagining how crazy she must seem to him, not knowing everything she does. She became so absorbed by the case over the weekend, she forgot not everyone else’s life revolves around it too.
She thinks of the autopsy reports. Of the same level of fentanyl in both Jade and Faye’s systems.
“Well, I found some stuff out. Some pretty crazy… I don’t know… this weekend…” She huffs, unable to form a coherent sentence.
“Everything alright?” he asks.
No, everything fucking isn’t alright, she wants to scream.My sister was probably murdered and her killer has just walked free.
But Leo doesn’t even know Naomi ever had a sister, as far as she’s aware. “Everything’s fine.” She bites her lip. “But I could do with a big favor.”
“Okay…” He waits for her to explain.
“Could you try to find out who the detectives are—were—on the Harlow case? I need to speak to them. Or, if you can talk to them first, just try to get any info you can.”
He sighs reluctantly, but she presses on. “I know it’s really annoying and I’m sorry to ask. But I need to know what they know—what evidence they had, if they think she really did it, or if they have any other leads…”
“Uhh…”
“Please? It’s… I just need to know. I promise I’ll explain later. Or whenever you’re free. Are you free later?” She knows she sounds frantic, can hear the frenzy in her voice, but hopes it will convince him to do what she is asking and not ask any questions.
“I can meet you around four? Just let me know where.”
“Thank you! I’ll text you the address.”
After convincing him one last time she is indeed fine, Naomi hangs up, slightly embarrassed she called him so hastily. He must think she’s a mad woman. But she doesn’t care. She needs answers.
