Looks like I failed on that count.
And plenty of others if she thought I needed her protection.
“I was never in danger,” I snap, gnashing my teeth.
“Refill, boss?” Broadway asks.
He obviously doesn’t expect an answer, at least not a negative one given he’s already snatching my glass.
“I don’t think it was about danger,” Hailey continues. “I think maybe their evidence incriminated you. She just didn’t want you to go down with your father. Alex was working on keeping you out of it but Rhett was getting suspicious...”
“So there definitely is evidence?” Ryder pipes in.
“Yes. Alex couldn’t hand it over without securing Carter because it’d mean losing Aalyiah and he loved her too much to let that happen.”
I down half of the whiskey, reveling in the liquid fire warming my insides and soothing the rage. Whenever Alex is mentioned, a switch flips inside my head and I crave blood.
Hisblood.
I don’t think there’ll ever come a time when I stop wishing he was alive so I could inflict the most painful death upon him. I will forever wonder what his screams would sound like, how much he’d beg, how he’d apologize for what he did to my girl, my sister, and for agreeing to Vaughn’s plan.
“I guess we still don’t have a clue where the evidence is?” Broadway asks, leaning back in his chair.
Hailey shakes her head, watching her wine slosh by the rim of the glass she holds with both hands, her shoulder slumping as she takes a long, measured sip.
And then another. And one more. Her lips open as if to speak, but instead of words coming out, she pours more wine down her throat.
There must be more to her flashback. She must’ve seen Aalyiah if her pretty, innocent face triggered the memory.
“What else did you see?” I ask, keeping my tone level.
Her nails gouged so hard into my skin at one point that she broke it, leaving half-moon marks in my ink.
“I was worried about him,” she admits quietly, her cheeks red with embarrassment. “He didn’t know how to escape and your father was growing suspicious. I wanted him to leave Aalyiah and give my dad the evidence. He refused and...” She bites her cheek, inhaling through her nose. “He yelled, like always.”
It’s not until a tear drops into her wine that I realize she’s crying. She’s great at keeping her emotions on a tight leash, though, perfectly silent while small, silent tears trail down her cheeks. The sight is enough to flip my stomach.
I hate when she’s this vulnerable... I’m fucking scared to find out what else she saw.
“I stole his phone when he locked himself in the bathroom,” she mutters. “He had Aalyiah’s picture for wallpaper. I’m sure it was the first time I saw her. First time I heard her name.” Inhaling sharply, she straightens in her seat, wiping her tears away before looking at me. “I wanted him safe,” she says, her voice breaking. “I’m sorry... if I knew—”
Confusion knits my brows. “What are you sorry about?”
“I grabbed Alex’s phone to call Aalyiah and tell her Alex was dating us both. I wanted her to stop seeing him so he could handin the evidence.” She sniffles, more tears escaping those big blue eyes. “You were right. I’m the reason she’s dead.”
“Did you talk to her?”
She pinches her lip, biting so hard it looks fucking painful. I can’t watch. I lean out and pull her lip free.
“Did you talk to Aalyiah?” I ask again, my fingers curled under Hailey’s chin so she can’t look away.
“The memory ended too soon but I must have. I had her number and she found out somehow. Alex wouldn’t have told her about us... I don’t think anyone else knew.”
I turn my head, sending Ryder a pointed look. He doesn’t need an explanation; he knows exactly what I need. Within seconds, he’s up, fetching his laptop. If Hailey called Aalyiah, Ryder will find it in her call log. He’ll know how long their conversation lasted and when it happened.
There’s not much information in a list of incoming and outgoing calls so we only skimmed it during the hunt for Hailey. Maybe we should have probed deeper.
“Even if you did tell Aalyiah the truth, you’renotresponsible for her death,” I tell Hailey. “Alex is the only one to blame here. Do you understand?”
