Page 105 of Only Be Mine

“What was the argument about?” the detective asked.

Seth rubbed his palms against his jeans. “Does it matter?”

“It might.”

Seth exhaled slowly. “We were drinking. We said things we didn’t mean.”

“What things?”

Seth hesitated too long.

I felt it then, the way the room leaned toward him. The way the questions sharpened.

“He was angry,” Seth said finally. “I… I asked him get my girlfriend a place in his wedding party - to make her a bridesmaid.”

My chest tightened. I hated thinking about that night, that stupid fight. And to know he and Seth fought too… I never should have accused him of wanting her.

“Did he mention leaving?” the detective asked.

“No,” Seth said immediately.

Then Detective Marshall closed the folder.

“There’s something else,” he said.

My pulse jumped.

He reached down beside his chair and lifted an oversized yellow envelope onto the table between us.

The sound it made, paper against metal, was absurdly loud.

“We recovered these items from the deceased earlier tonight,” he said carefully. “We need to determine whether they belonged to John Rosewood.”

The deceased.

Not the man. Not the victim.

The word hit like ice water.

He slid the envelope closer to me but didn’t let go.

“I’m going to show you the contents,” he said. “You won’t be able to keep them. This is for identification purposes only.”

My hands trembled as I nodded.

He opened the envelope.

First, a phone.

An older model smartphone. The screen was cracked spiderweb-thin across one corner. The battery was dead, the case missing. It looked worn, used, carried.

My stomach clenched.

“That’s his,” I whispered before I could stop myself.

The detective raised a brow. “You’re certain?”

“Yes.” I leaned forward despite myself. “That crack - he dropped it on the driveway the summer before he disappeared. He didn’t get it replaced, he said it gave it character.”