Page 64 of Burn Me Down

“He lured people to their death, Beck. He had to be a good enough liar to do that. How do you know he’s not lying to you now? How do you know he isn’t just doing this to get close to me and Asher and get us to let our guard down so he can set his final plan into motion?”

I’d thought she was ridiculous, and we fought until we were both angry and storming out of the bathroom. I would’ve died on that hill, protecting Derek from her accusations, but there was a little thread of doubt now. If he didn’t tell me about a girl who either lived with him or had a key, then what else was he hiding?

I had tons of boyfriends and was engaged twice, even though the first time, it had only been a couple of days on a drunken trip in Las Vegas, but that was beside the point. I had a life and had sex with people before him. I didn’t care if he had a life before me. Okay, that was a lie. I kinda cared. I loved the idea of being his first. There was something so romantic about it like we were meant to be, but that was the sappy, dreamy, and very unpractical side talking. The issue I was having was that I didn’t know what to believe. Why lie about something like that? If he lied about that, then what else?

“I just don’t know,” I grumbled, not paying attention to where I even was.

“Do you need help?”

Jerking at the sound of the voice, I looked up to see a man I didn’t recognize wearing a suit and standing in the lobby.

“Oh, no, sorry, just mumbling to myself. Are you new to the building,” I asked, searching around in my purse for the key.

“No, I am here for an investigation.” I forced myself not to panic and kept looking for my keys like the word investigation or him walking toward me showing off a badge on his hip wasn’t freaking me out.

“Oh, no. I hope everything is okay?” I wrapped my hand around my keys and hitched my purse higher on my shoulder. “Please tell me there isn’t something terrible happening in this building? There is just so much crazy going on in the world. It would make me feel very unsafe to have trouble brewing in my home.”

Wow, maybe I was the liar. That just rolled off my tongue.

“I am actually here to see you,” he said, holding out a business card.

“Detective Jacobs? Why would you need to see me? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

He smiled, but I didn’t trust him. I took a deep breath and made sure I didn’t look outside like I wanted to run, even though that was all I wanted to do.

“No, you haven’t done anything wrong, but I did have a few questions about a man you went on a date with and then called 911 about.”

I already knew Kent was dead. Derek had told me that, but I furrowed my brow in confusion. “Detectives follow up on 911 calls about dates ending badly?”

He chuckled, the corner of his mouth pulling up, but it seemed fake. “We do when the date ends up murdered.”

I sucked in a gasping breath and covered my mouth. “What? How? Why? I don’t understand, and why do you need to speak to me?”

“Can I come upstairs? I really shouldn’t talk about this in a lobby.”

The last thing on this earth I wanted was this detective in my apartment. Derek hadn’t left a trace of himself behind that much I trusted, and I couldn’t take the risk of looking suspicious.

“Sure, but I need to get to work, so I don’t have long. I’ve been away and need to check in before I get myself fired,” I said, slipping the key into the lock.

“Oh, yes, about that. We had a call from a friend of yours.” He flicked through a little notepad, but I was pretty sure he knew Vi’s name off the top of his head. Violet would’ve made herself a pest when I went missing, which was just her nature, but if she called after dinner last night, then the two of us were done as friends.

“A Violet Clarke, she said you’d been kidnapped.” I burst out laughing and hoped it seemed real enough as I opened the door for him to follow me.

“Do I look kidnapped?”

Jacobs smiled. “No, you don’t, but it does leave me wondering where you were that you didn’t tell anyone?”

I lifted my brow at him. “Is it a crime for a girl to want some alone time? Especially after the horrible run of men I’ve had, including the late Mr. Kent? I needed a break. I am overworked and underpaid, and after being attacked by my date, I just wanted to get away for a little while.” I stomped for the elevator and pushed the button.

“Your friend seemed adamant that something had happened to you.”

I growled. “Trust me, part of the reason I needed to get away for a few days was to get out from under Vi’s overbearing, hovering. I love my best friend, but she worries about everything and calls me twenty times a day and sends texts wanting me to check in like I’m her child. She is trying to get me to move in with her. She calls it caring. I call it smothering.” I rambled, getting into the elevator. Jacobs stepped in beside me. “Don’t tell her that, though. I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but enough is enough. I’m allowed to have sex on a first date and not want to answer the phone after a long day. I’m allowed to have a glass of wine with dinner and watch a dirty movie or two. You know what I mean?”

Jacobs looked shell-shocked, and that was exactly where I wanted to keep him. “I’m sure you do. I mean, you’re a detective. You see the worst of the worst and still have to try to find time for a life. Isn’t it the worst trying to act normal after a sixteen-hour shift or, hell, a twenty-four-hour one?” The doors opened, and I stepped out into the hall, Jacobs still following along. “The whole Covid thing really set us back. There are fewer nurses and more protocols, and no one trusts the medical industry. Do you know how many times a day I have to try and convince someone that coming into the hospital isn’t an instant death sentence? Don’t even get me started about the cost of everything. I can’t even buy a carton of eggs anymore without needing to put a lien on something.”

Unlocking my apartment, I pushed open the door and tossed the keys in my purse as I continued my tirade. “I’m just so sick and tired of working all the time and barely able to make my bills.”

“Um…I’m sorry to interrupt you….”