Page 65 of Bed of Roses

I heave for air as if the world doesn’t have enough oxygen for me while they lift her up and set her on the stretcher. And then they race away with her, out of the pasture and through a gate that’s never used.

At first, I’m frozen to the spot, staring at all the blood soaking the grass. And then, I’m moving,runningafter them. They’re loading her into the ambulance when I reach them, but when I try to get inside, a paramedic puts her hand on my chest.

“I’m coming with,” I growl at her.

“The cops were closely behind us. They’ll be here any minute, and you have to answer questions.”

“I’m going with Tegan!” I shout.

The paramedic gives me a sympathetic look. “We’ve got her.”

“But her heart stopped beating!” I look past her and watch as another paramedic is doing chest compressions while another is hanging a bag of blood.

She shakes her head. “We’ll try to revive her, but no matter whether you come with or if you stay, the result will be the same.”

More sirens sound in the distance, of what can only be the police she promised. I barely register it though because saying that her heart stopped beating makes the situation real for me. Tegan is dead. She’s dead . ..

Rage fills me, and the paramedic must see it on my face because she says, “Catch who did this to her, and we’ll do what we can for Tegan.”

And with that, she shoves me back a little and closes the back of the ambulance door. She jogs around to the driver's side, hops in, and puts on her sirens as she races away.

And then I’m left standing there, my limbs numb but my blood full of pure anger. When the cops arrive, I tell them everything I know. At first, they don’t believe me, the word of a murderer against the reputation of a fellow cop, but they jot down everything anyway. At one point, they try to call Smith, but he doesn’t answer.

I tell them what I know, how we thought it was Derek, how we handed over evidence that it was, how Derek and Smith hate each other. I don’t have all the answers, but I demand for them to believe me.

When it’s over, when they’ve questioned me to no end, they send me away.

I stomp toward my truck and yank the door open. Hopping in, I immediately roar the engine to life. It doesn’t take long for me to get out of the driveway and onto the road, and when I do, I point my truck toward Mount Pleasant.

Tori has no idea that her best friend is dead. She has every right to know, and truth be told, I need to tell someone who will actually believe me.

My mind revisits Tegan’s last breath the entire way there, and before I know it, I throw my car into Park in front of Tori’s shop. I march my way to her front door and try to open the door, but it’s locked.

Growling, I bang on the door. The glass nearly shatters under the force of my fist, but it doesn’t take long for Tori to pop her head around the corner of a shelf, a frown onher face. But then she takes me in and races to the door to unlock it.

“Cole?” she greets as she opens the door.

I shove past her and step into the shop, my hands flying to my head. If I had long enough hair, I’d be pulling it out. She’s dead. No heartbeat. No breath. She’s gone!

“What is all over your shirt?” I whip around to face her, and I don’t know what she sees, but her expression flickers from confusion to realization. “Is that blood?” she asks quietly.

“It’s Tegan’s,” I growl.

I watch as she gulps. “What do you mean it’s Tegan’s?”

I’ve never been a subtle guy. I’ve never been one to beat around the bush, and this time, it’s no different. “She’s dead. Killed.”

Her mouth parts, and fresh tears prick her eyes. It’s a relief when a sob wracks her body because I know she believes me. I don’t have to do any convincing that the person we love is gone from this world.

“What happened?” she asks through a sob.

I explain everything, from the realization that Neil was buried under the roses to getting the shovels, to seeing Smith. I explain how I found her, and as I do, Tori covers her face and starts crying into her palms.

I wait until her crying subsides and fresh tears, tears I never shed before today, prick my own eyes. I begin pacing the floor, trying to get them to stop shedding, and as I do, Tori hiccups and asks, “Sheriff Smith did this?”

Pausing in my rage, I turn to face her. “I’m going to kill him,” I confess.

She angrily wipes away tears. “Not if I get to him first.”

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