Page 26 of Save Me

She nods, her mouth too busy from the bite she took to respond.

“The other one is for Eve,” I say of my twelve-year-old niece. Technically, she’s Riley’s niece, but Kyle and Riley adopted her.

“Ladybug will love this,” she says, using her nickname for Eve. “Thanks.”

“I need to ask you something.”

“Shoot,” she says, then takes a sip of her iced tea.

I do the same.

“You’re one of the best people I know at reading others. How do you do it?”

She cocks her head to the side. “How?”

“I mean, I’m pretty good at reading people. But you’re on another level. I’m trying to figure out the motives of this person for this investigation I’m working on.”

“What do you know about them so far?”

“Not much.” I pause, thinking over my next words. Riley’s safe. She won’t share anything I say here if I ask her not to.

“The person is no longer alive,” I tell her. “I’m trying to figure out what would make someone want to take their own life. I know the reasons are plentiful. Yet, when I tried to reach out to the person’s family, they acted strange.”

“Strange, how?”

“It was weird.” I shake my head. “I briefly spoke with the mother. I expected there to be grief. But it was the opposite.”

“What happened?”

“She was cold, almost unaffected.” I hold my hand up. “And I know everyone grieves differently, but this didn’t feel like grief. It felt like apathy. Her daughter died by suicide, and I swear she would’ve had more emotion in her voice if we were speaking about a new pair of shoes.”

Riley snorts. “There’s no lack of shitty parents in this world.” A sad look crosses her face, and she peers down at her lap. Her hand goes to her stomach as she shakes her head.

I know my sister-in-law had an unenviable childhood. A chill runs down my spine as I recall my conversation with Erika Dalton’s mother.

She was so detached.

Erika wasn’t from Williamsport or this state, and according to the coroner, no one even came to collect the body or attempted to have it transferred back to her home state.

“Not everyone deserves to be a parent,” Riley says, taking the final bite of her croissant.

“Can’t argue with you there,” I mumble.

I push out a heavy breath. “I’ve just run into one dead end after another. Well …” I trail off, an image of Dae’s face coming to mind. “I have one lead but can’t figure him out.”

My gaze drops to my lap, remembering Dae’s words and the way I tried to slap him right after. Without thinking, I wrap a hand around my wrist where he touched me, and run my thumb along it. The memory alone brings that burning sensation back to the spot to my skin.

I would only admit this to myself, but the truth is, as indecent as his proposal sounded, a piece of me became enticed by it, which is why I had to turn it down.

“Him?”

Riley’s question makes me realize I spaced out for a beat.

I clear my throat and return my attention to my sister-in-law. She’s staring at me. Hard.

“No.” I shake my head. “Not like that. He’s … well, he’s …” I trail off as she holds a hand up.

“You came to me because I’m good at reading people, remember?”

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