Page 18 of Break the Ice
For me to lose him like this…
“Marisse!” Rafe growls, jarring me out of my flashback. His jaw’s clenched. His grip wrapped around Mr. Hawk’s ankles. “Did you hear what I just told you?”
Dumbly, I give a small shake of my head. I’ve gone mute.
I’m slick with sweat and blood. I’m sick with disgust and horror.
This can’t be happening.
“Grab the trash bags,” Rafe orders. “We’ll have to be quick. Mitch is on the way.”
“M-Mitch?” I stammer. I stumble over my own two feet. My hands clumsily grab at the box of trash bags Rafe has found in the kitchen, and I swagger over to pass them to him. “Who?”
“He’ll dispose of him. Nobody has to know the truth.”
“But…” I gasp for air, so stunned I’ve forgotten how to breathe.
Rafe snatches the box of trash bags out of my hand and pulls a couple off the large roll. His expression’s more solemn than I’ve ever seen it. A severity lives in his eyes, his brows connected in a line.
He’s thinking a mile a minute.
“What did you do?” he asks me.
“Me?”
“You were sitting on the couch next to his body. What happened? Did he attack you?”
“I don’t know,” I answer for what feels like the millionth time. I peer up at the police officers with tears glossing my eyes. My jaw trembles. “Please… I don’t know what happened. He called me earlier to come over… and… and I found him like this…”
“You had his blood on you,” says the police officer on the left. Blond. Older. Face creased with suspicion. He glances at his partner, then back at me. “How did you get in?”
“The… the door was unlocked.”
“As we understand it, you and Mr. Abernathy have had a falling out…”
“He should be here any minute,” Rafe says. “He’ll take care of the rest. Make sure he’s never found. A cleaning crew will come by and have the place spotless.”
I lean against the sofa’s armrest, half seated, half standing. “We need to call the police.”
“That’s the last thing we need to do. You have his blood all over you. There’s a murder weapon that likely has your fingerprints on it.” He gestures to the broken liquor bottle I must’ve used to defend myself. “Do you have any idea what you’d be opening yourself up to? It would be a full-fledged police investigation, and guess who suspect number one would be?”
“I’m innocent.”
“You might be. But it doesn’t matter what you are. It matters what they think.”
It’s too much to process at one time. My hand comes to the top of my head. My fingers massage my scalp, hoping to ease the tension bundled up inside me. It feels like I’m about to explode from so much confusion.
David had sounded eager to see me. He’d mentioned talking about our future.
Why would he do this?
Police and other first responders flood the ground floor of his house. I stand off to the side, answering any questions the lead police officers ask me.
It’s not until Jhene shows up that I’m pulled away and reminded I need an attorney. I shouldn’t be answering any of their questions without one.
Jhene slides an arm around my shoulders and escorts me off. “Never talk to the police unrepresented, Mari. What were you thinking?”
“David’s… gone…”
