Page 71 of Falling Too Late

Soft footsteps, and then the door pulled open. She looked me up and down. Both of us were covered in blood. She was still in the hoodie I left her in.?Her face more swollen. She hadn’t cleaned herself up all day.

Anger split her face, and she slapped me. The sound was deafening. The sharp pain in my face didn’t come close to the pain I felt for her. Slowly, I turned my head back to look at her. Tears were streaming down her face.

“You fucking left me!” Her hands turnedto fists, and she pounded on my chest. “You left me!” Sobs racked her body. Her hits slowed, and soon she was gripping my shirt. Her head bowed as she cried.

“I’m sorry.” My own sob cracked my voice.

“Is he dead?”?she asked, her voice tired.

“I took care of him,” I said, conveying my meaning to her.?

She lifted her head and hit me with angry greens.

“Wren, I’msosorry.”

Her face contorted then, and she grabbed onto me. Her wails rang out and I held her, picking her up as gently as I could. I sat on the bed with her cradled in my arms and let her cry. She did it all: cried and screamed as loud as her voice could manage. I knew I would never be able to unhear those sounds. They would be the sounds of my nightmares for the rest of my life.?I held her to my chest. Rocked her and kissed her forehead, murmuring the words I should have been able to tell her years ago.

“He’s dead, sweetheart. He’s never coming back. I made sure of it.”

It felt like I held her for hours. Jon eventually disappeared, but I didn’t know where he went. I didn’t care.??

Then the cops came.??

“Alexander Harper, you are under arrest for the murder of Kevin Whitman. You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and if you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you.”

Six years later

CHAPTER 26

WREN, 26 YEARS OLD

“Come on,you can hit harder than that!” Mario yelled, his voice echoing off the gym walls. We were causing a scene; there were people lined up around the mat. When two instructors went at each other, it was always a show. “Come on, Wren, my fucking grandma can kick harder than you!”

I threw two more jabs at his mitts. Mario was good, but he got into a rhythm and tended to repeat the same moves when we were just training like this. Knowing when he was about ready to sweep my feet, I jumped, landing two blows simultaneously on his chest when I touched the mat.

“OOF!” A puff of air left him. I dropped down into a crouch and swept his feet out from under him, knocking him on his ass.

“There we go!” Marshall clapped his hands together from the sidelines. “See, that’s how it’s done!” I took a few steps back away from Mario before reaching down and helping him up.

“Maybe if you would stop talking and actually fight, you wouldn’t always end up on your ass,” I huffed out.

“Good job, Wren.” Mario nodded, a chuckle on his lips. I nodded back, bracing my hands on my hips and walking a circle on the mat to catch my breath.

“That’s a wrap for the day,” Marshall said. He was the gym owner. I’d joined four years ago, and I was here every other day,either training or teaching. I crossed the mat and unwrapped my hands, heading to my bag, balling the blood-stained fabric up and shoving it away. I turned my phone on and set it down while the messages pinged in. Grabbed my water bottle and took a deep drink.

“Coming from behind,” Mario warned, and I moved so I could see him. It wouldn’t be the first time I took someone to the ground for sneaking up behind me. “Good job today. I think next week we will work on ground defense.”

I nodded, swallowing the last of my water. “Sounds good.” I dragged in a breath, the perspiration clinging to my skin. Mario was only telling me so I could prepare myself.

“What’s the plan tonight?”

“We have that thing tonight, right?” Typically, Mario and I went out for drinks on Fridays after a training session. It wasn’t something that was expected, but it was something that we did if we were both up for it. I met Mario years ago when I was in high school. He and Marshall partnered to open this gym, and now he taught classes here as a personal trainer. He was tall, strong with a lithe body, muscular but not bulky.

“You showering first?”

“Yeah. Just a quick one. Will you wait for me?”

“Okay.” Mario nodded. “Make it fast.”

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