Page 70 of Ace

The look on his face tells me that this isn't going to play out the way we expected it to, and I feel a sense of betrayal in that. I was told it would be a phone call, not that someone would show up and announce Sadie's death, but maybe this is more believable. People don't just get phone calls about a lost loved one, do they? That would be cold and callous.

I know it has to be someone from ICE because no one else would have the code to the gate, and I wonder if that's something they figured out on their own or if Eddie provided that to them.

My chin is trembling before William walks back into the dining room. There's a man with him that I don't recognize.

"Good evening," he says, making eye contact with everyone in the room. "I'm Detective Erik Granger with the Charleston police department."

I feel Eddie's eyes on me, but I can't look in his direction. If I see even a hint of sadness or empathy in his eyes, I'll lose it. I'm barely holding it together as it is.

I want to yell, to tell this man to leave, to let us finish our meal in peace before he shatters my family.

"I regret to inform you that we discovered Sadie Preston's body earlier today."

"What?" Chris snaps, his tone already laced with pain.

I look in his direction, tears already streaming down my face.

"What happened?" I ask the man who I seriously doubt is actually from Charleston police, but it would be suspect if an ICE agent showed up to announce the overdose of someone.

"The autopsy is scheduled for later in the week," the man answers."But preliminary findings point to an overdose."

"Cora?" Chris sobs, and I rush to him immediately.

Eddie stands and goes to Faye who is crying into her dinner napkin.

William stands in the doorway to the dining room, his face twisted in anger, jaw clenching repeatedly.

The fake cop looks at everyone in the room, and I feel like an animal behind a glass wall as someone taps the glass urging me to perform a certain way, but my heart is shattering all over again as I hold my sobbing brother.

This is horrific, to ask this of us.

"I was hoping that I could get some information," Mr. Granger or whatever his name is says.

"Information?" William snaps. "What could we possiblytell you about what happened to her?"

With a calm and cool look in his eyes, Mr. Granger turns to my eldest brother. "We're hoping you might know some of her connections. Did she mention any specific people in her life? I can only imagine your suffering, but we're hoping you might have information on who could've sold her the drugs."

"Do we look like the type of people who know the names of drug dealers? I'm going to ask you to leave."

"Mr. Preston, we—"

"We can make arrangements to speak with you and your colleagues at another time. Please, allow us some time to process the information you've provided."

Mr. Granger looks to Eddie as if he has all the information he needs, but William isn't placed in handcuffs, and the fact that my brother can be so callous makes me cautious. Is he involved or is he taking the lead in such a family tragedy the way he feels he needs to?

From watching him lift his hand toward the front of the house to give the officer another nudge in that direction, I can't even tell.

"She's gone?" Chris says, his face contorting with pain. "He's lying, right? This is just a cruel joke?"

"I don't think he's lying," I whisper, my throat threatening to seize with emotion.

I feel the warmth of a hand on my back and sigh with relief to look up and see that it's Eddie and not William. I don't know when I started to let the idea of his involvement in Sadie's death sink in, but I realize at this moment that at least a part of it has settled inside of me, making me cautious of him.

I hate the feeling. It's not much different from the regret I feel over my actions where Sadie is concerned. It's like acid boiling deep inside of me, threatening to consume me from the inside out. I hate all of it.

"I'm going to ask you to leave as well, Agent Yarrow," William says when he comes back into the room.

"What?" I snap, looking up at my brother.

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