Page 18 of Charity's Torment

I threw on a pair of panties and shorts and slapped him on the chest.

“Get rid of him. We need to talk.”

I didn’t like the sound of that, but I was already planning on shoving my dad out the door. I couldn’t have the local detective in the same room with Max Moreno. Nerves settled in my stomach, and I became slightly queasy. My doorbell rang, and Cannoli met me at the front door, swirling around my legs.

I swung the door open for him to come inside. “Hi. Sorry, you caught me while I was in the shower.” My dripping hair soaked the back of my shirt, and my body wash hung in the air with a pleasant aroma.

“Hi, Cupcake. It’s okay. I was just coming by to drop off the devotional book your mom forgot to give you at dinner.” He looked around the room, searching for something.

I took the book from his hands and tossed it on the table. I had no desire to crack its spine. “Thanks.”

“Do you have someone here?”

I took a shallow breath and let it out quickly. “No, I had to borrow a friend’s car.” The lie came smoothly, but my father was a trained detective. I had a tough time lying to him more than to anyone else.

“What happened to your car?”

“Nothing. People from work carpooled to the lake from her house, and I spilled stuff all over my clothes, so I borrowed it to come shower and change. I have to meet her back up there.”Please don’t ask any more questions.

“Gotcha.”

“How did the case go last night? Mom says it has you busy,” I turned the line of questioning on him, taking the limelight away from myself.

“You know you can’t say anything…” I turned the imaginary key on my lips and threw it away. “We think it was a murder.”

“Oh, my gosh. Why?” Why the fuck would they think it was a murder? I covered my tracks, just like I always do—with flawless precision.

“The camera across the street caught a girl going in with him and leaving without him. Real young.”

Camera? A fucking camera…

“That’s disgusting. Men are such pigs, Dad.”

“Hey, now, I’m a man.” He laughed.

“You’re a different kind. Besides that, if you have footage of her, go pick her up. Case solved, yeah?”

“Not that simple. We don’t have footage of her face, just her physical description. She looked like you, and it really hit home for me. How sad I would be if you had to prostitute yourself out.”

I turned my back to him and thumbed through the stupid book my mother gave me, needing to block myself from emotion. “Well, I have amazing parents that would never let that happen,” I consoled him. “Hey, did Mom tell you she told me to go on a date with Chris to the carnival? She knows I hate clowns, and she still did that.”

“You know your mom means well. Just pacify her, and hopefully, she will come off this soon.”

He didn’t know his wife as well as I did, apparently. She wouldn’t let this go. She hasn’t for the last, however many years.

“You better hope it ends, or I’m going to hold you personally responsible for my misery,” I said, kidding around. “How did she kill him?” I asked randomly.

“What?”

“How did this guy die?”

“Oh, we are still waiting on toxicology, but there was a syringe left at the scene, and he had a puncture wound on his arm. So I’ll bet my bottom dollar that’s the cause.”

Sure enough… Tom.Fuck.Luca wouldn’t be happy about this.

“Whoever she was, she wasn’t the brightest bulb in the bunch.”

“Why is that?” I put the book back on the table and grabbed a soda from the fridge, holding one up for him. I tried not to show my offense to him calling me stupid.

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