Page 38 of Sins Of Her Sister

Ryan

I’m in the kitchen when Blaze and Aaron bust through the front door, I jump and my heart stops for a second.

“Jesus, you scared me!” I gasp, holding a hand to my chest. I scowl at them. Blaze laughs and pulls me into a hug.

“I told you I was coming back today to check on you.” Blaze chuckles.

“I know, but a heads up would have been nice.”

Aaron walks up to hug me next, just as Layla enters the kitchen. She sits at the island.

“What's up, guys?” she asks.

Blaze eyes her warily while Aaron greets her back. I elbow Blaze in the side and he wheezes before giving my step-sister a closed smile.

“So, how are you both doing? Feeling?” Blaze asks like the worry wart he is.

“I'm fine,” I mumble, turning my attention to the oven to take the pizza out. It smells delicious and my tummy growls.

“I’m okay, too. I feel a lot better,” Layla says as Blaze eyes her. Sensing my thought process, Aaron saves the day. He takes a seat next to Layla.

“That's good. We were really worried.” Aaron gives her a sympathetic smile. They’re having their own conversation, while I grab a beer in the fridge for Blaze.

“Chill out,” I plead, pushing the bottle into his chest. Hegives me a eyeroll.

“Fine,” he concedes. Once I've got him compliant, we're about to join in on their conversation when the doorbell rings.

“Who the hell could that be?” I ask.

Two officers stand at my door when I anwer it.

“May we come inside?” one asks.

“Ummm, sure,” I hesitantly say, moving aside to let them in. They give a head gesture in acknowledgment toward Layla.

“Miss Thomas,” the short stocky one says. Layla doesn't acknowledge his greeting, but she's extremely pale and is fiddling her fingers.

Layla

The same officers who questioned me at school are in the house. Now that I’ve recovered all of my memories, I am freaking the fuck out. I know there's no way they know anything or have any type of evidence against me, but there's always that what if

My ass is glued to this seat in fear and I can barely breathe. I’m nervous about triggering another blackout. Thinking about that causes my panic to rise even further.

“Sorry to interrupt your ladies’ evening, but we come bearing bad news,” Officer Rollins says with empathy in his eyes. My mind is running rapidly, going straight for the worst scenarios I can think of…flipping through all of them in my mind.

“What’s going on?” Ryan steps up and asks. She has purple bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep and I suddenly feel guilty for troubling her for the past twenty-four hours.

“Ryan Cross?” one of the officers asks.

“Yes?” she responds.

“We found your father’s body near the river. He was murdered,” he says. Officer Rollins looks genuinely sad while Officer Smith looks ready to accuse her of something.

“What happened? How do you know he was murdered?” Blaze asks, grabbing Ryan’s hand in comfort. Jealousy grows in my chest. I want to be the one holding her, the one giving her a shoulder to lean on. Especially now.

“We would rather not go into details. It was very gruesome...” Officer Rollins says apologetically.

“Just give them to me.” Ryans voice never wavers. “I deserve to know.” She holds her chin up higher. Officer Smith fills her in and panic sets in the other officer's eyes, but it's too late.

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