Page 76 of Ruin Me

“Alright, let’s go.” Sam grabbed my arm and pulled me along as we entered the garage.

“Where do we hide?” I scanned the dark area.

Like the house, the garage was huge and filled with shadows.

“My eyes have adjusted. Yours?”

“Not quite.” All bravado fled from my voice, but I relied on my faith in Sam.

He squeezed my hand. “Then follow me.”

We rushed toward a destination I couldn’t see. We were still in motion as the garage door began to rise and a car’s headlights beamed into the space. For a brief moment, I glimpsed a row of cars before Sam yanked me to the ground behind a tarp-covered vehicle.

Sweat now slid in a river down my back and I pressed my hand against my mouth to quiet my harsh breaths.

The car door opened, and Sam tugged on my hand again. Crouched, we quietly sprinted toward the exit, and barely cleared the door before the hinges of the garage door engaged and started to fall closed.

Once outside, Sam and I ran like Dobermans were on our tail and about to rip us apart. At the gate, Sam quickly did his magic and we slipped through before Hal would know we’d been on his property.

When we arrived at the car, I fell into the passenger seat and shook. The text I sent Ife informing her we got out was probably full of gibberish because I couldn’t control my body long enough to send a coherent message.

Throughout the long ride to arriving at my parents’ doorstep, my body rebelled at the thought of portraying a calm facade. There was no way to slip past my mother in this state. And if my father caught me, I would unintentionally activate his overprotective mode. Either way, I was screwed.

“Looks like your parents aren’t home yet,” Sam said.

“What?” I turned toward the house, blinking away the haze of my hysteria. The house was dark, but it was too early for Mom and Dad to have gone to bed. “Oh, you’re right.” I breathed a little easier, but my body remained shaky as I opened Sam’s car door. “Thanks for everything you did tonight.”

“No prob. I’ll email you the pictures when I get home. I’m sure we’ll find something to trace Hal to the secret shareholder you’re looking for.” Sam waited until I got inside and shut the door before driving off.

As soon as my door clicked, the hours of terror leading up to what Sam and I had escaped took their toll. I ran to the downstairs half bath, dropped to my knees, and emptied the contents of my belly. Tyger, Benson, and Stabler crowded the entrance, watching me and mewling in concern as I heaved even when I had nothing but stomach acid left to come out.

How long I spent on the floor, I didn’t know. But I hugged my animals to me as I tried to scrub the images I’d seen at Hal’s house from my mind and reminded myself I was safe in my childhood home where guards patrolled and my dogs would protect me with their lives.

For more hours, even after I went to bed hugging my animals, I watched the door and jumped at every slight noise until my body rebelled and shut off without my permission.

CHAPTER 31

Kent

Douglas’ district attorney, DA Kemp, stared across the table at me. His smug smirk rankled my every nerve.

Detectives Salinas and Glass who sat on either side of him wore similar expressions.

“Now that you’ve been arraigned and denied bail, would you like to issue a confession?” Kemp folded his hands over a folio, his eagerness to put me away clear for everyone to see.

Kemp’s story made Douglas’ news last year. He came from a low-income background. Despite his hard work, the upperclass circles he found himself in ostracized him and relished every opportunity to remind him he didn’t belong. As his success grew, his grudge against the upperclass ballooned and he openly went after people with wealth like mine.

His bias didn’t exclude me although I wasn’t born into wealth. My struggles to make Luxe Locations into what it was today didn’t factor into his vendetta, although we both fought for our success. For Kemp, he went after anyone with a checkbook larger than his, and unfortunately he had me in his sights. I’msure Glass and Salinas stoked his inferiority complex with their own as they’d been hostile to me since the first victim showed up dead.

I glanced around the court house meeting room as I reminded myself not to give Kemp anything. “You’ve made a big mistake. The real murderer is still on the streets but you’re wasting resources on a flimsy conspiracy theory that won’t hold up in court.”

“Oh? Am I missing something in your bio? Nothing here says when you passed the bar.” Kemp opened his file. “No, all I have are seven murder victims and you on the hook for them.”

Quarren rested his hand on my shoulder, a reminder not to let my anger get the best of me. “Kemp, your case is a mountain of circumstantial evidence I can debunk in my sleep. If you take this to trial, know my client won’t be the one the jury judges. It will be you and the police department for your targeted and continuous abuse of power and vindictive harassment against my client. You’re on record for targeting men of means because you don’t think they deserve their wealth. Once I wipe the court with your snotty noses and win, I’ll sue you and the city of Douglas for gross negligence and emotional distress. But you have the opportunity right now to correct your mistake before you dig yourself a hole so deep you wind up on another continent. Drop the charges and let my client go.”

During Quarren’s comeback, Kemps face grew redder and redder. Steam emitted from his quivering nostrils.

I sat back and folded my arms, satisfied with Quarren’s approach. He understood when to attack and when to play nice. I was done with the Mr. Congeniality role after spending three sleepless nights away from Madison.

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