Page 24 of Fast Kill

Moments later she heard that angry voice reverberate down the hall. “God dammit, who the hell ate my pizza?”

Taylor bit her lip and curled her hands into fists beneath her chin, fear locking every muscle. Dillon could defuse it. Sometimes he could find a way to avoid the explosion. But she never could. It was why she always tried to make herself invisible.

“There were four pieces, and now there are only three. You think I can’t fuckingcount?”

He was drunk again. He was so much meaner when he was drunk.

Dillon said something in reply, his voice calm.

“You know the rules. So who the fuck did it? Her?” Angry footfalls headed down the hall, coming her way.

The breath halted in her lungs, a wave of cold breaking over her.

“It was me. I was hungry after the game, okay?” Dillon said.

“You? You little fucker, I’ll teach you to steal food from my own damn fridge.” Something heavy hit the wall a second later. She cringed, prayed.

And then the beating began.

Hot, acidic tears of guilt rolled down her face, dripped into her pillow as Dillon took the punishment meant for her. This was her fault. All her fault. She wished she’d never touched the stupid pizza.

Dillon was so strong, much stronger than her, and took it in absolute silence. But she felt each blow as if those cruel fists were hitting her own flesh. Once again, she thought of calling the police, then dismissed it. She’d already been warned what would happen if she did.

When it was over a minute later she was trembling so hard her teeth chattered. She lay in absolute terror as those heavy footfalls approached her door and paused just outside it.

A meaty fist thudded on the wooden door. “I know it was you, bitch. Don’t think I don’t know any better.” Then he belched and continued down the hall, slamming his door behind him.

A wave of relief sluiced over her. She sagged against the mattress, waited a solid five minutes to ensure he’d passed out in a drunken stupor before getting up and sneaking back to the kitchen.

Dillon wasn’t there, but there was a new dent in the drywall next to the doorframe. She swallowed and went into the living room. He wasn’t there either.

She finally found him outside on the front porch, sitting there in the dark, curled up on a rickety lawn chair facing the street. He didn’t look at her as she approached, his profile to her, the already angular jaw tight. “Dillon?”

He turned his head and she bit her lip at the sight of the blood seeping from his lips, the fresh bruise forming around his eye. “Go to bed, Tay.”

“I’m sorry,” she choked out.

He nodded once and went back to staring at the street. “I know. It’s okay. Go to bed now. He won’t bother you tonight.”

Stricken, not knowing how to fix what she’d done, she crossed to him and stroked a hand over his damp hair. “I’m so sorry…”

He reached up one hand to capture hers, tipped his head to give her a brave half-grin that broke her heart, then squeezed her hand and released it. “It’s all right. Just go to bed now.”

Taylor had wandered back to her room in a guilt-stricken haze and shut the door behind her. Then she’d rushed straight to the trash bin next to her desk and thrown up the pizza she’d eaten.

The door opening behind her yanked her from the past and made her eyes fly open. She jerked upright and swiveled in her seat to find her boss entering the office.

“Taylor.” He offered her a polite smile as he crossed to his desk. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No, it’s fine,” she managed, her throat aching and raw with regret.

“You said you had something urgent to tell me?”

“Yes.” She drew up straight in the chair, reaching deep for the courage to come clean.

“I’ve got something important to talk to you about too.” He gathered some paperwork from a drawer in his desk and typed in something to his computer. “The footage we reviewed yesterday. It turned up some more leads, and I just got out of a briefing that gives us more evidence.” He turned the monitor so she could see it and brought up an image. The one of Dillon and theVenenoenforcer.

Her stomach tensed as she waited for the dreaded words to come.

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