Page 5 of Lush

The police station smelled like burnt coffee and mildew. My skin was damp, sticky with ocean water, motor oil, and sweat. The wool blanket wrapped around my shoulders scratched at my neck, but I clutched it tighter, trying to stop the shaking.

“You don’t need to talk to my daughter!” Mama snapped. “You’resupposed to be helping us. But here you are, dragging us down here. I will be talking to the mayor about this shit. Her fiancé is hurt. We need to be at the hospital.”

The overhead fluorescent lights buzzed. The chair beneath me was hard. My wet hair puffed at the ends and roots. My throat burned—either from the water I’d swallowed or the bile rising every time I thought about Conrad’s body sailing over the railing, crashing against the rocks, then sinking into the dark water.

This wasn’t our plan.

“I’m giving you the courtesy of being here because of your standing in this town.” The detective barely looked at her, voice flat. “Your daughter is an adult.”

“My daughter is aKing. Our family built this fucking town you’re paid to protect, and you will respect us.”

Mama was beside me, her hand cold and tight against my wrist. Too tight. I tried not to flinch.

The detective pulled out a notepad and clicked his pen. “We have reason to believe there was a fight tonight. Between Conrad and Reese Ashbourne.”

My stomach dropped.

I kept seeing it.

Reese’s punch to Conrad’s face. The way the waves slammed against the boat. The deck tilted. Conrad’s voice slurred, twisted into something mean.

The snap of wood. The shattering of glass.

The splash.

“We also have witnesses placing Laurene with Reese before the crash.”

Mama’s fingers released me. I felt her staring at me. Hard. Sharp. Calculating.

“What are you implying? Conrad is her fiancé; she wouldn’t be caught dead with his brother.”

I couldn’t look at her. I couldn’t look at anyone.

“Miss King,” the detective pressed, “was Reese involved in the fight that led to this?”

My head was pounding, a drumbeat that felt like it was splitting my skull in half.

“Are you asking me…if Reese killed—I mean…hurt h-his brother?”

Tell the truth. Let them dig. Let them find out everything.

Or—

“Laurene, tell him what he wants to hear, so we can go. You have nothing to hide,” Mama sneered the words at the detective, then turned to me.

Even here, in this mess, she still needed me to be perfect. I had to be careful. I had to keep everything she’d built safe. My life wasn’t just mine. What had I been thinking? That Reese and I were really gonna have a happily ever after?

Had I ruined everything? Had I ruined my family? King was my last name, but it was her legacy, her perfect image. The daughter who’d always been so good.

One answer would keep me safe.

Mama was watching me, her eyes pinning me in place, judging.

“They fought tonight.” The words slid out too easy. Like I wasn’t setting Reese on fire and walking away.

No! What are you doing, Laurene! Keep your mouth shut. Don’t say a damn thing?—

The detective’s pen scratched against the paper as he scribbled something down. “Did Reese hurt Conrad?”

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