Page 85 of Atlas Uncharted

I didn’t turn to look at her. I couldn’t.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Somebody was knocking—hard, like the police.

My feet carried me to the door, each step heavier than the last. My pulse thundered in my ears as I pulled it open.

Two cops stood there, their badges glinting in the morning light. One was a stocky man. A Latina woman stood beside him, holding a folded piece of paper, her expression unreadable.

“Mr. Carter?” the man asked, his voice steady.

I nodded, my jaw tight. “Yeah.”

The woman stepped forward. “We regret to inform you that your wife was found dead this morning.”

I gritted my teeth. “Ex-wife.”

I blinked, my brain struggling to catch up. “My ex-wife—as of yesterday. I just saw it on the news.”

She held my gaze, her voice cold. “Did you know she named you in a statement she made to an officer yesterday, Mr. Carter?” she asked, her tone cool and measured. “You, Ms. Monroe, and an Ebony Nzinga. She said that if anything happened to her, all three—or one of the three—of you were to blame.”

The room went still. Kairi’s sharp inhale cut through the silence. My heartbeat roared in my ears.

The officer’s hand shifted toward his cuffs.

“So, Mr. Carter,” he said, his tone like ice, “where were you last night?”

I cleared my throat, unfazed. “I was here all night, as were the other two you named. My mother’s friend, the police chief’s wife—was here with us. Ask them. She came with my mother to celebrate. We reconciled after Ashlen tried to tear us apart.” I folded my arms. “If you want, I can call her. You can speak with her. She was here until about midnight. What time did you say Ashlen was found?”

The male officer sneered.

“I know all about your little love triangle,” he said, his voice thick with condescension. His eyes flicked between me and Kairi, lingering just long enough to piss me off. “And your poorly disguised threat won’t keep us from finding out the truth.”

I clenched my jaw, my patience threadbare. “That wasn’t a threat. It was a fact. You want to waste time investigating people with airtight alibis, be my guest.”

His nostrils flared, but he didn’t say anything else.

I stepped back and shut the door in his face.

The lock clicked into place, and I exhaled slowly, turning toward Kairi.

She was still standing near the couch, arms crossed tightly over her chest, her face blank in that way that only happened when she was trying not to let anything show.

Her lips parted like she was about to say something, but before she could—

My eyes flicked toward the staircase.

Ebony stood there, a few steps from the bottom, arms folded, her expression unreadable.

“Do either of you have something to tell me?” I asked.

Epilogue

Atlas

The Harlem morning air was crisp, sunlight filtering through the sheer curtains of our brownstone Airbnb, casting warm streaks across the hardwood floor.

It had been one hell of a year—the whispers, the speculation, the accusations involving Ashlen’s murder. Somebody had strangled her to death, then thrown her body into the bay. I had threatened to choke the bitch, but that didn’t mean I did.

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