Page 62 of A Forgotten Mistake

Matthew’s waving his arms around but thankfully still watching the road. “Jesus Christ! What the fuck are you doing in my car? Where the hell were you?”

“If your car weren’t so trashed, you’d have seen me. I was like ‘Can I really hide like this?’ And then I remembered how poor your observational skills were and went ‘Yes, yes I can.’” He drapes his arms around Matthew’s neck. “Say more nice things about me. I really liked it when you called me a stud.”

“What the fuck? When did I call you a stud?”

“When you were talking about him being a racehorse,” I say helpfully.

“Why’s this feel like a fucking threat? Like if I don’t say the right thing, you’re just going to off me?”

“Good. Come on now. Lay it on me.”

“I like it best when you’re silent,” Matthew grumbles as he pulls in behind another car. “Aren’t you not allowed to be here?”

“I won’t even take a single step onto the property. I will merely maniacally stare at him from the road. That’s not illegal, right?”

“Not quite sure it’s overlylegal,” Matthew says.

“Glaring isn’t illegal by any means,” Liam counters as he grabs a hoodie that’d been in the back seat and flips it over Matthew’s face, quickly tying the arms behind the headrest before leaving the car. The scene of Matthew’s hidden face squished against the headrest while incapable of reaching the knot is enough to make me lose composure and start laughing.

“Fucking hell, Liam! Goddammit!” Matthew cries as he struggles to get free. “Gabriel, that better not be you laughing.”

“I would never laugh,” I say as I reach around to the back of the seat to undo the knot while Matthew helplessly waits for me to save him.

When I finally free him, he looks at me. “You’re far too kind for that man. If you ever come to your senses, give me a call.”

That makes me start laughing again. “Liam’s a good guy.”

“Is he?Is he? Like, Gabriel…is he?”

I just grin as I get out and find Liam standing in the road staring at the house that people are busy wandering around. He’s got his arms folded and his eyes narrowed when I walk up.

He seems to notice me because he starts rambling. “So a couple walking home from dinner see a woman jump off a bridge. In their eyes, she’s committing suicide. They rush forward to save her, but it’s too late, she’s killed herself. No one thinks otherwise at this point. Everyone who looks sees a suicide, and while a few of us question if it’s not, what’s important is that the public is not aware that some people in law enforcement question if it’s not a suicide. That tells me there’s likely only one or two reasons why the wife was targeted because targeting her draws attention to the case again. It suddenly becomes clear the first one was not a suicide, and the specifics begin to feel more convoluted with her disappearance.

“So there are a couple of reasons why the assailant would risk everything when it could have been excused as a suicide. Number one, the wife saw something she shouldn’t have. But ifshe did, she would have reported it that night. Which makes me think it’s reason two: there’s something about her the person liked and they couldn’t pass it up. It was worth the risk because they wanted her for some reason.”

“You think a serial killer?” I ask.

“I don’t know yet. But she’s similar to the woman who jumped. Not in looks… no, they look very different. But in… a way.”

I think about it. “You’re right… their appearance, while different in ways, could seem similar. They both seem to be well put together—stylishly dressed, nails done, makeup… which leads me to believe that they have the resources for these things. So they want these people for something? But what? Jane Doe showed no signs of assault of any kind. She seemed okay other than the bruises on her hand, so what was so interesting about her?”

“That’s a very good question,” he says as I notice his eyes tracking someone. It seems like everyone else watches too as Kenny starts across the yard toward Liam.

I’m immediately wary, anxious he’s going to put this on Liam in some way. I have no idea what makes no one stop Kenny as he hurries over before halting at the curb. I slip in front of Liam, ready to brawl this man if I need to. It takes a lot to get me to want to fight someone, but I’m prepared to do it for the man I love.

Liam won’t let me stay there, though. He’s confident he’ll destroy this man if he tries anything and doesn’t want me involved. And I’m confident I don’t want him to even speak to the man.

Kenny’s eyes meet Liam’s. “When I came into the police station with my wife, I was told that I was in good hands with this amazing detective. That if anyone could figure out who was stalking Liz, it was you. I was told that I got fucking lucky theypulled you off another case because with you helping, you’d have everything figured out and we could stop fretting. They didn’t tell me your name, they just repeated how lucky I was. And instead…” He lets out a sound that could be mistaken for a laugh, but it’s sure not a happy sound. “Instead… I was held in an interrogation room for hours, and no one wanted to fucking help me or my wife. They’re all questioning why they should help me.”

“Sounds rough,” Liam says, clearly not caring about Kenny’s woes in the slightest. If no one else was here, it makes me wonder what he’d do. Would he walk away or would he beg me to let him kill him?

“I love Liz so much.”

Liam looks amused. “What if someone knew where she was? What if all someone had to do was make a simple phone call and she’d get to come home to you? You two have a daughter, right? What if she had to watch her mother’s head be caved in? What then? You want me to find your wife? You want me to give a single fuck about your life? Tell me what you did with the money. Tell me how that money made everything better. Tell it to me in a way that made my parents’ deaths worth it. Youknewthings weren’t going right. It’s why you left, wasn’t it? You thought they were going in for the money and leaving, and the moment things became uncomfortable, you left. You never once thought to call the police? You were concerned but not concerned enough to care about anyone but yourself.”

Kenny’s standing there, staring at the ground as damn near everyone here is listening in.

“What did you do with the money?”

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