Page 51 of A Forgotten Mistake

I just laugh, pleased with myself until the elevator opens and an officer from downstairs steps in.

“Hey, Liam, Jesse said he spoke to you the other day about looking into the case with the woman who jumped off the bridge? The couple who found her are here and are hoping tospeak to someone, and I thought maybe you’d like to hear what they have to say.”

“Oh, sure. Gabriel, you good to take over?” I ask.

“Yeah, of course.”

I turn to Cole. “I know it’s disappointing that your sensei is leaving, but duty calls. Gabriel is better than everyone in this office combined, so you’re in good hands.”

“Go!” Gabriel says. “And stop giving him more nonsense to write about in his paper!”

I just laugh, pleased with myself as I head into the elevator. Once on the first floor, I wander over to the interrogation room and see the husband and wife sitting across the desk. Because of the whole Abby thing, I never did get to listen to their statement like I promised Jesse I would, but I read over it and the transcripts, and made time to stop at the bridge where I’d seen that the decorations were pulled back where she’d been standing, so at least I have a decent handle on what’s been presented so far.

I step into the room where the couple are and sit down across from them. He’s a man in his late forties with graying hair and she looks to be of a similar age with hair dyed a bright red.

“I’m Detective Paige,” I say.

“I’m Liz and this is my husband Kenny,” the wife says. “You know about the incident the other night? About the woman who jumped? Do I need to go over it again? Sorry, I’m just not sure what to do.”

“I’ve looked into it.”

“Ever since then, I feel like someone is following me. I swear I’m not being paranoid. At first, I thought I was. I thought I was making it up, but then last night, I felt it again and someone was following me. I really think they were.”

“What did they look like?”

“They had a hat on, and their coat was zipped up. It was hard to tell because it was dark out.”

“Man? Woman? Tall? Short?”

“I don’t know,” she admits.

“Did you get a picture of them?”

“No, I just hurried into a store and called Kenny.”

Kenny leans forward. “I know, at first I thought she was just being paranoid, but that’s not right,” he says, and the words smack me so fucking hard that I feel like the breath is knocked out of me.

“What did you say?” I ask as I realize there’s a catch to my voice.

The husband hesitates, likely hearing it. “I said that at first, I thought she was being paranoid… but I know she’s not.”

It’s like his words rip right through me. They tear me back, and suddenly, I’m surrounded by the smell of blood. By death… her eyes… they’re digging right into me. I want to rush across the table. I want to grab him by the fucking throat. I want to feel my knife sink into him. I want to watch him die. I want to watch him suffer.

My hand twitches. I wish I had my fucking knife. I wish I could feel his skin part as I drive it into his fucking chest. My hand reaches out and I grab on to the table to keep myself from bashing Kenny’s face in. My fingers dig into the wood until they turn white. I have to steady myself so I don’t shout at him before I manage to choke out, “Get out.”

“W-What?” he asks, startled.

“Get. THE FUCK.OUT,” I yell. “GET OUT. GET OUT.”

He jumps up and quickly shields his wife like he fuckingcares. Like he’s not a fucking monster. He rushes from the room with her, and I can’t seem to find my breath as rage tears through me. Why the fuck did I let him leave? No… no, it’s good.I let him leave so I can hunt him. I can kill him. I can rip him apart. I can destroy him like he destroyed me.

What would he think if I went for that precious wife of his? Gave her something to actually fucking fear? I can be worse than any fucking shadow in the night that she thinks is haunting her.

I grab a chair and fling it as the door opens.

“Liam, what’s going on?” Matthew asks as he looks in. “I heard some noise. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Nothing. Fucking nothing. Nothing is going on,” I hiss as I storm out, but I didn’t wait long enough.

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