Page 27 of In Her Shadow

“I care about you, Eloise. I don’t know about you, but I really felt a connection between us. I was curious and worried you might be in danger,” he explains, making me feel even more guilty for the fact that I never gave him any explanation as to why I stopped seeing him.

“I’m a suspect, aren’t I?” I cover my face with my hands. I’ve thought about this all day. Katelyn can give me an alibi for last night, but only up until eleven-thirty when she went home. I have no idea what time Mr. Connor was murdered, but if it was anytime after that, I guess I’m kinda screwed.

“It’s too early for me to know that, without being on the investigating team, but I do know that Harris has been looking into you. You were one of the last people to see Connor alive, right?”

“Lance, I swear I didn’t kill hi–”

“I know you didn’t kill him. We may have only had five dates, but I can see you’re a good person. That's why I’m here, to help you.” He reaches across the table and takes hold of my hands.

“Is there anything in your history that would interest the police, if they came across it?” he asks, making me start to shake.

“What kind of something?” I ask, trying to regulate my heartbeat..

“Have you ever been involved in anything like this before?”

“No. What makes you think that?” I answer far too defensively.

“Eloise, it’ll be much easier for me to help you if you're honest with me.” He raises one of his eyebrows as if he knows I’m lying.

“Lance, I don’t know what you're talking about.” I don’t know if I can trust him, for all I know, he could be working undercover, trying to pin this on me. The police are always getting called out on how many cold cases they have. I don’t want to be the scapegoat for Mr. Connor’s murder.

“I’m talking about Luca Fenton.” The name instantly makes my blood turn cold. “Wasn’t he your date for senior prom?”

“Yeah, he was but?—”

“And wasn’t he found in his car, dead, just hours after he took you home?” Lance stares at me as if he’s waiting for me to tell him something.

“Yeah… but I didn’t. I had–”

“Except, Luca didn’t take you home that night, did he? In the first interview you gave to the police, you said that you walked home. Where did you walk home from, Eloise?”

‘That was four years ago, I can barely remember,” I lie, because I remember every single sordid detail of that night. I remember how his hands felt touching me, the way he ripped at my dress, and how panicked I felt when he was blocking my airways to stop me from screaming. I was so scared that I blacked out.

“You know, if Harris finds out that this isn’t the first time you’ve been involved in a case, he’s going to turn all his attention to you. I can help you, Eloise, you just have to tell me what really happened.” Lance squeezes my hands even tighter, and it makes me a little fearful of him. Suddenly, his eyes move to look past my shoulder, and whatever he sees clearly disturbs him.

“Sorry, officer, but your little date is over.” I hear Ren’s voice come from behind me, and when I turn my head and see him standing in a black unzipped hoodie, I notice the sweat and blood covering his abs. He’s got a bruise under his eye, and the bandages wrapped around his hands are bloody, too.

“Ren?” I stare up at him in horror.

“Come on, we’re leaving.” He takes hold of my arm and drags me up off my seat, and despite seeing the state he’s in and how mad he looks, I let him.

“Hey, wait, you can’t just come in here and–”

“I can do what thefuckI want.” Ren stops and turns around, getting so far up in Lance’s face that he has to take a step backward.

“Eloise?” Lance looks at me, confused.

“It’s fine. This is…erm.”

“I’m her boyfriend.” Ren finishes my sentence for me before snatching up my hand again and continuing to drag me out the door. He waits till we’re outside before he releases me, then makes me gasp when he slams his fist straight into the restaurant wall.

“Ren, what are you doing?” I shriek.

“So this is what you meant by slowing things down. Going back to date that fucking cop?” His eyes are wild and full of emotion.

“This isn’t a date, and how do you know–”

“If it isn’t a date then what the fuck is it?” The door swings open, and Lance comes marching out like he intends to do something. I shake my head to warn him not to.

---