Page 67 of Flame
“You heard me,” Ace snaps. “Now get out before I call the police with an anonymous tip about your extracurricular activities.”
“Why you little shit—”
“Let’s just go,” I say, grabbing Rafe by the arm. “Come on.”
Surprisingly, he relents to my touch, allowing me to guide him down the hall and out of the building.
Once we’re back in his car, he grips the steering wheel tightly, his head bowed. “What the fuck was Faith into?” he demands.
I don’t know what to say.
Eventually, he sighs and starts the engine, but he doesn’t drive.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he says in a softer tone, this time speaking to me. “Though it was a damn good bluff considering you don’t even know where the recordings are.”
“I think they’re still on the camera you found,” I say.
His eyebrows shoot up, but slowly he nods. “Damn. It’s smart, though. But it’s a good thing Ace didn’t get his hands on whatever is on those tapes. I know he looks harmless, but you have no idea what that motherfucker might have done had you gone through with it.”
I face ahead and try not to let my unease show. “Were you worried about me?” I ask him. “Or yourself? Scared of what might happen if Ace got to see you naked?”
He laughs, but his eyes widen as if he’s shocked he’s doing so at all. “For you, not me. Ace is a goddamn creep. He wouldn’t just have leverage over me, and don’t doubt for a second that he wouldn’t use it over you too. The bastard has no shame. Then again, you do fucking love to play with fire.”
He sits back and fingers a lock of my hair, his gaze thoughtful.
We sit in silence for so long, droplets of rain start to splatter the windshield in a quiet cacophony. As thunder rumbles in the distance, I finally gather the nerve to speak again. “I just want to know the truth,” I admit. “About Faith. About everything. And if my brother was involved…” I trail off, unable to even finish the sentence out loud. “I want to know the truth,” I say instead.
“Do you think you can handle that?” Rafe demands. “Doing what needs to be done, even if your brother is involved. Turning him in?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, looking down.
“If Faith were just upfront with me, we wouldn’t be in this shit. If she trusted me.” His voice is a rasp, revealing just how much that bothers him. “Maybe I could have helped her if she did.”
“What about her friend?” I ask, picturing the girl we met after Faith went missing. “The one we spoke to in the alley.”
“Her?” He strokes his chin with one hand, looking more puzzled than ever. “Maybe… We could—” he breaks off sharply, shaking his head. “Never mind. Forget it. I don’t think she knows anything, and…”
I look up to find him watching me, his brow furrowed. “How did you know how to open her phone?” he asks. “You never told me what the password was.”
It’s a question he has every right to ask, but I cringe in the face of it nonetheless. My eyes burn, watering before I can even think to blink the tears back. In vain, they spill anyway.
“I used DW’s real name,” I admit. “Who I think he is, anyway.”
Slowly, understanding dawns over Rafe’s face. His eyes widen, his jaw clenching. Finally, he growls, “BrandenDewitt. I’m such a fucking idiot!” He forms a fist, slamming it into the steering wheel, but I brace my hand over his shoulder, sensing the tension coiled within each muscle.
“I think Branden was DW, but I don’t think he killed Faith by himself. He mentioned someone. He said someone would come after us. He didn’t know how the police had even traced him to Faith—they searched his house too—”
“Did he hurt you?” Rafe grabs my hand, drawing it onto his lap. Heat shoots down my spine as he uncurls every finger, inspecting the small scrapes and scratches I hadn’t noticed until now.
“No,” I say. “But I’m scared. And if he hurt Faith… He deserves to be punished.”
Rafe jerks his chin in agreement. “If Ace is too chickenshit to delve into this, then we need more. Something to tie it all together. We know this ‘DW’ got Faith into deep shit. All of it ran through Gino’s. And now with the fire? His place is ground zero.”
“But, I’m guessing Faith didn’t leave behind a full confession?” I nod to the phone still in his hand.
“No,” he admits. “But I think I know where we can get something close to that.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Where?”
