Page 4 of Wilder
Looking up, she narrows her eyes. “I can understand that. Death is nothing anyone wants to stare in the face like that.” There’s a tinge of sympathy in her eyes, but it disappears fast. Exhaling, she nods as if to herself. “Can you tell me how you knew the deceased?”
“Freya.” My eyes slip shut as a vision of her bloody body swims in front of me. I blink. “She was my big sister in TZE.”
She takes a note of that, her brow furrowing. “So, you knew her well.” Not a question, but I’m going to answer anyway.
“Actually, no. She wasn’t around much. She was with her boyfriend a lot.”
“The other deceased person. Zane Treton.”
I suck in an anxious breath. “I didn’t know his last name, but I don’t know any other person named Zane. I had only finally met him tonight.” Releasing the death grip I’ve had on the furniture behind me, my hands shake, so I bring them in front of me and fold them together, tucking them under my chin.
“And when was the last time you saw them?” The detective eyes my movements with interest.
“In the living room right before I had a drink spilled on me.” My brows dart together.Should I have said all that?
“How’d that happen? Do you mind telling me who was involved?” She glances down at her notes.
Shit.I don’t think it was an accident, but— “It was a party foul, I guess.” Shrugging, I chew on my lip for a second before I finish. “I got elbowed, and the cup I was holding got knocked from my hands. The drink splashed everywhere.”
“But who did the elbowing?”
“Honestly, I don’t know for sure. I think it was Savannah. But it could have been Ireland. They were both right there. They seemed apologetic.” They’d only have seemed apologetic if I were an idiot, which I’m not. Oh god, my face is probably betraying my every thought.
“Huh.” She stares at her notes again, chewing at the inside of her cheek. “And what happened from there?”
I take a couple of slow breaths. “I had been talking to Freya and Zane at the time. Zane got splashed with the drink, too. I thought they were going to leave.” I lift my hands to either side of my head, pressing the pads of my fingers to my temples. “They said something about him changing his pants, I think. But I’m sorry, I really don’t know where they went after that. Except?—”
“Except they ended up dead.” She gives a sharp nod.
“Right.” My heart is full-out racing now, and all I want to do is get the fuck out of here and for her to leave me alone.
She waits and waits, staring at her damn notes. I wonder if she’s hoping I’m about to crack and give her some vital piece of information that I just don’t fucking have. She squints at me for a long moment before asking, “Was there a time when you were alone? Between the drink spillage incident and finding them deceased?”
I frown. “Are you asking if I have an alibi? I was downstairs for most of the party, then I needed to change, so I came up herewith Royal. His room is the one next door. And he gave me this shirt and these joggers to wear because my dress was covered in bright red punch.” I draw in a careful breath. “Wilder and Beckham were right behind us. Beckham wasn’t feeling so hot. They stopped in here first, then after a few minutes, Wilder and Royal decided to help him to his room?—”
“Theroom.”
“Yes. I followed. We walked in.” My mind flashes back to it, and I shudder. Fuck, this is never-ending. “I can’t remember who turned on the light. But it went on, and there they were.”
“Anything else you can think of?”
My eyes shut against the images that roll through my head, but it doesn’t help. They only become more distinct in the darkness of my mind. A place that has seen too much. The human mind works in strange ways, and seeing Freya and Zane like that, while the scene was very different, it was also the same. So much blood splattered everywhere. The vacant look in their eyes. My lips tremble.
“Miss Madden. Are you okay?” The female detective is staring at me with perceptive eyes, and I wonder if she can see all the things screaming through my head.
I give myself a shake, trying to jar myself from the memories I’d fallen headlong into. I have no way of knowing how long I’ve been lost in thought. “I, um, yeah. I’m fine. Just—” I let a breath shudder from me. “It’s not exactly a secret, but it’s probably easier to tell you that my parents were murdered in their bed six months ago. They were shot, allegedly during a burglary gone wrong. That’s what the police told us.” I bring a trembling hand to my lips. “This was in Connecticut. That’s why my siblings and I moved home.”
That perks her up. Great. That wasn’t quite why I told her, but her eyes glint, alight with curiosity. But she doesn’t get achance to ask any more questions because there’s a bellow from below.
“Echo!” Davis’s anguished, angry voice hits me like an unexpected punch in the stomach. “Fucking let me up these stairs! No! Stop! You have to let me see her! Is she okay?” Davis’s shouts easily travel from the lower level to our ears.
My eyes widen. “That’s my brother. He’s not going to stop until he sees or hears from me.”
As if to prove my point, he hollers again. “Youwilllet me see my sister! If— Fuck!”
There’s a pretty good commotion, and Detective Simms reluctantly gestures that I should come with her. We haul ass to the top of the stairs. Davis has somehow managed to escape the living area where all the other people were sequestered and is being restrained by multiple officers. He’s disheveled as hell, but to his credit, he’s still fighting against them in an attempt to get to me.
“Davis! I’m here.” My heart twinges as he looks up, the mottled red pinch of his facial features a sure sign of how upset he is. “I’m okay. I’ll be down as soon as we’re done.”
