Page 5 of Wilder
His breath heaves from him, and he stares as if he can’t quite believe he’s seeing me. “Fucking hell, Echo, what’s going on up there? I thought—” He makes a sound that is so gut-wrenching, the officers holding him clench their teeth, sympathy for him clear in their eyes.
I glance at Simms—not that I presumed it was my place to say anything—and she shakes her head in warning. Right. Murder. Murder happened up here, and we aren’t talking about it yet. I wince, hoping he can read the apology in my eyes. “I can’t right now, Davis. I’m sorry. I love you. I’ll talk to you soon. I’m really okay. I promise.”
“Jesus. Okay.” He exhales hard, glancing down at his feet. At the beckoning of the detective, I’m about to walk away whenI hear a stuttered, “L-love you.” It’s not often Davis shows emotion like that—he can be a stone-cold bastard when he wants to be—but this has thrown him hard.
I kiss two fingers and hold them out to him until he repeats the gesture back to me. “Don’t give them any more trouble.” He nods, reluctantly allowing the officers to take him to the other room.
I rub my hand over my face. “Sorry about that.”
“No problem. Seems like a good guy.”
“He worries. I’m sure he panicked when he realized I wasn’t down there.”
“I get it. Shall we?” She waves for me to join her in Royal’s room. As we reenter, Royal, Beckham, and Wilder are all on their feet, alert and waiting. They breathe a collective sigh of relief. One look at Ford, and I have a good guess that he’d been hard-pressed to contain the guys to the room.
“All good?” Royal grinds out.
“Yeah. He was scared—” I scrub my hands over my face, then meet his eyes. As much as Royal and Davis are at odds, I think he gets the terror that my brother was likely feeling. In fact, from the concern shining from all three pairs of eyes, I think everyone gets it.
Davis, Kara, and I have already been through something no one should have to live through ever again. And granted, Freya and Zane aren’t my parents, but this still brings back all the memories for me, and I’m certain even just hearing what I’ve seen will affect Kara and Davis. I don’t know how I will begin to tell them what’s happened. The thought of it makes me sick all over again.
“Are we done here?” The hint of temper in Wilder’s voice grabs my attention, and when I look up, I see he’s watching me carefully. He swallows hard. “I think we’ve been through enough tonight.”
Detective Simms is surprisingly agreeable. “We’re going to need the four of you to come down to the station tomorrow.” She gives us a flinty smile. “I imagine we’ll have some more questions after we’ve gone over the scene and done some research.”
“Oh, fuck.” Beckham grimaces as it becomes clear something’s occurring to him. “We can’t stay here, can we?”
I blink. It hadn’t occurred to me, but it makes absolute sense.
“No one will be allowed to stay in SINorTZE tonight.” Officer Ford shoots us an apologetic look. “Campus police are already helping transfer students from the party to a local hotel for the night.”
“Seriously?” Royal grunts, running his hands over his scalp, ruffling his hair.
“Correct. Unless you have family nearby. That would also be acceptable, so long as you remain close.”
My eyes connect with Royal’s, then Wilder’s and Beckham’s. “Should we?”
Wilder runs a hand through the messy strands of dark hair on top of his head and nods. “I think your sister would prefer you were at home. Hopefully, it’s just one night.”
I chew on my lip, the threat from the stalker weighing heavily on my mind. Drawing in a breath through my nose, I hold it, then let it all go, decision made. “I’d like to go home for the night to see Chase. It’s probably only for a few hours anyway. It’s after midnight already.” Hopefully, my crazed stalker understands something about extenuating circumstances.
Simms raises a brow but doesn’t ask questions. “Unfortunately, you can’t take anything with you. Just your phones.”
“Can I take my dress so I can try to get the stain out?” As soon as I say it, I realize what a dumb question it was. “No. Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Can you tell Davis I’ve gone to our house?”
The detective nods. “Let’s go. You’ll exit out the front door.”
Beckham shrugs. “Fuck it. Looks like we’re going to pick up spare clothes and toothbrushes before we get to your place. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Safely inside Wilder’s truck, I pull out my phone and find my text thread with Kara.
Don’t freak out.
Something happened tonight.
We’re okay.
But we’re coming home.
