Page 88 of Shattered
I stared at the cupcake Dahlia had placed in my lap. Lavender frosting with an earl grey cake and a light lemon filling. I had no appetite to eat it.
But I didn’t feel emptiness like before. I wasn’t helpless anymore.
I could turn Rourke in if I wanted to. I could stay with the police until they locked him away. I could sleep at the Dahlia District where I would have ample warning before anyone came near me. It might cost a few more dollars, but it would be worth it to have that safety.
But I didn’t want to. Nor did I need to.
Once the detective disappeared behind the doors, I found Iris and Teagen in Iris’s bedroom in the back of the Greenhouse. I invited myself in and sat on the bed next to them.
“You get your car home all right?” Iris asked. I nodded.
“So what happened with Garrett?” Teagen asked. I gave her a funny look and leaned away from her. “He didn’t like Irvine, and he hasn’t come in since you ran after him.”
“I didn’t run after him,” I said.
Teagen lifted her shoulders like she didn’t believe me, and Iris smacked her in the arm.
“She only gets bold like this when I’m here,” Iris said. I forced a smile. Sure.
“I’m just saying that he didn’t like Irvine,” Teagen started again, “So maybe…”
I shook my head. “Garrett wouldn’t do something like that. He wouldn’t kill anyone.”
Teagen tilted her head. “What if he hired someone to do it though? You never know what money can buy.”
“He wouldn’t,” I said, a harsh edge to my tone. “Don’t talk about Garrett like that.”
Teagen shrank away. Guilt should have settled on my shoulders for using that kind of tone with her, but I flashed back to that night: Irvine’s face as he struggled to break free, drowning in powerlessness. As soon as I saw the conflict in his eyes, I looked away, forcing myself to look at the trunk, the blanket, anything other than watching the shadow of a man killing Irvine. Rourke’s placidity came through the mask, showing that he felt nothing when it came to taking a life. Trying to show me that there was nothing stopping him from taking mine.
But I didn’t believe it. Not for a second. There was more to that night than what was on the surface. Rourke could have killed me. He could have done it right then.
But instead, he told me to go to the police. He demanded me to ruin his life.
“You were the last one to talk to Irvine, right?” I asked. Teagen rolled her eyes and nodded. “Did Foreman give you a hard time then?”
“I guess,” she said. “No one told him how long we had been going to the Terrariums, so I got out of a lot of it.”
I was glad for that. “Did Irvine hurt you?” She blinked her eyes a few times, then looked at Iris, who gave her a slight nod.
“You don’t have to tell Mel anything,” Iris said. “I trust Mel, but that doesn’t mean you have to too.”
“I go by ‘Melissa’ now,” I said.
“Oh,” Iris said. She straightened. “I always thought your name was Melanie.”
“I heard it was Melina,” Teagen said.
“I guess it doesn’t matter,” I said, trying to bring us back to the main subject. “But I’m curious. “Did Detective Foreman even ask about that? If Irvine hurt you? Because if it was the Angel, that would be the connection, you know?” Because maybe Rourke was trying to protect her.
It took her a minute, but eventually, Teagen nodded. “He gave me a black eye once.”
“In the Terrariums?”
She nodded, not letting our eyes meet. “Said he wouldn’t do it again. That it was an accident.”
Iris looked at me with a sternness that spoke louder than Teagen’s words. It was no accident, she seemed to be saying, Irvine hurt Teagen like he hurt others.
“It’s not like he was the first,” Teagen continued. “Jake got me drunk about a year ago and ended up giving me a bloody nose.”
