Page 103 of Dead Love
I sneered, bile rising in my throat. He only cared about the election.
“I do want to warn you.” He glanced around, avoiding my eyes. “I know you have a thing for my daughter, and she has some need to support you. But I’ve set up my daughter with Andrew. He might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time with you last night, but he’s a good kid, and I trust him with my family. You, on the other hand? You willnotspeak to my daughter,” his jaw strained, “or I will kill you myself.”
Would he? “You’re threatening a civilian,” I said, a smile on my face. He was breaking too, then.
“Nonsense,” he said, adjusting his shirt. “I’m protecting my family. That’s how the media will spin it. And I will not let you ruin this for me.” He held out his hand. “Do we have an understanding?”
I understood his dilemma. Kora must have had something on him and had bargained for my freedom from prison, and that’s why he was willing to bargain with me now. But I could ruin his campaign if I told anyone that Andrew was part of the Echo deaths. And if that meant giving up Quiet Meadows? Then I didn’t care. It was a job; there would be others.
But I did care about Kora. And I knew that if I wanted to help her, I had to stay in the shadows and figure out Andrew and Mike’s next moves. If I said something now, they would only reel her in closer to their traps.
I shook the sheriff’s hand, gripping hard. He stood back. “I’ll tell the doctor you’re ready for release.”
CHAPTER34
Kora
At six o’clock sharp,Andrew rang the doorbell. Out of the two outfits my mother had selected for me, I had picked a light pink dress with a lace bodice, half-sleeves, and a tiered skirt with flowing layers. Add wings, and I’d be a real-life fairy princess. Andrew’s eyes widened. His hands fell, his fist wrapped around a bouquet of red roses, the tip of one of the buds browning. The floral paper crunched in his hands.
“Miss Kora,” he said. “You look—”
“Like a princess,” Shea called out from behind me. She stuck out her hands like she was presenting me to the highest bidder. “Doesn’t she look amazing?”
“Better than that, Miss Shea,” Andrew said. “She looks beautiful.”
I stared down at my feet. I didn’tfeelbeautiful. I felt like a fraud. All I wanted were the leggings and hoodies I had gotten used to in Vincent’s basement.
“Aww, Miss Kora,” Andrew said, grabbing my chin. My scalp prickled with heat, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. “Why do you have that look on your pretty little face?”
“This is her first date, you know,” Shea said. She pinched my cheek and I grimaced. What was with the two of them? “She’s nervous, you know? The usual butterflies of first love. She’s lucky she’s going out with such a gentleman.”
“It’s my honor,” he said. He bowed, then squeezed my arm. “Don’t be so nervous around me.” He grinned. “I promise, I’ll take good care of you. I won’t bite.”
His eyes were blue and crystal clear, and yet I thought about the canvas bag under my bed. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to keep the gun with me.
No… That was ridiculous. Andrew might have been a threat to Vincent, but with me? He couldn’t do anything. He was too close to my parents.
He couldn’t be the Echo Killer. Why would he kill those people? What purpose would it serve?
“Where did you get these?” Shea asked, taking the bouquet from his hand. “You certainly didn’t get them from Poppies & Wheat. They’re already wilting.”
“I got it from the grocery store.” He smacked his forehead. “It completely slipped my mind that the two of you worked in a flower shop. I just knew I had to get something to impress my date. It’s been one hell of a week.”
“Well,” Shea squealed, “Let this be the cherry on top.”
The two of them turned to me, waiting for my reaction. Had they finally realized that I hadn’t spoken a word since Andrew had arrived? I took a deep breath. All I had to do was get through this date, then make up an excuse to go home early, and instead, go to Vincent’s house.
“To the cherry on top,” I said.
The two of them cheered, then Andrew escorted me down the driveway. “I like that fence,” he said. “It fits your family.”
I’m sure he meant the picturesque nature of the white picket fence, but it was a cage to me.
“Thanks,” I said.
Andrew opened the passenger door, letting me in and closing it behind me. It was a black sedan, a fairly unremarkable car, but it was clean, and there wasn’t a dent in sight. Maybe Vincent had been seeing things.
The restaurant’s dim lighting added mystique to the roses painted on the walls. Fake vines draped down the sides of the indoor trellises. I imagined being inside of that garden room in Vincent’s house again. The flowers and tiny lights, all of it for me.It’s not much,Vincent had said. But it was more than anyone had ever done for me.
