Page 24 of Sweet Like a Psycho (Secrets of Suburbi 2)

“No you shouldn’t talk to her. You should cut this crap out.”

“I told you, I wasn’t at Violet’s house to talk about the case. We were having dinner.”

“Dinner? Jesus Christ.” He looked up at the ceiling like we were both about to be smote. “Why can’t you date a nice, normal, non-suspect woman?”

I ignored him as we climbed into my car. There was a cold front coming and instead of the heat kicking on, we got a blast of frigid air. I was glad I had gone to Violet’s last night, despite all the warnings, and despite the pistol I had found. The thought of her suffering through this cold without a working heater made me mad. I still couldn’t believe that repairmen were scared of her too.

“Where are we heading?” I rubbed my hands together, trying to get them warm.

“It’s your lucky day. We’re going to your girlfriend’s house.”

“What happened?” It felt like my heart was ricocheting around my chest.

He looked back down at his phone. “Apparently she was attacked or something.”

There was a reason why rumors shouldn’t be trusted. Just the thought of one of them escalating to violence was terrifying. And I had no doubt in my mind that the distress call was related to some idiot who believed whispers instead of reality. It didn’t matter that Violet had an unregistered gun. She was a good person. She didn’t deserve this shit. I made up my mind in that second that I wasn’t going to report her for having an unregistered gun. There was no question about it. We had been on one date and I already felt protective of her. I shoved the car into drive and slammed my foot on the gas. If someone had hurt her, I was going to kill them.

Chapter 11

Violet

I tilted my head and inhaled the sweet smell of cologne that still clung to the collar of Detective Reed’s jacket. He smelled like heaven. I silently cursed at myself as I pulled it off. Tucker was no heaven. He was my living hell of a nightmare. I hung up his jacket and forced myself not to breathe in his scent again, even though it was tempting.

What it came down to was that meeting Detective Reed had accomplished two things. It had turned me into a thief and back into a liar. I bit the inside of my lip. He had also made me remember what it was like to be looked at without fear. But the first two things outweighed the last. I didn’t care if people thought I was crazy. It was better that they did. I hated snoopers more than anything, and Detective Reed was a terrible snooper.

Whatever officer showed up later would be getting this jacket with instructions to give it to Detective Reed. I never wanted to see his face around here again. He was no longer welcome in my home. I planned on never speaking to him again. It wasn’t like I owed him anything. He fixed your heater. Brought you breakfast. Brought you dinner. Played with Zeke. Shut up, stupid reason! I owed him nothing because he was a liar too. He pushed his way into my life only to what? Take everything I held close to my heart away? No one would take me away from Zeke. He needed me just as much as I needed him. I’d do anything to keep him safe. To keep my secret.

The worst part was that I felt duped. For some idiotic reason, I thought Tucker might actually like me. I shook my head. Not Tucker. Detective Reed. Last night was a moment of weakness while I was sick and…drugged. My emotions couldn’t be trusted. I took a deep breath. No one in their right mind would like me. I didn’t even like myself. And I didn’t need a man in my life to point out my own shortcomings. I was self-aware enough to know my own flaws. One of my worst ones? That my heart was too big for my own good. Too trusting. Too caring. Too naïve.

I took another deep breath, trying to clear my head. I needed whatever cop that came here to believe me. Being upset hadn’t helped my case over the phone. A clear mind was a must. The last thing I needed was for this cop to just roll his eyes and write off my concerns because I was the crazy lady on the hill. Detective Reed had invaded my privacy. He had crossed all sorts of lines. He was…handsome, kind…God. I buried my face in my hands. He was an asshole.

It was as if my mind was at war with itself. One more breath in. And out. Again. And again. Three times. I closed my eyes and repeated the process. Again. And again.

“Mommy, what are you doing?”

My eyes flew open. I knew what I must look like. I had just been running around out in the cold for half an hour. My nerves were shot. I was always worse when I was upset. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to pretend everything was fine. But then I did it a second time. And a third. “Nothing, little dude. Ready for some breakfast?”

Zeke squinted his eyes at me. “No, what’s wrong? We were so happy last night.”

I tried to swallow down the lump in my throat. Weren’t we always happy? Just the two of us? He was getting more perceptive of my nervous ticks. He was good at calling me out. But right at this moment, counting to three was the only thing that was helping me calm down. I bit the inside of my lip three times, hoping he couldn’t tell.

Zeke pulled his pet lizard out of one of the many pockets of his cargo shorts. “You can borrow Lizardopolous to pet instead of biting your lip. He’ll make you better.”

“Zeke, what have I told you about carrying him around in your pockets? You could hurt him.”

He didn’t listen to me. He just thrust him into my hands and then ran out of the room.

I didn’t like Lizardopolous. His little beady eyes freaked me out, like he was always watching me. The only reason I had allowed Zeke to get him was because Zeke’s eyes were adorable when he looked up at me with that pleading little face. I looked down at Lizardopolous. Ugh. A gross little lizard wasn’t going to make me better. But I wished it would. Because I didn’t want my son to think that I needed something to make me better. I was fine. But my pep talk felt like a lie. I hadn’t felt fine in a long time.

A car door slamming made me lift my head. “Zeke? Can you take him back?”

Zeke didn’t respond.

“Zeke?”

Nothing.

So I did what I had just told Zeke not to. I pulled on Detective Reed’s jacket and tucked Lizardopolous into one of the pockets. To make sure he was safe, I zipped the pocket up before shoving my feet into boots and opening the door.

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