Page 74 of Sweet Like a Psycho (Secrets of Suburbi 2)

I wanted to be relieved that Zeke didn’t know I was hooking up with his mother. But how could I be relived after what he said? The rumors were getting to him. The poor kid actually believed his mother killed his father. That was a heavy weight to carry around for a five-year-old.

And I hadn’t gotten a chance to explain to him that he was wrong. I’d seen the photos of Joel with my own eyes. His father was alive. An asshole, but alive. It was probably best that I didn’t get a chance to explain that. It wasn’t my place to talk about his dad.

Violet needed to know what was going on with Zeke. But I wasn’t sure that was my place either. We hadn’t even talked about what we were yet. I didn’t know how to handle situations like this.

I walked into the precinct and kept my head down low. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. For just a minute I needed to sort through my own thoughts.

“It’s a pretty shitty day to be late,” Damien said as I pulled off my jacket. “The captain wants to talk to us.”

So much for not talking. “Now?” I asked.

Damien was perched on the side of his desk with his arms folded across his chest, like he was scolding me. “No, actually. Five minutes ago. She’s going to be pissed.”

I glanced at the clock on the wall. “Sorry. The drop-off line was a little backed up.”

Damien’s eyebrows rose. “You took the kid to school this morning?”

“The idea of doing it was making Violet anxious. I was just trying to help out.”

“So…you were there this morning?”

I shrugged.

“You slept with her,” he said way too loudly.

“Would you keep your voice down?” As usual, he was being horribly annoying.

“Well…did you see any scars?”

I hadn’t even thought about it until he asked. Her skin was perfect. Flawless like the rest of her. “No. I don’t think she had any at all.”

“Probably not abused then.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” I lowered my voice, hoping he’d do the same.

“Oh you mean like verbally instead of physically? Poor chick has been verbally abused for years. The question is whether or not she deserves it.”

“You know she didn’t do what people say. You spent time with her yesterday. I don’t think she could hurt anyone, Damien.”

“She was pretty good at taking care of me.” The smirk on his face made me want to punch him.

I stopped outside the captain’s office. “I’m being serious. I think we could help repair her reputation. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”

“You don’t know that for sure. Just because she’s nice to us doesn’t mean she’s not an ax-wielding murderer.”

“Violet’s innocent. And you know it.”

“Are you talking about Violet Clark?” asked our captain. I hadn’t seen her come into the hall.

Damien suddenly decided to close his big mouth.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said.

“I know you two have already met. She was your lead suspect in the Adeline Bell case, right?” She turned on her heel and walked back into her office without waiting for an answer. She didn’t need one, she already knew it.

Damien and I followed her in.

“Close the door,” she said as she sat down behind her desk.

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