Page 82 of Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbi 3)

“He didn’t look at me like I was crazy when I told him.” Maybe he looked a little scared. “Yes, he was surprised. But…he got over it. He just said he wanted us to get out of here together.”

I swore he shook his head.

I looked down at the finger in my hand. “Framing Aiden won’t necessarily get me out of this mess.”

Snuggle Muffins eyes gravitated back to the finger.

“Okay, fine. I’ll prepare a few things just in case. We have a long ride ahead of us to think everything through. We shouldn’t make any rash decisions.” I kissed the top of his head and then shoved Noah’s finger down the front of my Mrs. Claus costume. Just in case. Just to make Snuggle Muffins happy.

Chapter 30

Monday

Aiden rolled down the window. “Get in.”

“I need to grab a few things…”

“Ensley, time isn’t on our side here. We need to leave. Now.”

“My whole life is in that house. I just…give me five minutes to grab a few things. Five minutes and I’ll be ready, I swear.”

He shook his head, but said, “Go.”

I threw Snuggle Muffins through the car window and sprinted inside. There was nothing in here that I wanted. The house filled with memories of a man who terrorized me. For all I cared, the whole thing could burn.

But there were a few things I might need. I grabbed a backpack from the hall closet and then opened the medicine cabinet, not surprised at all when bottle after bottle fell into the sink. It was stuffed so full of drugs to keep me numb. I grabbed the bottle I was looking for and shoved it into a backpack. Just in case.

I put a bunch of Snuggle Muffins’ toys into the backpack too. He’d need to be preoccupied during the drive. An idle mind was a bad mind, especially in the case of me and Snuggle Muffins.

I grabbed a knife from the knife block, just as a precaution, and put that into my backpack too. Who knew what kind of people we’d run into in Mexico. I also packed us some granola bars, drinks, and a whole bag of dog food for Snuggle Muffins in case any of us were feeling snackish. I doubted we’d be stopping anywhere for a while. And Snuggle Muffins and I both got whiny when we were hungry. Like Momma like dog baby.

The only other thing I needed was Detective Torres’ phone. I couldn’t rely on chance to find Sophia Tremblay, whenever that time came. I needed her address. He might have it. I knew he’d looked her up. It was possible it was on his work computer, but didn’t everyone use their phones for everything these days?

Detective Torres was still lying unconscious in the middle of the hallway. I crouched down in front of him. Before I reached into his front pocket, I saw his gun. A gun was better than a knife. And it definitely wouldn’t hurt to have both. Just in case. I pulled the gun from his belt and put it into my backpack. It squeaked against one of Snuggle Muffins’ toys.

His phone was easy to find. It was in the second pocket I checked. But when I slid my finger across the screen, it requested a fingerprint in order to unlock. I grabbed Detective Torres’ limp hand and pressed one of his fingers to the screen. It immediately unlocked. There was just one problem. I wasn’t super familiar with iPhones. I was a Samsung kinda girl. And I had no idea where to look to fix the settings so that I wouldn’t need his fingerprint over and over again. Shit.

I bit the inside of my lip as I looked down at Detective Torres. I already had one of Noah’s fingers shoved down my shirt. What difference would two fingers make? But Noah deserved it. Detective Torres was an innocent bystander. He didn’t deserve to lose his thumb.

I heard the clock ticking down in my head. The last thing I needed was for Aiden to storm in demanding it was time to leave, catching me red handed with Detective Torres’ phone. Aiden didn’t understand my need to track down my money. He didn’t understand what I’d been through. I had my whole life to catch Aiden up. But I only had this one chance at getting the upper hand on my doppelgänger.

Yes, Detective Torres was innocent. But Sophia Tremblay wasn’t. And he’d believed her word over mine. He said I didn’t have evidence. That time had erased it. Fuck him. Time didn’t erase my pain. And Sophia was the liar, not me. My husband was stalking her? Yeah right. He was replacing me with a younger model.

I took a deep breath and pulled the knife out of my backpack. I didn’t have a choice here. I spread Detective Torres’ fingers wide on the wooden floor. He’d be fine without all five fingers on one hand. And really, this was his fault. If he’d believed me…or at least validated me? Maybe we’d be in a different position.

Thinking better of it, I grabbed his left hand instead of his right. The odds were that he wasn’t left-handed. He'd miss this thumb less. Hopefully.

I cringed when the knife went through bone. I was getting used to the crunch of metal on bone. But I wasn’t used to the person I was cutting waking up. Luckily Detective Torres was more focused on his hand being mutilated than on who was doing it. He opened his mouth to scream, but I slammed the handle of the knife against his head, again and again, until his body stopped moving.

God, double assault on a detective? And cutting off his thumb. I lifted the bloody digit. And then there was the bit about murdering my husband. If Detective Torres ever caught me, I’d go to prison for life. And I couldn’t let that happen. I liked fresh air too much.

I grabbed a few tissues and wrapped them around the bloody stump on his hand. He wouldn’t bleed out. He’d wake up soon and get the best m

edical attention in the city. Detective Torres would be fine. I pressed my hand to the side of his throat, waiting to feel a pulse. For a second, I felt nothing. My heart started racing. I’d just wanted his finger, I hadn’t meant to kill him.

But then I felt the light thumping of his pulse. It was slow, but it was there. I’m so sorry. I leaned down and lightly kissed the top of his head. But you should have believed me.

I wrapped his finger in some tissues too, and then shoved it and his phone into my coat pocket. I grabbed a coat for Aiden too, lifted my backpack over my shoulder, and ran out into the garage.

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