Page 64 of Cruel Charming Psychos (Necessary Evils 2)

“If she’s not saying anything, then what made you finally realize that I didn’t do this?”

She sighs again. “I think I just realized that I always knew the truth. You’re a lot of things, but you’re not a killer. The night of the-” She stops herself, perhaps realizing she could incriminate all of us if she says another word. “I saw the way you two looked at each other. Even when you swore you hated each other. You didn’t do this.”

“Has Addison said anything else? Even if she can’t remember, there has to be something there that we can use to prove I’m innocent.”

“Only that she doesn’t trust anyone anymore, including you.”

I shake my head, in equal measures disbelief and frustration. “I refuse to believe that she thinks I had anything to do with this.”

“Give her time. You have to remember that she doesn’t remember anything leading up to the shooting. For all she knows, you’re just a rich asshole hellbent on the revenge of his brother. So just try, please, to give her time.”

“I don’t have time.” I pound my fist against the glass. “They’re going to fry me for this. Someone set me up.”

She pauses, carefully choosing her words. “Do you think it’s Dad?”

“He was in jail,” I point out. “He couldn’t have done this.”

“There’s something else you should know. He got out the night she was shot.”

A chill crashes over me. “How?”

“He’s a powerful man. You can do the math when it comes to the rest.”

I lean forward and almost plead with her, begging of her, “I have to get out of here.”

“I’m working on it, but Dad is on the warpath. I’m $10,000 short to meet the cost of your bail and I don’t know where else to look. Mom cut me off again the second Dad was released, like he has full control over her. She’s never been able to stand on her own. You know that better than anyone.”

Suddenly, I understand what the guard had meant when he said that my money was worthless given the circumstances. And he’s mostly right, but…

I check over both shoulders to make sure nobody is standing directly over me before leaning in. I cusp my hand over the mouth as I speak through the phone. “I know how you can get the rest of the money. The night someone tried to kill Addison, I proposed to her. She said no, so I still have the ring. I had a few drinks when I got home and can’t remember where I put it, but it’s somewhere in the apartment. I need you to find it. I paid fifty thousand for it, so you should be able to get enough to pay the rest of my bail.”

“I have cleaned the apartment every day since you’ve been locked up. It’s the only way I can escape the constant overthinking. I haven’t seen it, so I’m not sure it’s still there. Someone could have taken it, or it could be lost. If I can’t find it, we need another strategy.”

“Shit.” I bang my head against the glass, trying to remember the night but it’s mostly a blur once I arrived back home. That’s when it hits me. “It’s in the junk drawer in the bathroom. I tossed it in there after getting out of the shower.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

She places her hand onto the glass, meeting the touch of my hand on the opposite side of it. “We’re going to get through this. We’re going to clear your name and we’re going to find out who was responsible for this, and we are going to destroy them.”

“That’s my sister.”

“Time’s up,” the guard says, interrupting our conversation. “Wrap it up and say your goodbyes.”

I look back to Emily and smile, the first smile I’ve smiled in weeks. “Thank you for believing in me.”

She just nods before hanging up the phone.

And as the guard escorts me back to my cell, there’s a fire burning within me.

Revenge is a dish best served cold, but I’m prepared to go scorched earth.

Epilogue

ADDISON

The world isn’t fair. Never has been and never will be.

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