Page 70 of A Step You Shouldn't Take

Kim was too damn good for this world.

“It’s done now. I’m more worried about finding my sister.” I turned back to Wyatt. “And you didn’t answer my question. How did she get hold of the drugs? Did someone give them to her?”

Wyatt opened his mouth. Closed it again. He glanced at Kim, and I knew what was going through his mind.

“It’s okay. Kimberly can keep a secret.”

“Are you sure? How long have you known her?”

“Only a few weeks, but yeah, I’m sure.”

Wyatt scrubbed a hand through his hair, an old nervous habit of his. “The drugs were mine.”

“Yours?” This just got better and better. “You were addicted too?”

“Never even tried it. No, I had half a kilo of coke in my closet because I planned to set up Emma’s main dealer. Like you said, we all knew what he did, but he never carried the drugs around himself.”

“You were gonna plant that shit on him?”

“Exactly.”

“Where the hell did you get half a kilo of cocaine? What’s the street value on that? Forty thousand dollars?”

“Something like that.” He closed his eyes briefly. “Fuck. I got it from the evidence locker. Replaced it with powdered lactose. And when we had the fight, Emma worked that out and threatened to tell the captain.”

“She wouldn’t have told him.”

“You didn’t see her that night. She was off her head, ranting like a crazy woman before she stormed out, and when she didn’t come back, you know what? I was glad at first. But I swear I didn’t realise anything had happened to her.”

“What about a week later, huh? When she was who the fuck knows where with no money and no clothes and no food?”

“She said she needed space. Until you asked me where she was, I thought she was with you. And she had money. She took two grand out of my lockbox.”

Dammit, Emma. I loved my sister, but she wasn’t easy to deal with by any means.

“And after that?”

“I was scared, okay? I had a brick of coke I couldn’t get back into the evidence room because the dragon lady in the admin department had tightened up procedures, and I was still worried Emma would tell someone. But I asked around. She went out clubbing the night after, and she looked fine then.”

“How do you know? Who saw her?”

“I got camera footage from the manager in the club. Pretended it was for an investigation.” Now Wyatt slumped forward, all his fight gone. “I never realised that was the last time I’d see her. You’ve got no idea how many times I’ve watched that tape.”

“You still have it?”

“On my laptop.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve behaved since she vanished. I was so damn worried my whole career would get pulled out from under me, and I panicked. But it’s no excuse. I shouldn’t have shut you out.”

I saw in his eyes how difficult that was for him to say, but it still didn’t erase the last two years. And it didn’t bring Emma back either.

“I didn’t just lose my sister that day. I lost my best friend too.”

“I know.”

“And I can’t forget that.”

“I’m not asking you to.”

“I’m not sure if I can forgive you either.”

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