Page 111 of Rebel Heart

“Did you ever stop to ask your new husband how he felt about that?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “He never said he had a problem…”

“But did you ask?”

She fell silent.

I shoved the note in her face again. “If I go through these files, what’s the bet I find more? The notes that threatened Rebel. I bet they’re still in that print history.”

She just shook her head silently.

“Say something! Do you even understand what I’m saying here? The person threatening Rebel is probably the person who killed Dad! One of the notes she received had a headline about the murders cut out of the newspaper. It warned she’d be next.”

“No. He wouldn’t…”

I slammed my fist down on the table. “Wouldn’t he? Fucking hell, Mom. Did you know there’s a theory Dad ate a cupcake poisoned with Oxyanedride? It’s the active ingredient in pool cleaners. Where is your husband right now?”

“Cleaning pools with his brother,” she whispered, her face white as a ghost.

Bile swirled in my stomach. Karmichael might not have been warm and fuzzy, but I’d thought he and my dad were friends. The sickly feeling of betrayal crept in as I stared at that photo on Karmichael’s desktop. I picked up the cupcake I’d left there.

Mom knocked it out of my hand, sending it spinning across the room.

I stared at her.

“He made those,” she said quietly. “He only ever bakes when he’s stressed, but he made those. They’re the same ones he made the day before your father’s wedding. He said he was nervous about Miranda and whether Bart was doing the right thing. I didn’t think anything of it.” A tear dripped down her face. “I’m calling the police.”

I swallowed thickly, focused on the cupcake frosting smeared across the carpet.

The fucking wrapper was even the same blue from the photo of the crime scene.

36

REBEL

Iheld Vaughn’s hand as we watched from the second-story window of his mother’s house while her husband was dragged out in handcuffs. Detective Richardson put one hand on Karmichael’s head, pushing him down and guiding him onto the back seat of the police cruiser, flashing blue and red lights lighting up the entire neighborhood.

Another officer spoke with Riva, who stood with her arms tucked around her middle, as if she were trying to hold herself together.

“You should go down there,” I told Vaughn. “She needs you.”

“I can’t, Roach. I’ll fucking kill him with my own two hands for what he did to you. And to my dad. And to your mom.”

Kian stood on Vaughn’s other side, his face darkened by shadows. “Why would he do that? I thought they were friends. I never saw any sign of jealousy.”

Fang leaned forward, clutching the edge of the windowsill. “When you love someone but think they don’t love you back the same way, it can make you crazy.” He looked down at me. “I was so fucking crazy in love with you I walked away that night at the bar and let Caleb take you home. I’ll regret that every day for the rest of my life.”

I swallowed hard. “That wasn’t your fault.”

Fang pressed his lips together. “Jealousy makes you stupid. And reckless.”

Kian shook his head. “Why threaten Rebel though?”

Vaughn stepped away from the window. “She was too close. Too determined to find her mom’s killer. Karmichael probably thought killing Miranda would be nice and simple. I doubt he even knew she had a daughter who would care enough to chase her mom’s killer.”

“You were searching too,” I pointed out.

He looked at me. “I would have left it to the police if I weren’t stupidly in love with you.”

---