Page 102 of Dead Love

“I know I screwed up,” I said, “but Andrew is not the man you think he is. You’ve got to believe me.”

A noise rippled in the background. Footsteps. Then an older woman’s voice.

“I have to go,” Kora said.

“Kora! Wait—”

The line went dead. I stared at the screen, her number blinking. Then I clicked it off, handing it back to Catie. “I need to get out of here,” I muttered.

“Soon,” Catie said. She looked over her shoulder. “I’ll make sure they’re checking on you.”

After Catie left, a doctor came and checked the computer.

“Everything looks good. But we’re still waiting for one test result,” he said. He gave a wide smile. “After that, you’re free to leave.”

My chest tightened. “What test?”

He tapped his chin. “Let me see if I can get someone from the lab.” He dialed a department on the phone, speaking in a quiet voice, then hung up. “Another doctor will be in to deliver your results. After that, just check with the front desk on your way out.”

I took a deep breath. Everything sounded routine so far. “All right,” I said. But I stopped over those words:free to leave.Not discharged, but free, like there was something still lurking there, waiting to imprison me.

A few minutes later, tactical boots tapped against the floor. Sheriff Mike put his hands on his hips, his full uniform on, a sullen expression on his face.

“Erickson,” he said, fake concern lacing his tone. “How are you?”

“Considering last night,” I muttered, lifting a bruised hand, “All is well.”

“I came to talk to you about that.” He lowered his head. “You mentioned another car. A truck, was it? A truck that had purposefully crashed into your vehicle?”

I didn’t even want to think about the state of my car right then. “Yeah.”

“Did you say who was driving it?”

I thought about what Catie had said. “No,” I said. I plastered a smile on my face. “I’m afraid I was knocked out.”

Sheriff Mike folded his fingers in front of himself. “Good,” he said. Then he removed a sheet of paper from his pocket. “Did they tell you what these test results say?”

My heart rate increased. Sheriff Mike was bringing the test results? “They didn’t.”

“This document says you were on Echo last night. In fact, there were so many illegal substances in your system, interacting with one another, that it’s very like that you saw things. Things you didn’t actually see. Like Andrew, my captain.”

I clenched my jaw. “What about him?”

“Now, hewason the scene. But he didn’t attack you. That was—” Mike lifted his shoulders, “—in your mind. All of it.”

Spots blurred my vision. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. “I wasn’t drugged and you know it.”

“That’s not what your doctor will say.” A small grin formed on his lips. “Now, I don’thaveto release these results. We can keep it between you and me. Or I can release them. Destroy your credibility. I can bring in a new funeral operation to replace yours. I can make sure that you never service another funeral in Acheron County again.”

I narrowed my eyes. He was pulling out all the stops for this? What was he hiding?

“You wouldn’t,” I said.

“And I won’t,ifyou fall back in line. Let the election come and go.Thenwe can talk about your accusations. Any suspect is a valuable suspect; I can get behind that.” He tilted his chin. “You can wait a little while longer, can’t you, Erickson?”

“You realize Andrewisa suspect, then?”

“I realize that not everything you say is complete nonsense.” He straightened. “But as far as we both know, the real Echo Killer is out there. And I would hate for us to get distracted from the prize when we’re so close to another victory.”