Page 19 of One Little Memory (Cherry Valley Novella)
“The chief called in a state forensics team. They decided to risk bringing the car up.” He stared bleakly at her. “They found blood and fibers on the grill. He wants me to arrest you and take you in now.”
She nodded. They had both known this was coming, but the shock of it made him numb.
Marchand had died from a gunshot to the chest. With no other suspects in the case, she would end up wearing this.
Even if the facts didn’t exactly line up, they’d blame it on her memory loss.
Even if they didn’t go that far and try her for murder, they’d go for attempted murder.
She hit him with her rental car. There was no denying that.
She cleared her throat. “How much time do I have?”
“Why?” Was she thinking of running?
“I would like to take a shower.”
He nodded. “Go ahead.” The bathroom window was too small for her to crawl out, so he only had to stay in the apartment to make sure she didn’t run.
He hated that he had to think that way, but if he were her, he’d hit the road.
He knew there was more to this. There was no way Jo killed Marchand, but how the fuck was he going to prove it?
His cell went off again, and he glanced down at the screen. Falcon . He didn’t need this right now. His finger hovered over the decline button, but then he accepted the call. He only had one brother, and that brother wanted to talk.
“Falcon, how’s it going?”
“Phoenix. I’m hanging in. I haven’t heard anything yet.”
His brother’s voice was tight. The waiting must be tough. Phoenix was struggling with it, so Falcon must be just suffering. “I’m sorry this is taking so long. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Nah. Not with that. I was wondering, though, if you still had that old TV upstairs?”
“Yeah. Why? You want it for your new place?”
“If you wouldn’t mind. I could swing by and get it now.”
Phoenix would love to get rid of the old TV. It was just taking up space in his spare room. “I’ll bring it downstairs for you. I’ve got to go out. You still have your key, right?”
“Yeah. And thanks.”
“Falcon, this is just a temp thing. I’ll buy you a new flat-screen TV as your housewarming gift.”
“Phoenix…” There was a warning in his voice. Falcon hated it when Phoenix stepped in and took care of things for him. It was a holdover from childhood.
“Bro, it’s just a housewarming gift. I would have bought you something anyway. Plus, I want to sit at your place and watch the games instead of always being at mine. You leave my place a mess.”
Falcon chuckled. “Okay then, deal. I’ll swing by and get the TV in a bit.”
Phoenix hung up and glanced at the bathroom door.
She wasn’t going to run because she had nowhere to go.
Besides, running didn’t seem like her. She was more of a stand and face the music person.
He left the apartment and opened the back door of his house.
He would have to fix the steps at some point, but until he had the rest of his security in place, it seemed like a cheap system. At least he’d hear people coming.
He picked up the TV from the spare room and headed back down the stairs. He put it in his front room and straightened. Falcon should be able to get it to his truck without too much trouble. He wanted to call his brother back and offer to drop it off, but Falcon would just get mad.
His phone sounded. He’d gotten a text. It was from the chief.
There were bullet holes in the seats of her car.
Yes! That meant Marchand had to be shooting at her, and that’s why she hit him.
It was like someone had lifted a twenty-ton weight off his chest. This was the proof they needed that she hadn’t killed Marchand in cold blood. He couldn’t wait to tell Jo.
His phone sounded again. Another text. This one was from Coach Moore.
All the joy went out of Phoenix’s body, and his blood turned to ice.
He started out of the room but then instantly went on high alert.
The floorboard in the kitchen squeaked. It only did that when someone stood on it. There was someone in the house.
He reached for his gun, only to realize he wasn’t wearing it. He’d left it in the gun safe. He’d been at the apartment out back so he hadn’t bothered to get it. Stupid, especially considering Jo might be in danger. What the hell had he been thinking? He hadn’t. At least not with the right head.
He moved silently across the room and snuck a quick peek into the hallway.
Empty. He listened. Nothing. After moving into the hallway, he took it one step at a time until he was almost in the kitchen.
He took a quick look in but it was empty.
He turned and headed into his office which was off to the left.
His gun safe was in the back corner behind his desk.
He peeked around the door but his office was also empty.
He made his way to the safe and had started to open it when his head exploded in pain and the world went black.