Page 30 of The Moments You Were Mine

The two men exchanged a look. “What about Ace Turner?”

“He stayed at our apartment in March.”

That got me another raised brow from Lake. “Let me get this straight. You let the man you testified against and sent to prison stay with you?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t know. I was with my mom in Rivers. I didn’t know he’d been there until Rae told meyesterday.”

“That’s convenient,” Lake drawled.

All night, every time Lake had been a real jerkwad, Harris had softened each blow. Now, he sent a glare at his partner before looking at me.

“Do you know the last time he was there?”

I shivered. “I was with Mom for almost three weeks in March and April. Rae said Ace showed up during spring break. JJ could tell you more.”

Harris reached over and tapped the notepad, a little rat-a-tat that thumped as fast as my heart. “The only thing JJ is going to tell us is what saves his ass.”

I shuddered again. JJ had a right to hate me for keeping secrets and not being honest about our relationship, but I never would have thought he’d throw me under an oncoming stampede. Not like this. Not when he insisted he loved me.

I shoved the legal pad back at the detective, disgust and anger making my voice dark when I asked, “Why the hell would I steal drugs? To sell them? It isn’t like I need the cash.”

Kenya put a hand on my arm, quelling me. “Detectives, you’ve clearly done your research. You understand the size of my client’s bank accounts—”

“It isn’t always about money,” Lake cut her off, smirking at me. “It’s the thrill, right? Bored little rich girl, looking for—”

“Right. Like I’ve had the time to be bored between my athletic career, my internship, my classes, and spending three weeks taking care of my mother who almost died in a car accident! But hell, yeah, I was bored enough to steal from a man who treated me”—my voice cracked, and I despised it—“like family.”

So much for being ice. So much for being cold and reserved. If only Mom could see me now. Falling apart, piece by piece.

“You’re right, Fallon.” Detective Harris’s voice got quieter, almost gentle. He did the same rat-a-tat on the notepad again. “This is a bunch of bullshit. I’m sure the fingerprints on the drugs and the cash won’t come back to you. I’m pretty sure the amount of debt JJ has racked up in the last few months had him scrambling to find a way to pay it off, and Ace Turner helped him find an easy way out.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. I pulled the cuffs of my sweatshirt over my fingers, determined not to put them in my mouth. Determined not to chew the nail beds to smithereens. My cheek was already raw from the effort.

Harris slid another piece of paper in front of me. It was a printout with JJ’s name at the top. Below were dozens of rows of data, like those on a credit card statement, except these were loans and charges in staggering amounts. Not just the furniture and the art he’d put in our apartment, but more—wide-screen televisions, a bedroom set we didn’t have, and expensive suits. My eyes stalled on the lease of a luxury SUV and an apartment.

I felt the blood drain from my face. “The condo…in the Kleindyke building… It’s in b-both our names?”

The building was one of the most exclusive in the area, boasting stunning ocean views, a full-time doorman, and personal shopping services. It also cost a small fortune. Our internship at the clinic was unpaid. JJ earned his money teaching surf lessons. There was no way the management team of the Kleindyke building would have accepted his application. They would have laughed him out of their office.

Detective Harris nodded at me. “It does have your signature.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t…” I couldn’t breathe. My lungs forgot how. It felt like I’d been knocked off Daisy and landed on a pile of rocks. “I’ve never even…”

I’d never even been inside the Kleindyke building. JJ and I had teased about it often enough. At least, I’d thought it was teasing. But my stomach soured even more when I thought about how determined he was to be rich. To shove his success in the faces of his childhood tormentors.

“If it’s a forgery,” Lake added on, “it’s a pretty good one.”

Another memory assaulted me—signing off on my time sheet at the clinic and JJ taunting me about my sloppy scrawl. He said anyone could copy my squiggle, and then he’d shown me just how easily he could do it.

I was shaking my head as the anxiety inside me grew and grew.

He’d sworn he loved me. He’d asked me to marry him, for God’s sake. He’d wanted us to build a life together. I swallowed hard. A life that included expensive furniture, art on the walls,and a twenty-thousand-dollar-a-month apartment.

I was going to be sick.

Just as Lake started to take the list of loans back, I placed my hand on top of it and drew it to me once more.

“What’s this?” I pointed to the last line item.