Page 65 of Wasted

Cillian’s gaze landed on a glass block lying in the otherwise empty trunk.

Victoria stiffened beside him with a small intake of breath.

Oh, man. It was the glass bookend. Covered with blood.

“Care to explain what this is and what it’s doing in your trunk?”

She faced McCully. “The last time I saw that bookend was two months ago when Thomas showed it to me. I never put it in my trunk. Someone else had to have placed it there.”

McCully glanced at the guy in brown.

The detective or whatever he was shook his head in the negative.

McCully swung his stare back to her. “There’s no sign of forced entry into the trunk, Ms. Weston. Nice try. Unless you want to claim you leave your car and trunk unlocked?”

She didn’t answer for a second.

Tell him you leave it unlocked. Cillian mentally willed her to take the easy way out. To protect herself against the cop who was clearly determined to nail her for a crime she hadn’t committed.

“No. I always lock my car.”

Disappointment and frustration tangled in Cillian’s gut.

“Then Ms. Weston, I’m placing you under arrest for the murder of Thomas Briscoe.”

Another officer appeared behind her and Cillian, pulling Victoria’s hands around her body to cuff them.

“Hold on.” Cillian grabbed the officer’s wrist. “You can’t do that.”

“Take your hand off him, or I’ll gladly bring you in, too.” McCully leveled a threatening glare at Cillian.

“Cillian, don’t.” Victoria twisted her head to look at him over her shoulder. “You’ll only make things worse for me.”

He forced himself to drop his grip, though everything in him wanted to punch out McCully and the cop who dared to touch her. To cuff her like a criminal when she was the purest, kindest, and most harmless person he knew.

Harmless to everyone but him.

Because the look she gave him as they pulled her away seared like he was being gutted from the inside out.

They stopped her next to a black car and opened the door.

He locked eyes with her, fighting every instinct that screamed at him to grab her and never let go. To make them have to take her over his dead body.

But she was right. He could make things worse. And he couldn’t save her if he was shot or locked up, too. “I’ll find the truth and get you out.”

“Please, be careful.” Her last words floated to him on the icy wind as they lowered her into the car, and she disappeared from view.

His chest pinched. Was she worried about him? Did she care?

Or maybe she only meant she wanted him to follow the rules and be cautious like she was. Too bad, because that was not going to happen. Not when he’d just watched a power-hungry detective haul away the love of his life in handcuffs.

Chapter

Nineteen

It was only temporary. She would be out soon.

Victoria tried not to look at the bars that surrounded her in the holding cell at the police station. She stood in the middle of the square cage. She couldn’t sit in such a place. She wouldn’t be there long enough to need to.