Total pages in book: 185
Estimated words: 180510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 903(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 602(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 903(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 602(@300wpm)
“That was the dumbest thing a human has ever said.” Layla snorts, covering her face with her hands. “Kill me now.”
I chuckle and shake my hand. “You forget I hear a lot of terrible alibis, so you have a ways to go before you’re saying the dumbest thing ever. I should have responded right away, but I was letting your words settle, maybe resonate.”
“Well…” her hands drop from her face “…that’s very kind of you to spin it like that.”
“Not kind. Just honest. And if I’m being completely honest with you, I have an unfair advantage at this … whatever this is.”
“An unfair advantage?” She lifts an eyebrow at me.
“When Josie and I were younger, we had a very unusual relationship. We had an on-and-off-again relationship like no other. Then her dad, who I admired and liked more than my own dad, asked me to never be more than friends with her. So when we were being more than friends, we had to keep it a secret. And sometimes I dated other people and so did she. It’s hard to explain. It sounds crazy when I hear myself say it. But I got used to being around other girls even while I knew my heart belonged to Josie and she knew it too. I guess I can be here, not feeling guilty because I know where my heart is.”
Layla hums and nods several times. “I like that. I felt that too. I think I still do, but I feel like there comes a point when you start to feel guilty or maybe a little broken because your heart is what gives you life, and giving so much of it to someone who is no longer in this life feels like …”
“A waste?”
Her nose wrinkles. “It sounds so terrible, but I read it in a book about grieving, and it stuck with me.”
I watch Reagan and think of Josie. She’s not her daughter, but I swear she reminds me of her. The curiosity. The smile. The way she embraces her uniqueness. Not trying to fit in, just trying to make her own space in the world.
“I think losing the love of your life is the biggest self-reflection ever,” I say.
“It’s the me without you.”
I nod. “Yes. And I think it’s possible to reach a silent acquiescence and truly move on. While I don’t want to ever forget, I agree it would be nice if my heart would someday let go … be fully invested again in this life.”
Layla gives me a smile I can’t decipher, but it feels like a good one. “We should be friends. Do you have room in your life for another friend? Because you say all the right things at the right time.”
I chuckle. I asked if she had other kids, bringing up the memories of a lost child. I’d hardly call that right timing. Still, I feel the same. I feel a little understood. “Friends sounds good.”
She winks.
What’s with the winks? Maybe it’s payback for all the times I winked at Josie while hugging another girl.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“We found a body,” Rains says as soon as I step into my office.
I turn slowly. “Hers?” I whisper.
“Don’t know yet.”
I brush past him.
“You can breathe down their necks all you want, but it won’t expedite anything. Mosley, let them do their job. She was one of theirs. They’ll want to know just as quickly as you.”
“They let her go. She wasn’t one of theirs,” I mumble, but I doubt he hears me before I step into the elevator.
At the county medical examiner’s office, I flash my badge and make my way to the morgue. As soon as I see Dr. Cornwell in the hallway, he shakes his head.
“I don’t know yet. We’re waiting on dental records.”
It’s not her. I don’t know why I rushed down here. I knew it then, and I know it now. She left this life in a way that her body will never be found. Still, my foolish heart likes to torture me.
“Why do you need dental records?”
He frowns. “Are you really asking me that?”
“She had tattoos.”
“I’m aware. But the decedent doesn’t have skin or organs if you get the gist.”
I swallow a little bile.
It’s not her. It’s not her.
“How long will it take?”
He pushes through the door to the locker room, and I follow him. “As long as it takes.”
“You owe her this.”
He laughs while donning PPE. “She’d hate you pestering me, and you know it.”
“I hope you take a little responsibility for what happened. You took her life from her.”
“Here we go … I’m impressed it’s taken you this long to confront me, Detective. Had Dr. Watts been of sound mind, dealing with a subordinate who was experiencing what she was experiencing, she would have done the same thing I did. Josephine wasn’t just gifted; she took her job seriously. She was a professional and understood the need for rules and protocol. What happened to her was tragic, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault.”