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He smiles, and we talk the entire way to Alyssa’s parents’ house. When we get there, I can’t deny that I’m nervous. I’m sure they’re wondering why I’m here and most importantly, why Gerard wanted this meeting. I know that they probably think I had something to do with it, but I’m hoping this meeting will change their minds.
“I’m sorry to come in here and bother you,” I tell Alyssa’s mom Bay when we take a seat in her living room. “I know things are really hard right now, and I’m probably the last person you want to see...”
“I know you didn’t kill my daughter.”
Bay is a beautiful, youthful woman with dark hair, light blue eyes and full lips. She’s tiny, but curvy, and if Alyssa was anything like her mom, she would have attracted a lot of attention.
“You do?” I whisper, my throat getting tight.
“I have told the police that, and they’re choosing not to listen. I know someone else did it, and I’m not going to rest until I find out who it was.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” Gerard says, offering a warm smile. “Ciara here has a theory.”
Bay looks at me and I tell her everything I’ve figured out.
For a moment, she’s silent as she processes the information, and then her eyes grow sad. “I heard her on the phone one night, crying her eyes out. I went in, but her conversation had me pausing. She was saying how she wanted to tell everyone, that she wanted them to be real, that she wanted the world to know how much she loved him. I figured it was just some young love, but now...”
“Does the name Derek mean anything to you?” I ask.
Bay thinks for a moment. “No, but in all fairness, she didn’t tell me his name. She never talked about him. I knew she was doing something because my daughter became withdrawn. It was challenging to get Alyssa to talk on a good day, she wasn’t always liked, and she could be selfish. Even then, I knew something was wrong with my baby. She might have been all of those things, but she was still my daughter...”
Her voice breaks and I reach over, squeezing her hand. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” she croaks. “I appreciate the information you have given me. Give me a few days to go through her things again. I have only had a brief look, it has just been too hard, but if I find anything I will immediately let you know.”
We finish up by listening to her tell stories of how funny Alyssa could be when she let her guard down, and even though she could be difficult, she had such a ray of light about her. We laugh and let her express her love for her daughter, and only when she’s talked about her enough, do we leave.
She needed that, as much as we did.
Probably more.
19 – Spike
“It feels like we’re sitting beside a bomb about to explode.” Addi murmurs, shifting from side to side as she bounces Mercy on her hip.
“I know, I hate this. I hope they find something because it feels like we’re running out of leads,” Serenity agrees.
“It’ll be good,” I murmur, lighting a cigarette and stepping away from my daughter, so no smoke blows near her.
“Whoever this fucker is, he’s playin’ a clever game.” Cade grunts. “I don’t fuckin’ like it. Somethin’ feels off. Like we’re missing something.”
“Maybe we are, it would be so much easier if Cheyenne were still here. She could tell us who this douche is,” Addi exhales, then shoots me a sympathetic look. “Sorry, that was an unnecessary comment.”
“Cheyenne is dead. No point in denyin’ that.”
Hearing her name used so frequently feels foreign. It’s something I pushed aside a long fucking time ago, and it’s not something I enjoy reliving. Especially not when I found out there are big parts of her, I didn’t know about. I never thought we had the worlds best fucking marriage, but I thought I knew her.
Perhaps I didn’t know her at all.
“Still, it mustn’t be easy reliving the past,” Serenity offers.
“Past is precisely what it is. Now, let’s stop talkin’ about our fuckin’ feelings and try Ciara again. I don’t like that she’s not answering.”
I dial her number again, but once again it goes straight to voicemail.
They should have been back by now.
The last text she sent me was to tell me that they were talking to Alyssa’s parents and that they wouldn’t be too much longer. My fear is that whoever this fucker is, followed them. What if he caused an accident, pushed them off the road? Fuck. I don’t like this. My gut turns because something just isn’t right.
