Page 148 of XO Karma

“Please, just let this go. I need you to let this go.”

“Let it go?!” Has he lost his goddamn mind? “Where is her body?” I shout, gripping the handle tighter. “Tell me right now.”

“I can’t.” His tone is irritatingly calm.

“Where the hell is her body!?” I take a step closer, pressing the tip of the blade to his chest.

“If you kill me,” he says, not moving a muscle, “you’ll never know.”

My heart stops. I can’t take any of this. I need… I need Aster.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask with a soft sob.

His eyes are agonized as his hands drop to his sides. “Would you believe me if I said I had no choice?”

I shake my head. “There’s always a choice.”

“You’re right.” A sting to my arm brings my gaze to the sight of a needle and Jackson pushing something into my bicep. “And I hope one day you’ll understand why I made the ones I did.”

In a blink, my panicked gaze meets his. Then it all goes dark.

42

ASTER

“This is absurd,” I plead with Liam, shifting in place in the interrogation room’s uncomfortable metal chair. “I didn’t do anything.”

Maybe I’m not entirely innocent, but I damn sure didn’t do what I’m being accused of.

I didn’t leave a severed head on my girlfriend’s bed, and I’m sure as hell not the Kodak Killer.

“Your DNA was on Nolan’s face,” Liam says.

“And I told you that’s because I spat in it after he assaulted Lily! And maybe instead of interrogating me, you should be out there looking for the real killer.” My eyes are heavy, my stomach is grumbling, and my head feels like it’s being worked through with a jackhammer. “You’ve had me stuck in here for over a day, given me no food or water, which I’m pretty sure is illegal, not given me an attorney⁠—”

“It’s hardly our problem if your lawyer doesn’t show.”

I narrow my eyes. “Well, considering you made me use my one phone call to leave a voicemail, I’d appreciate it if I get another,” I say, and he cocks a brow. “Let me call Lily at least.”

“Is this some kind of sick game to you?”

My brows furrow. “What?”

“Are you really going to pretend?”

“Pretend what?” My heart races as he slams his folder shut on the desk and stands abruptly. The metal chair screeches as he pushes back to pace the room.

“You get picked up,” he grits out. “And now Lily hasn’t been seen since. Where is she?” Lily’s missing? Rage fills me that this is the first I’m hearing of it.

“How the hell would I know?” I ask, panic coursing through me. “She was with Jackson when I left.”

He scoffs. “Jackson’s been in Boston all week on a case.”

I shake my head. “No, he was with the officers who brought me in.”

“Not according to the report. They said they were alone, and so were you.” Liam’s expression hardens, and confusion swims in his eyes. I’ve trusted Jackson with my life. Where is he? Where is Lily? Would he really betray me? Why?

Does Lily believe I killed Nolan? Is he helping her skip town?