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I waved at one of the officers, and they moved into Jayela’s bedroom, emerging a second later with a knife in an evidence bag. He passed it to me, and I held it up for Mae to see.
She cringed away from the blood-coated steel. I wanted to do the same, but I held my ground, knowing that I needed every piece of information.
She hesitated, then reluctantly admitted it. “I did see him with that knife but—”
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered.
“That’s all I saw, though.” She grabbed my hand. “He used it to cut up lemons for tequila shots last night. That’s all.”
I couldn’t stand her touching me. It felt too much like a comfort I didn’t deserve. What had I been doing last night while this had all been going on? Sexting with Eve. I shouldn’t have let Jayela walk away angry. I should have gone after her and told her everything that was going on. Why didn’t I know everything about Heath? I’d called myself her best friend, but in fact, I’d actually known almost nothing about their relationship. Guilt pressed down hard on my shoulders. “What do you know about him?” I urged Mae. “Is he violent?”
“Heath? No, never.”
“Has he got a temper?”
“I’ve never even heard him raise his voice. And he dated Jayela. You know how she is, she loves to argue. Loved… Oh God.”
Fury rose inside me.
I didn’t want to hear it. Not even from Mae. Jayela was good, and pure. The perfect cop. If she argued with anyone it was only because she was passionate.
Mae’s face crumpled, and she ran for the bathroom, Tori following after. It took her too long to come back, my irritation growing with every passing second. I paced the room, waiting for someone to buzz back and tell me they’d gone to this guy’s house and arrested him.
“Is there any news about Heath?” Mae asked when she finally returned.
I stared at her, suspicions going haywire in my brain. “Why are you so concerned about him?”
“Because he’s my friend!”
Was she for real? Had she not seen her sister’s body in there? When the man had murdered her, he’d done it viciously and brutally. “Your friend? You said yourself that the man was covered in your sister’s blood. She’s lying dead in there, and you’re worried abouthim? Your friend probably killed his ex in a jealous rage, Mae! Don’t fucking ask me how he is!”
She recoiled, stumbling back a few steps. “He was trying to save her! What reason would he have to kill her now, four years after they broke up?”
“Opportunity?” I spat, voice filled with a venom I couldn’t control. I couldn’t stop the swirl of emotions now. They were consuming me, one by one. “You opened the door to your apartment when you opened your legs for him and let the man back in. You admitted yourself that you were passed out, too drunk to hear a thing. You gave him the opportunity.”
Mae’s mouth dropped open, her cheeks flaming pink.
Tori gasped. “Boston!”
Will stepped in front of her, his anger clear in the pinched tone of his voice. “I know you’re hurting right now, man. But you’re out of line. You’re too close to this. Back off.”
The pain was all-consuming. I rose to my feet, going chest to chest with Will.
Mae yelped, pushing between the two of us. “Stop it!” She whirled on Will. “Thank you, but you don’t need to defend my honor.”
Then she spun back and cracked her palm across my cheek.
A roar went up from the other officers, one launching himself across the room and grabbing her by the arm.
But nothing was going to stop Mae from speaking her piece. “How dare you,” she seethed at me. “How dare you imply even for a second that I am in any way involved in what happened to Jayela. You can go to Hell, Boston.”
It was the wake-up call I needed. My cheek stung where Mae’s palm had made contact, but I welcomed it. I let this new pain clear my head of all emotions, making way for rational thought.
Mae wasn’t the enemy here. The enemy was still out there somewhere, walking around the streets a free man.
The officer yanked Mae tighter and withdrew a set of handcuffs from a holder on the side of his pants. “You’re under arrest for the assault of a police officer—”
I shook my head. “Stop. Let her go.”
