Page 2 of Blood & Kisses

“He’s not who you think he is,” I hiss angrily, feeling an ache in my temples from the stress of this situation. This is not what I imagined would happen after I shot number one on my list.

“And who is he really, Rae?” Cormac tilts his head to the side, drilling me with those narrowed eyes, and I can’t read him. I notice Blake becoming a little edgy as his gaze is fixed on something down on the street, and his distracted body language makes me nervous. It’s as if he’s expecting someone, and I fear it might be the police.

“A horrible man,” I answer as I watch Blake.

“Rae,” Cormac stands directly in front of me to force my concentration on him rather than what Blake is doing on the balcony. “What did he do to you?”

Blake turns in our direction expectantly for the answer they’ve been waiting for since entering my apartment. I lick my bottom lip, unable to answer. The words won’t come.

Blake sighs disappointedly. “I think we should hurry this along,” he suggests to Cormac, and nerves tug on my spine.

“Why?” I ask, suppressing the panic stirring within me. “Did you call the police?”

Blake frowns with a smirk. “No, Rae, why the fuck would we call the police?”

“To have me arrested,” my voice trembles.

Blake scoffs as Cormac's frown deepens. “Girl, are you serious?”

“Why did you follow me then?” I ask as hot tears well up in my eyes, brimming on the edge, and I blink them away.

“Because I knew you were up to no good,” he replies warmly. “Buying the gun, pretending to know how to shoot it when it’s obvious that you’ve never touched one before, and the look on your face when you fire at that target. You had someone’s face in mind while you were shooting, and now I know whose face. Well…his face ain’t too pretty now, is it.”

I look to Cormac. “I’m sorry that I ruined training for you,” I tell him. That is the only thing I feel bad about, and maybe Lyon's wife and kids will be better off without him anyway. They don’t know that yet.

“What?” Cormac snaps, and I flinch at the sharpness behind his tone. “I don’t give a fuck about him, and there are other coaches.”

“Really?” I’m genuinely surprised by his indifferent attitude toward the man carving his path to the nationals and maybe the Olympics.

“Yes, really. But you still need to give us an explanation as to why you wanted to erase him from the earth. We know he was your coach when you were younger, so you owe us a reason why you wanted him gone.”

A stress-induced ache behind my eyes prompts me to rub them with my fingers to allow me a few moments to think this over while they wait impatiently for me to say something. “I can’t tell you,” I finally say, and Blake exhales in annoyance.

“We want to help, Rae, but it’s not going to be easy if you’re honest with us,” Cormac states.

“I don’t need your help,” I snip at them in a ruder tone than I intended.

Blake scoffs again, smirking. “Sure, babe,” he croons sarcastically. “I cut off a passing motorist who was about to see a masked girl shoot some old guy in a car. If it weren’t for me, he’d be a witness to the murder.”

Cormac steps to my closet, drags out the plastic trash bag containing my costumes, and tips out all the contents. “Got plans for killing anyone, Rae?”

I swallow over a lump in my throat. “No,” I lie.

“That question required an honest answer,” Blake cuts in. “Kinda looks like you’re planning on popping a few more brains. Who is the next one, Rae? Let me guess, another swim coach? Or maybe the swim team management.”

“He was blackmailing Lucy,” I try to make that my only justification, knowing they won’t be convinced. “He was forcing her to do sex acts.” I look to Cormac, hoping for sympathy since he’s good friends with Lucy's boyfriend, but confusion is fixed on his handsome face.

“I don’t buy that,” Blake hits while I still look to Cormac for my last ounce of hope, only to find he’s not conceding.

“I don’t buy that either,” he replies coldly, sliding his large hands into his sweatpants pockets. “Besides, the timeline doesn’t match when you bought the gun. You killed Lyons for you, and Lucy was an added motivation.”

“Fine,” I surrender with nothing left to lose as I step to my chest of drawers. “I can’t say it aloud, but I will show you why.”

Opening the top drawer, I take out the photograph of me being gang raped by four men, five, including the fuckwit that was holding the camera. I slap the photo against Cormac’s chest and sit back down, ready for the onslaught of sympathetic memes. Spare me the sympathy, and I’d rather they forget what I did and let me move on to number two on my list.

Cormac’s face is unreadable as he stares at the pic, then silently passes it to Blake. Blake glances at it for a couple of seconds before placing it on the chest of drawers. An intense silence falls as regret comes in that they will see me as a damaged victim, and I can’t deal with that.

Blake clears his throat, about to speak, when I interrupt. “I don’t want to hear it,” I snap. “Just say nothing.”

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