Page 66 of Deceit & Desire

Zoe was too still, her breathing too shallow. I felt like I was running out of air right along with her.

Miss Smith worked over Zoe with focused precision, her movements calm and deliberate, but the tight line of her lips betrayed her worry. My chest felt like it was in a vice, every shallow rise of Zoe’s chest barely enough to keep the panic at bay.

“What happened?” Miss Smith asked again, her voice sharper and more urgent, glancing up briefly before returning her attention to Zoe.

“I don’t know.” I ran a hand over my face, the events rushing out in a breathless jumble. “We split up to search for clues. She texted me to grab Landon and meet her here in the barn, but when I got here, she was already like this. And her phone—it wasn’t anywhere near her.”

Miss Smith’s brow furrowed. “Her phone?”

“She always has it on her,” I said, the words spilling out fast. “But it’s gone. Or… I thought it was.”

Her tone sharpened. “Call it. Now.”

I didn’t hesitate, pulling out my phone and dialing her number. The soft buzz of her phone vibrating echoed faintly in the barn, muffled but close. My heart pounded as I followed the sound, weaving through the hay bales until a faint glow caught my eye. Her phone was face down on a bale of hay and tucked away in the shadows like it had been hidden there deliberately, but got knocked over.

“She set this up,” I muttered, mostly to myself as I picked up the phone and saw that it had been recording video, but it got cut off. My thumb hovered over the screen before I pulled up the most recent recording and tapped play.

The screen showed Zoe standing tall, her voice steady and unrelenting. “You can stop lying, Cody. I know about you and Missy.”

Cody’s voice came through, defensive and panicked. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know everything,” Zoe said, her tone sharp and cutting. “She trusted you, and you strangled her to keep her quiet when she wanted to go public. You killed her, Cody.”

The camera shifted as Cody stepped into view, his face twisted with desperation and fury.

“You don’t know what it was like!” he shouted. “She was going to ruin everything—my friendships, my family, my whole future. I didn’t mean for it to go that far, but she wouldn’t stop!”

“Wouldn’t stay quiet, you mean,” Zoe shot back, continuing to press him.

That’s when Cody lunged, his hands closing around my wife’s neck. The phone jostled, the view tilting wildly before the camera landed facedown against the hay. The audio continued—Zoe’s sharp gasp, the sound of her struggling against him, and then Cody’s chilling words, raw with anger.

“She wouldn’t shut up!” he roared. “She didn’t give me a choice!”

The recording ended abruptly, and the barn seemed to close in on me.

I stood there, staring at the phone like it might burst into flames. The pieces clicked into place, and the knot in my chest pulled tighter. She’d planned this. She’d gone in knowing exactly what she was doing—and Cody had tried to kill her for it.

“Roman,” Miss Smith’s voice snapped me back to reality, sharp and insistent. “What did you find?”

I turned, crossing the barn with the phone still clutched tight.

“Cody attacked her,” I said, my voice trembling with anger. “He fucking strangled her, cut off her air supply. She recorded the whole thing—he confessed to killing Missy, and then he tried to kill Zoe.”

Miss Smith’s eyes narrowed, her jaw tightening. “She’s breathing now, but barely. Her airway might still be compromised. We need to get her stabilized.”

“She hid her phone,” I continued, my voice dropping as I crouched beside Zoe. “She knew he’d come after her, so she set it up beforehand. It’s all on here.”

Miss Smith nodded sharply. “Then keep it safe. We’ll need that.”

I turned toward the barn door. “Rick!”

Rick appeared, his expression darkening as I waved him over.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his tone already tense.

I held up the phone. “Zoe got it all on camera. Cody confessed to killing Missy—she pushed him into admitting it. He attacked her when she confronted him. Get this to Landon—now.”

Rick’s jaw tightened, and he nodded. “On it.”

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