Page 18 of Red Zone

“I’m not sure. We’ll hear more after the autopsy.”

Skye shuddered.

I got it. No one wanted to think about—experience—someone our age dying or having an autopsy. “The detective, Fiona, she’s my sister.”

“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “I had no idea. Well, I should have seen the resemblance. I was just…”

“I understand. It’s hard to take everything in when your mind is reeling from such an awful discovery. Life is… it can be brutal and ugly.”

Her brows furrowed, and I kicked myself for going so deep. I should’ve kept things on the surface as much as possible. But it was Skye, and she was my kryptonite. Always had been.

“Why do you say that? You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

I pressed my lips together, not wanting to let her in more than I’d already done.

“I see the walls coming up, Liam.” Her hand rested on my arm. “Please don’t shut me out. Not tonight.”

“My parents’ relationship was toxic. They drank too much, fought all the time, then toward the end, when Mom got into drugs, she went to rehab and never came back. My sister and I survived together, but her leaving… It messed with all of us, including Dad. He’s still a drunk. But my mom? She turned her life around once she left. She has a new family now, and she’s never looked back.”

We paused in front of my ancient truck, and I was more than glad for the distraction. I opened the passenger door for her and waited until she was seated before shutting it and rounding to my side. Once in, I started the car and turned the radio down to a low background noise. Streetlights cut through the darkness.

Coach’s house wasn’t far, but I wanted to do what I could to get her out of her head on the way. “So, have you seen the new Marvel movie?”

“What?” she turned to me, eyes slightly dazed. “Oh, Marvel. Yeah, no”—she snorted—“I don’t get to watch anything that isn’tBarbie, Disney princess movies, or a handful of truly mind-numbing cartoons on TV.”

“Don’t knock Disney movies.” I put the turn signal on for her street. “I was forced to watch every one of them when my sister and I were young. I pretended to hate it half the time, but truthfully, they’re entertaining. And don’t get me started on Ariel. I think I had a crush on her from nine to ten years old.”

She shifted and watched me instead of the street. “I would pay money to see you sit through an afternoon of princess movies.”

“Challenge accepted.”

The truck rolled to a stop in front of her house, but I didn’t shut off the engine right away. Skye stared out the window, her hands resting in her lap, her knuckles white where she gripped the strap of her bag.

“Want to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?” I kept my tone light, though the vibe in the air was anything but.

She let out a soft, humorless laugh. “You don’t want to know.”

“Try me.”

Her eyes flicked to mine, dark and stormy, before darting away again. “It’s just… Jackson. Everything about tonight. Then you showing up and being… this.” She waved a hand toward me, frustration bleeding into her voice. “It’s confusing.”

I leaned back, gripping the steering wheel. “Confusing how?”

She turned fully toward me then, her gaze sharp. “This. You. Acting like you care. After everything?—”

“I do care,” I cut in, my voice firmer than I intended. “I never stopped.”

Her breath hitched, and she blinked rapidly as if trying to ward off tears. “You pushed me away, Liam. You made your choice.”

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to stay calm. “I didn’t push you away because I wanted to. I did it because I thought that’s what I needed.”

“Well, you got what you wanted,” she snapped, her voice breaking.

The pain in her voice slammed into me, and I exhaled sharply. “I was scared, Skye. Scared of screwing up my life, something I was pretty good at doing.”

She shook her head, her laugh bitter. “Well, congratulations. It looks like you’re doing quite well for yourself.”

“Does it?” I shot back, leaning closer. “Because all I’ve done since then is regret it.”

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