Page 32 of Ace My Heart

The blood that had stained my cheeks while I watched myself fucking on camera swiftly drained away.

Honesty is always the best policy, Mel.

“I didn’t know that he was filming. I wish I still didn’t! But I didn’t have anything to do with Steve’s … with what happened to Steve.” Tears were threatening. “You must be able to see that I was really drunk – I mean who does that sort of thing sober?”

Coughlin’s mouth twitched at the corner. I couldn’t hate him, not the way I hated Taylor, who gave me a stony stare.

“If you were as drunk as you claim, can you remember with any clarity what happened in that hour and twelve minutes?”

I closed my eyes. “Before morning. I remember getting up and spending a long time on the floor of Pete’s bathroom, getting to know the inside of his toilet bowl and the contents of my stomach, very well.” I opened them again, pointing to the screen. “Plus, you can see my crutches right there, propped up on the wall beside thebed. Unless you think I crawled out of the apartment, up two floors and, somehow managed to …” My throat closed around the words.

Steve … lying in his own blood.

I gripped the edge of the table until my knuckles were white.

“Is that all you have to say about this?” Taylor asked in disbelief.

I cleared my throat and Coughlin handed me a box of tissues. I took one and wiped at my leaking eyes. “Yes.”

“So, at no time from midnight until nine the next morning did you leave Pete Levine’s apartment?” she prompted.

“That’s right. Can I go now?”

Taylor’s eyes flashed and she turned to Coughlin for guidance. It was the first time I’d seen her take cues from him.

“We haven’t got anything that we can hold her on.”

Taylor scowled and stood, her chair clattering to the floor. I struggled to my feet, my ankle still very tender. As I turned to the door, Coughlin winked at me. I shuddered. He would absolutely have seen that video, even if he didn’t stay for the replay.

I hobbled from the room and Coughlin led the way to the main entrance. I took a seat just inside the door, pulling my phone out. My hands were shaking and my chest felt too tight.

Gaping mouth.

Blood.

Bulging eyes.

I pressed my hands to my stomach. While Steve was being … I had been vomiting up too much alcohol. After being secretly filmed drunkenly fucking.

I couldn’t call Joel. I just couldn’t. I didn’t want to have to explain to him, and I knew he’d bug me until I told him everything. What I really wanted to do was forget what I’d just seen.

Like that was ever going to happen.

I clicked onto the Uber app. Ride sorted, I lay my head back against the vinyl seat, stretching my injured ankle out in front of me.

“You look thirsty.”

I squinted up to see Coughlin holding out a little plastic cup of water to me. I took it gratefully and downed it in one swallow. The older man smiled indulgently at me.

“Sorry about Detective Taylor. She gets so serious about things sometimes, but she doesn’t always see the bigger picture.”

It seemed unprofessional for him to be telling me this when I was apparently on their ‘people of interest’ list. I nodded, hoping to end the conversation.

“For the record, I’ve never thought you were a suspect, but you know how it is – we have to explore all avenues,” he continued.

I nodded again. He didn’t leave.

“You clearly have something else you want to get off your chest,” I muttered.

---