Page 10 of One Last Chance

“There wasn’t. Kash and Hunter had the whole town.”

“Okay but how do you know that Raff really saw what he thought he saw? Maybe it was just a couple people fighting over something else. Or maybe he was high off his ass.”

She laughed. “Raff knew a crack fight when he heard it. You think he was waiting around for loose change to fall out of people’s pockets? Dude was a fiend. And whether he was high or not, he was still itching to get his hands on some free drugs.”

I frowned, letting the facts—such as they were—roll around in my head.

Lizzie shrugged. “And hey, if that doesn’t convince you—this last appeal? They showed the camera footage from across the street. Time and date stamped. Kash’s face, clearly visible. They let him go with time served.”

My eyes widened as I slapped her shoulder. “Why didn’t you lead with that?! God damn it, Lizzie!”

She burst out laughing. “What kind of story is that? Oh, they found a video that exonerated him, hurr durr. What kind of amateur sleuth does that make me look like?”

“A competent one,” I said primly. Tension left my body in dizzying waves. Damn it. Six years of torment, cleared by a video of Kash being a criminal. It was surreal. I hung my head between my knees and groaned.

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad,” she said. “It’s not like you told him to never speak to you again or anything.”

I gave her a miserable look and she slapped a hand over her mouth. Her wide eyes twinkled gleefully.

“Oh God, you did.”

“You don’t have to be so thrilled about it.”

“I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t. Hey, when’s your break over?”

I checked the time. “Two minutes ago.”

“Onward and outward!” She brought the shaky beast to life coughing and choking, but managed to get me back to the library in one piece.

Lizzie liked a good story better than anything, which made her a gold mine of information—but also made her difficult to trust implicitly. If a story wasn’t spicy enough for her liking, she had no qualms about adding a little zing. This story was a whole bowl of jalapeños, and I had fact-checking to do.

I poked around online as I worked, stopping between shelves and taking longer breaks between carts. At first all I could find was the same story the papers printed—that Kash got off on some unspecified technicality and had gotten away with murder. Court transcripts were locked—they said that the case was now considered an open investigation, and everything related to it was sealed tight.

Several hours later, after a frustratingly tiny bit of information, I locked up the library and texted Lizzie.

How did you know about the video?

I glared at my phone as I walked, willing her to answer me.

I was at the appeals,she replied.I was gonna use the case for my dissertation but then we all had to sign NDAs. Oops!

“Oops,” I muttered angrily. “She could have ‘oopsed’ a long time ago.”

Even thinking that made me feel a little guilty. Lizzie could have gotten in a lot of trouble for telling me that, assuming she really had signed an NDA. She must have, though. There was a reason she’d gotten into journalism—she never could keep her mouth shut. The NDA must have been very strongly worded to have kept her from spreading this news all over town the second she heard it.

Thank you. My lips are sealed,I promised.

If you wanna make me happy, seal your lips against Kash’s. Nobody that hot should be left unkissed, especially after a wrongful conviction!

Back off,I answered with a smile.I’m still mad at him.

Her only response was a row of kissy-face emoji. I rolled my eyes and stuck my phone in my pocket. I wasn’t convinced. And even if I was convinced, I wasn’t ready to talk to him. And even if I was, I’d already told him not to talk to me. And even if he ignored that, I wouldn’t know what to say.

I was so busy making excuses that I didn’t remember to take the long way around until it was too late. Against my better judgment, my eyes wandered to the motel as I passed—and immediately locked with Kash’s. He was standing in a second-story window and it looked like he was measuring it. His eyes burned into mine and time stood still. I felt my heart do at least five somersaults before thrashing against my chest, as though trying to get to Kash.

A blaring horn snatched my attention back to where I was. “Are you crossing or not?!”

“Shit,” I muttered and frowned, realizing I’d accidentally stepped into the street. “Sorry! Sorry.”

I backed up to the sidewalk and turned back toward home, walking as fast as I could without running. I didn’t look back in Kash’s direction, despite how much I really wanted to.

My defenses were down and I knew it.

Now, Kash knew it, too.

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