Page 166 of Fragments
It actuallyhurtshow fast my stomach drops. Like it just fell out of my body.
All of my unnecessary rage retreats fast, evaporating into nervous fear. “W-what do you meangone…?”
“I don’t have details, but from what I heard, he’s not in the East or in solitary.” Ren takes my hand, lacing our fingers, and I’m too numb to pretend to hate it right now.
“But then where… where would he be??” I’m spinning out, shivering through impending doom.
Dash can’t be dead… He just can’t be.
My lip is quivering as Ren holds me by my waist, pulling me closer. “I’m gonna try to get some more information, okay, baby?”
He lifts our joined hands, placing mine over his heart. Then he swipes his thumb gently over my trembling lips. And I’m just too fuckingshakento pull away.
It always feels really good to be close to him when I’m freaking out, something he’s well aware of and uses to his full advantage. He knows that taking care of me when I’m upset is a way to weasel his way back in. And as calming as it is, I hate how he treats me like I’m some fragile doll made out of glass. It’s insulting.
I’m no bitch. I can take care of myself.
At the same time, his fawning attention has a way of settling some bizarre part of my makeup I just don’t understand. His hands on me are like a sedative…
“Wait, so then who killed O’Malley?” Kang jumps back in, snapping me out of it a little. I step back, Ren’s hands sweeping off me slowly as I go. Kang shoots me a quick, disapproving look that makes me feel stupid all over again. “Do you think Dash did it??”
“No way!” I gasp. “Why the hell would he do that? It makes no sense…”
“I don’t know, maybe because he’s fuckingcrazy?” Kang grunts.
“O’Malley is way crazier than Dash,” I argue.
“Okay, whatever. They’re both fucking nutjobs,” Ren intervenes. “The point is that they said Kieran wasdeadspecifically, but they only said Dash wasgone.”
“Yea, well… who knows what the hell that means,” Kang scoffs. “They’re probably both dead. Because that’s what they do in this place; they kill our fucking friends.” He hucks his towel at the bin. “You two need to get your shit together, and remember what’s really important here.”
Then he stomps away, leaving me standing here like the statue of a confused idiot who knows nothing. So many thoughts, all jumbling around like a big, fat mess in my head. All of this confusion and anxiety is making me sick.
“I need to lie down,” I breathe, shoulders slumping in defeat.
But Ren grabs them, holding me upright in front of him. “You wanna know what I think?” I just stare at him, letting his complete lack of concern fill me with an odd sense of comfort. “I think Dash got out.”
My lashes flutter. “What would make you think that?”
“Well, you told me he was going to try, right? He goes down to the East and disappears… O’Malley turns up dead. It has to be connected.”
“Dash wouldn’t kill O’Malley…” I mutter again, although I’m not exactly confident in this statement.
The truth is, I don’tthinkDash would kill O’Malley… Definitely not the Dash who used to stay up talking with me until lights out, discussing our favorite movies, TV shows and music, the types of cars he’d love to restore, and why al pastor tacos are superior. The Dash who wanted to get me out of here because he cares about me, who hugged me just the other day and told me I was his friend…ThatDash wouldn’t viciously kill someone, especially not one of us.
But the Dash who freaked out in the cafeteria… The one who blacked out and punched Ren’s face bloody… The one who kissed me thinking I was someone else.
Theofficer…
Hemight.
“Maybe it was Dash,” Ren says, pulling my attention back to him, and the way he bites the corner of his lip sometimes when he’s deep in thought. “Maybe it wasn’t…”
“Who else could it be?” I ask him quietly. “I mean, who else would stab O’Malley repeatedly…”
My words trail as Ren and I share a knowing look.
Darcey.
