Page 1 of Treasured By Them
1
Troy
This isn’t the homecoming I expected.
The apartment looks fine. Better than fine, after the days I’ve spent holed up in the hotel room Amber booked and paid for me. The morning light here is bright and cheery, and the furniture and landscape photography on the walls comfortable and calming.
The problem is the people—not the people themselves. But their expressions.
Dani stands next to Edmund, her face pale, her eyes wide with panic. Edmund looks worried, his arms half-stretched toward her like she’s a bomb and he’s afraid to touch her and set her off.
I remain in the doorway, unsure of whether I should step in or quietly back away, let the elevator take me down to the ground floor, and disappear. “Guys?”
Edmund clears his throat. “Danica just—well, she’s having a panic attack.”
“No. Not panicking. But I have to go to the police. I have to talk to them.” Her gray eyes are wild, beseeching. “I have to talk to them now. I remember—I know what happened to her.”
“To who?” I feel like an idiot, but I have no fucking idea what she’s talking about.
“To Britney Gardner! All these things—everything I’ve been dreaming—it’s real.” She grabs Edmund’s hand and starts marching with him toward me and the door.
“Wait, Dani.” I drop my duffel on the floor and hold out my hands. I don’t know who Britney Gardner is, but I have to stop Dani.
She moves out of my reach. “You can’t tell me to wait! I just remembered important information about how she died?—”
“But you aren’t wearing clothes.” I cock an eyebrow as she pauses and looks down at herself. She’s wearing a silky gray cami and matching shorts. The pajamas are cute and sexy—just like Dani. I continue, “It’ll probably be hard for anyone to take you seriously.”
She blushes. “You’re right. And…shit, I’m sorry, Troy. I’m sorry about everything.”
I get the feeling she isn’t talking about her pajamas.
“I shouldn’t have shouted at you, and I shouldn’t have ignored you when you tried to explain.” She takes one of my hands, squeezing it. “If you give me another chance, I’ll talk things out if something like that ever happens again. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”
I nod and cup her cheek. “If you need time to figure out your thoughts, just ask for time. I can handle giving you time. Okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Now.” I look from her to Edmund. “It sounds like we’re going back to SEPD?”
“You don’t have to come,” Dani says. “You’re probably so sick of the police by now.”
“I go where you go.” I spin her around and face her toward the hall. “But you have to put on clothes, first. As much as I like the sight of your sexy little ass in these short shorts.”
She sends me a smile over her shoulder before hurrying away.
I face Edmund. “So. What the fuck is going on?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. The news came on. They identified the body from Danish Lake. Danica started acting strange and said she remembers things.” He stares down the hall where she disappeared, his shoulders tense. “I don’t know what to make of this.”
“But we’re gonna see it through?”
“Of course.”
Danica
The “meeting room” at SEPD feels more like an interrogation room. Air conditioning blasts, raising goosebumps over my bare arms. The room itself is sparse. Jail cell chic. It holds nothing but a table and a couple of chairs. A cup of smelly coffee sits in front of me. The heat left it twenty minutes ago and it no longer warms my hands.
I hold my arms around myself, trying to keep from freezing. “Is there another detective I can talk to?”
