Page 8 of Fatally Yours
“Oh my god, August…” My voice cracked as I felt my eyes fill with tears, cradling him in my arms, hoping such a simple gesture would help him stay coherent. I pressed my hand to his face, stroking his scruffy chin, wishing that this was all just a bad dream and I would wake up in a hospital bed because I passed out from heatstroke.
“Please stay with me, baby. I can’t lose you,” I cried as my tears dampened his shirt. His groan shattered my heart, and I thought this could be the last time I heard his beautiful voice or saw his handsome face. This was not how I wanted our life together to end.
His eyelids drooped and shut, and I felt like someone was shoving a knife in my gut. I tapped him gently, hoping to see his eyes pop back open, and he would say that this was all just some sick prank. But he wasn’t that cruel, not to me, not to anyone.
“Talk to me, please,” I said. “Don’t go to sleep. Please, do not go to sleep.” His eyes moved beneath his lids, but they never opened. I pressed my lips to his, and when I pulled away, there was a distinct iron taste on my tongue.
“I’ll be back…”
“No,” I pleaded. “You’re staying here. Please, August.” I felt my hands tighten around his fading body in a feeble attempt to keep him with me. But my efforts were failing. I was losing him, and there was nothing I could do.
“I’ll always be back…” The shallow rise and fall of his chest ceased, and he exhaled one final time.
“No!” I screamed, shaking him. “Wake up!”
III
The shriek of the sirens wailed down the road moments too late. They took August away after setting a cloth over his body. I didn’t need anyone to tell me what such a simple gesture meant. Mandy gripped my trembling hand as tears sat on the edges of her eyes. She was just trying to be strong for me.
I was sniveling even after the police approached us. I didn’t think I would ever get over it. The heat that felt so suffocating before was nothing compared to the pain we felt now. There was not a single dry eye between us, even if Scott didn’t want to admit it.
We were stationed by Wes’ van, with the guys on the ground and Mandy holding me as I sobbed into her shoulder. Heavy footsteps drewmy attention, as I knew I would have to answer questions. Though I couldn’t understand why. Everyone else was there. Why did I have to talk, too? Was this revenge for something I had no idea I did? Indeed, the world was against me today. If it weren’t, this wouldn’t have happened.
As I glanced at the officer before me, I noticed a familiar, ugly mug among the crowd of professionals. Officer Wilson was on the other side of the lot, interviewing a handful of people about what happened. Holding back a scowl, I waited for the intruder to question us or go away. He had already talked to Scott and Wes before approaching Mandy and me.
“I’m sorry about your boyfriend, ah—”
“Natasha,” I said, wiping away a tear.
“So y’all say a car just ran him over?” he questioned, pulling out a notepad. Scott nodded, running his hand through his spiky hair. The day was coming to an end, and the sky was fading into a hazy blue. I just wanted to go home.
“Yeah, man. Cars were speeding through here this morning when we came in,” he said. “To skip the light on the corner.” The officer side-eyed him. Yes, it appeared to be ridiculous. Something so awful like that didn’t happen in this town. I had seen enough of Mandy’s crime shows to know that there was almost always a motive. But not this time.
“Did August have any enemies?” the officer asked. “Anyone that would want him dead?”
“No,” Mandy said, threading her fingers in mine with a curt squeeze. “No one would want him dead.” And that was the truth. There were many negative things you could say about him, that he was abrasive, thick-skulled, and stubborn, but nothing that would warrant anyone wanting him dead. And if he wronged anyone and knew it, he always made sure to repair that relationship. Even Devin wouldn’t want him dead—I hoped. The thought made my throat tighten.
The officer’s eyes glanced around, meeting the dent Wes caused this morning. “You sure it wasn’t y’all that did it?” My jaw dropped as I balled my fists, ripping my hand away from Mandy’s. Now I was like August. If she weren’t here, I would be pummeling the man.
“No!” I snapped, raising my fists. “Why the fuck would we run him over?”She grabbed my arm, drawing me back. Were these assholes really so skittish that they would be scared of a woman defending herself after being accused of something so heinous? August was right—they were all scumbags.
“Shh, it’s okay.” She grabbed my hand again. It didn’t make me feel better in the slightest, but I resisted, only because I wasn’t excited about the prospect of spending the night in jail while the man I loved rotted in the morgue.
“Wes is a shit driver. You should know that since you’re always harassing us,” I muttered.
“Tash…”
“It’s alright. The young lady is just distressed,” the officer said unsympathetically, scribbling something down on his pad nonchalantly. I knew that they didn’t deal with hit-and-run deaths all the time, but they sure acted like it. “What color was the vehicle that struck him?”
“It was a black van,” Wes chimed in, his eyes red with tears. “Going at least forty through here, maybe faster. They should put some fucking speed bumps in.”
“Did you see the driver?” All of us shook our heads. We were more concerned about August lying sprawled out and bloody on the asphalt than seeing who it was. You can only do so much when your instincts tell you to freeze and focus on the tragedy before you. It was human nature to gawk at disasters—Mandy’s interests, the nightly news, and the boom in crime shows proved that well enough.
“They got out of here before we could see them,” Wes said after a moment of suffocating silence. The officer wrote down something more, then closed his pad, stuffing it in his pocket.
“We’ll be interviewing more people to see if they saw anything. In the meantime, keep an eye on your machines in case we need to speak to you again,” he said. “That goes for all of you.” He made sure to make eye contact with each of us.
“We don’t have one,” Scott muttered. The officer raised a brow at him, and the hint of a smirk almost peeked through.
