Page 95 of Crossed
Chapter37
Amaya
“JASON THINKS I’M FREE AND CLEAR.” I RUSH OUT the words, trying to shift the air into something less…whatever this is.
I’m standing in Cade’s kitchen and he’s staring at me with a look.Thatlook, the one he gives when he’s about to do something bad. Something forbidden.
His brows lift and he leans against the countertop, crossing his arms. “Oh?”
I nod. I haven’t actually talked to Jason, despite me asking Parker if we could once the newest murder hit the news. He said there was no reason to, that the police were in my home because of the broken window when the murder took place, and there’s no way I could have been in both places at once.
I have an alibi.I have an alibi.
Although they could still try to pin the other murders on me, I suppose, but Jason seems to think they’ll be harder to prove since all three victims had the same strangulation marks on their necks, and the last two specifically seem to have been mutilated in the exact same way.
I’m relieved, but after the relief came the questions. I’ve spent days connecting the dots, and they all lead to one thing.
Cade.
“There was another murder,” I say, watching him carefully.
“Did you know?” He nods. “I did.”
“Did you care?”
It’s a far stretch to think he had anything to do with this, but my intuition is strong and it’s never steered me wrong.
I’m still debating on whether the idea horrifies me or fascinates me.
Is it too crazy to think Cade could be the reason behind all this?
He has a tendency to follow me, and there’ve been numerous times around him when I felt my hair stand on end and the red flags wave, warning me I was in danger.Was he also at the Chapel that night with Andrew?
But then I think of Candace also having the strangulation marks, and it just doesn’t add up.
It couldn’t be him.
Unless Candace was a fluke.
Maybe I’m connecting dots where there’s nothing to connect because in some sick, twisted way, the thought of Cade being the one to murder the man who assaulted me and then killing another to clear my name…it’s exhilarating.
Nobody has ever protected me that way. No one has ever cared.
“Amaya.” His voice brings me out of my thoughts. “Where did you just go?”
Smiling, I shake my head. “Just thinking, I guess.”
“Well,” he continues, turning to put the tea kettle on the stove. “Idocare. Of course I care.”
“Okay.” I chew on my lip, fingering the pearl and emerald necklace around my neck.
He spins back around to face me. “Will you marry him then?”
“I…what?”
“Parker.” He takes a step toward me. “Don’t tell me youlovehim.”
My fingers twist together. “It’s complicated.” Cade scoffs.
