Page 221 of Cross the Line
Moonlight washesthe apartment when I sit at the breakfast bar with my laptop and a mug of the Quiet Mind tea Jayden bought me.
I can’t shut off my mind with Salem in the room across the hall. Since Finley settled her in the spare room, she hasn’t left it. Not to eat. Not to drink. Not for anything.
I pull up the browser and search for news about Casey. There’snothing to corroborate Salem’s story about their affair or that he’s gone. News like that spreads like wildfire.
“It’s being announced tomorrow,” Salem’s wet whisper comes from behind me.
When I look over my shoulder, she’s standing a lot closer than I thought. Her dark hair is pinned back with a thick elastic headband, making the marks around her throat impossible to miss.
Again, I’m reminded of the marks her husband left on Finley the day I took her from Havenview.
“The family wanted time to start mourning before the press found out.” Her voice is choked as she stares past me at the photo of Casey on my screen. “They told the team and…”
Salem shrugs with a wetter hiccup, and I ask, “That’s how you found out?”
She nods. “I tried to go see him, but Presley dragged me back to Havenview. They locked me up so I couldn’t leave and?—”
“But you’re here. You left.”
“Caleb and Eunice decided I needed to go back to Portland, to my husband, now that Casey is gone. They don’t want another scandal.” The ire in her voice when she gestures around us iterates her meaning.
In one of Finley’s pajamas, she looks especially tiny with the slightest belly. Although she doesn’t look like she’s too far along, from the date of Casey’s accident, I estimate she’s at least three months pregnant.
“Casey wasn’t under the influence. He barely ever had a drink. His fitness was so important to him, you know?” Salem comes closer, she’s still staring at his photo when she goes on, “Everyone is saying how you can never really know a person. But I knew him. I know he would never get behind the wheel if he wasn’t sober.”
I don’t know what to say because that’s what the authorities are saying. In her worked-up state, I don’t want to contradict her or cause her any more distress.
“His contract with The Wolves was almost up, and his agent was communicating with Chicago. We had a plan. He was going to take me with him, and we’d be close to his family, so the baby and I would be okay. He was going to look after us and… now he’s gone. It’s just me and him,” she says with a gentle rub of her belly.
“Clover was a good guy,” is the only remark I can make. I’m in over my head with all this.
She looks up at me. “No, Casey was so much more than good. I’ve never known a man like him, and I never will again.”
Pushing my laptop to the side, I slip off the stool. “Do you want some tea? It’s herbal.”
“Sure. Thank you,” she says when I pull out the stool beside mine for her.
“Do you need to see a doctor?” I ask while I go about making her a warm drink. “You know, do you need to make sure your baby is okay?”
Salem shakes her head. “He’s fine. I have a Doppler to listen to his heartbeat, and I’ve felt him move. But thank you.”
“No problem.” Her eyes are following my every move as though she’s appraising me. Trying to figure me out.
When I set her tea in front of her, she grips my hand tight before I pull it away.
For the longest moment, I’m frozen in place, unsure of what to do as she stares at our hands. There’s something about her touch that feels too deep, too knowing.
The hard clench of it is pleading and understanding all at once.
“I know,” is all she says with her fingers digging into my wrist and tears dripping onto the granite counter. “I know, Eli.”
The ground shifts beneath me.
The world comes down around me.
Salem doesn’t have to elaborate or explain because her pity rushes from her to me without a single glance. I feel it in her trembling grasp. I hear it in her sobs.
She knows.
