Page 88 of Blood Money

“Yeah? Well, right now isn’t forever. Just let me deal with all of this in my own way, okay?”

She takes a deep breath, then releases it. “Okay.”

The conversation is dropped as we step out of the room. Tony stands from the chair he’s sitting in and steps in front of us. “Miss Shultz, the chief would like a statement from you before you leave.”

“I gave my statement last night.”

He shakes his head. “We need it in writing.”

I open my mouth, but Lydia speaks for me instead. “She’ll come to the station with her lawyer and give a written statement, but as of now, she’s lost two very important people in her life and needs some time alone.” She wraps her arm around my shoulder and ushers me away before he can say anything else.

I wait until we’re stepping out of the building before I speak. “Damn. You sounded professional as fuck.”

She shrugs as she hits the fob to her car. “Learned a thing or two dealing with them when all the shit with Mac went down.”

“That seems like so long ago,” I admit, sliding into the car.

She positions herself behind the wheel and starts it. “A lot has happened.”

“Understatement of the year,” I laugh sarcastically.

When she doesn’t say anything else, I look over and see her staring through the windshield while gripping the steering wheel. “When did life get so fucking complicated?” It’s almost like she’s speaking to herself rather than me.

“When we grew up and realized monsters are real.”

She turns her head toward me. “And they don’t lurk under our beds.” She puts her car in drive and starts to pull away from the hospital.

“Isn’t that the fucking truth,” I breathe, leaning my head against the window.

Less than twenty minutes after walking into Lydia’s house to change, we’re walking right back out to go meet with the lawyer. “Hopefully this guy is good because I don’t think the cops believe me,” I remark, reaching for the handle of her car.

“Don’t worry. We’re going to get this figured out one way or another,” she says over the roof of the car.

I nod, but something catches my eye when she slides inside. Parked across the street is a black Civic with none other than Tony behind the wheel.

I quickly lower myself inside and close the door. Once we’re out of the driveway and heading down the road, I look in the side mirror and see him following behind us. “Remember my company from the hospital?”

She glances at me before turning her eyes back to the road. “Huh?”

“Tony, the cop.”

“What about him?”

“He’s following us.”

Her eyes move to the rearview mirror, then back to the road. “Lovely.”

“They think I’m lying.” I start to panic.

Before—with Lydia’s secret—it was easy. I wasn’t directly involved and never asked any questions. It was only a matter of keeping my mouth shut and never telling anyone, but this is different. I took the blame for what Cyrus did, and now I have to face whatever consequences come from it.

“It’s probably because you are.”

“Lydia!” I shriek. “Maybe be a little more helpful or supportive.”

“Look, you don’t need to worry until there is something to worry about, okay? We’ll meet with this guy and see what he says and go from there.”

“I was covered in blood with a gun in my hand when the cops showed up, I’m pretty sure that warrants some worry.”

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