Page 94 of Corpse Roads

Grabbing fistfuls of Hunter’s shirt, Theo’s inches from his face. I don’t step in. He needs to work through this, once and for all.

“We never left.” Hunter pushes the hands off his shirt. “You’re the one that checked out, Theo. Your family has always been here.”

Gutted and alone, Theo looks around the room. Months of reconnaissance, gathering evidence, working himself to the bone. Harlow doesn’t know it, but Theo has done most of the work here. This case has consumed his life.

He’s been obsessed with finding the killer, even before we met her. Harlow doesn’t even know this man, not really, but he’s been fighting her corner since day one, and he’s taken no recognition for all his hard work.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Theo backtracks, hugging his laptop close. “Tell Harlow I’m sorry.”

“What does that mean?” Hunter snarls.

I approach them both. “Talk to us, Theo.”

“No more talking. You’re right. I’m not part of your family, not anymore. You’re better without me.”

“You are our family,” Hunter insists. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. We’re going nowhere.”

“My family died along with Alyssa.” Theo shakes his head. “It’s never coming back. I can’t stay here for a second longer, trying to fill that void.”

“Don’t do this,” I plead with him.

He can barely look at me. “You told me to stop pretending like I’m okay. You got your wish. I am not okay.”

Hunter’s expression turns thunderous as he loses patience. “Walk out that door and we’re done. That’s it.”

“Hunter!” I shout at him. “He’s trying to ask for help, for fuck’s sake. Don’t be such a wanker.”

Theo snorts, his eyes red. “He doesn’t care about us, Enz. He never did. We’ve bled for this company. Suffered for it, time and time again. Where’s the appreciation?”

“You’re the one threatening to walk,” Hunter supplies.

“Because I’m sick of being a stranger in my own goddamn life!” Theo yells. “You know what? Have it your way. Good luck with the investigation.”

Before storming out, he stops and looks at his work laptop. It’s an extension of him at this point, a physical manifestation of his brilliant mind. His tech gives him comfort in a cold, cruel world.

Theo drops it on the console so hard, it rattles several framed photographs that Hunter keeps displayed. One of them holds our last picture together. The people we used to be.

Alyssa is in the middle of us, grinning like a maniac. She was so beautiful, confident and sassy, with an acid tongue that kept us all in line. Everything about her was incredible.

Our relationship wasn’t normal, not by a long stretch. We fell into sharing her by accident, swept up in the tornado of desire and first love that sucked us all into its destructive path. We loved her so fucking much.

“No,” I croak, as the frame wobbles.

Falling from the console, the sound of glass smashing fills the suffocating silence. Pain rolls over Theo’s face, matching the blast of agony tearing me up inside.

That was the last photo we dared to display of her. The others were boxed up along with her stuff, tucked into a quiet corner of the attic where none of us could stumble upon them again.

Leaving us with nothing but our memories and grief, Theo storms from the office without stopping. Both of us stare, open-mouthed. Part of me believes he’ll come back.

He doesn’t.

Theo is gone.

Striding over to the window, Hunter braces his hands on the glass, his head lowered in defeat. I leave him be and kneel beside the mess that Theo left behind.

The frame is ruined, and I slide the photo from it, making myself look at the memory in my hands. Alyssa’s arms are wrapped around Theo’s neck, her pink hair stirring in the breeze.

His lips are pressed against her cheek, while Hunter stares down at them with a look of happiness. I’m cuddling her from behind, content to share my soulmate with the people I loved most in the world.

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