Skin

“Okay, Alexis,” Unser spoke as if he were spitting out lines he’d been fed by someone else. “We’re going to turn on this tape recorder to get your statement. Your answers are purely voluntary. If at any point you feel uncomfortable or don’t want to provide an answer, we will stop until you get a lawyer present. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I answered robotically.

Dropping a manila file onto the table that separated us, Unser offered me a warm, almost fatherly smile. “I’ll go and grab you a coffee.”

As soon as he left the room, I regretted not asking him to stay. His departure meant that I was stuck alone in an interrogation room with Hale, who had made his disdain for my family perfectly clear over the years. When I looked up at him, I could see a gleefully malicious glimmer in his eyes.

“Alright, Miss Teller, let’s get started.” Hale flipped open the folder that Unser had left behind. He scanned the information that it contained, then returned his gaze to me. “What is your relationship to Trent Isaacs?”

I shrugged lightly, leaning back in my chair and doing my best to appear aloof. Unser had briefed me on the way over that Trent had been reported missing. I knew that, after five whole weeks, the chances of them finding any kind of evidence against me was slim. “I don’t have a relationship with him. Not anymore,” I added for clarification as Hale opened his mouth to interrupt. “I used to be his girlfriend. But I left him.”

“Can I ask what caused the split?”

“People grow apart,” I said simply.

“So the breakup is the only reason that you came back to Charming?” Hale asked, clearly unconvinced.

“Well, that and I missed your beautiful face,” I replied sarcastically.

The smug look was wiped off of the deputy’s face. He leaned forward, glaring me down. “Alexis, I don’t think you realize the gravity of this situation. You are being questioned as a suspect right now. Disrespecting me will get you nowhere.”

I forced my facial expression into one of the utmost seriousness. Even my voice came out sounding solemn and concerned as I spoke. “I respect you, Hale. As a police officer. You do a damn good job of keeping Charming safe. It’s the human being part that I have issues with. But I haven’t spoken to my ex in weeks. He was still living in the house I shared with him when I saw him last. He was still sleeping in our bed. He was still watching the television that I bought him for Christmas the year before last. I have no idea where he is now. I didn’t even know that he was missing until you picked me up today, and now suddenly you’re calling me a suspect. The fact that you used that word tells me that I need a lawyer.”

“I don’t think you need one if you’re not hiding anything.” His tone was callous. He was trying to get what he wanted out of me, and he thought that pissing me off was the best way to do that.

I folded my arms across my chest. “I already told you; I haven’t had contact with him in awhile.”

“Can you explain to me why a series of large withdrawals were made from his bank account over the week prior to his disappearance?” Hale pressed, passing me a document across the shiny tabletop. “There is hardly any money left in his life savings.”

As I took the bank statement and checked it over, I felt a sudden glimmer of hope. I knew, of course, that the cash had been used to pay a hit man to kidnap several women, only one of which was Trent’s intended target. The final withdrawal had been significantly larger than the rest, which told me that it had been the money Trent had used to pay for both my abduction and my death. He hadn’t lived long enough to follow through with the last part. There was barely enough money left in his life savings to pay for one month’s rent in the townhouse where we had lived together. Where I’d killed him.

Unser re-entered the room and set a Styrofoam cup in front of me. He had probably been watching my exchange with Hale through the one-way mirror directly behind Hale’s broad back. I decided to play it cool as I passed the paper back across the table.

“It looks to me like he was draining his bank account to run away. Nowadays everything is traceable except cash. Trent is a smart guy. I’m pretty sure he could figure out how to vanish from the system completely if he wanted to,” I said.

Hale looked even less convinced than he had a moment before. “His family seems to think that he didn’t have a motive for hiding.”

I looked him dead in the eyes before I replied. “Maybe there were things about him that even they didn’t know. He was secretive about a lot of things. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if that’s exactly what happened.”

Hale got up from his chair, clenching his jaw in frustration. Unser watched the scene from behind the deputy, appearing almost amused. Hale rounded on me once more, pressing his palms flat against the table and leaning forward over them.

“What was his motive? He was a homebody; a dentistry student. The only evidence of any kind of issues he might have had was the fact that he somehow got tangled up with you!”

“That’s enough!” Unser intervened, suddenly furious. “Outside, Hale!”

Hale reminded me of an infant in the middle of a tantrum as he stormed out of the room. Unser’s enraged stare softened as he faced me.

“We appreciate you coming in here. You’re not a suspect. There isn’t even really a case. There’s no reason to think he’s dead right now, and it certainly looks as if he ran away of his own accord. All the same, stay close.”

I raised my eyebrows. “So… we’re done here?”

He nodded, pausing to take a deep, steadying breath before he gestured toward the door. “Your mom is out in the lobby. I’m really sorry about all of this, Lexi.”

I managed a half-hearted laugh. “It’s not your fault I stayed with him for as long as I did. Maybe if I’d left him sooner, I wouldn’t be here right now. But there’s nothing either of us can do about that now, is there?”

Unser placed a gentle hand on my back as he guided me down the hallway. “How’s the heart doing?”

“I just got a pretty good report back today, actually. So overall, I think it’s going as good as can be expected.”

“Good,” he replied, sounding as if he meant it. I had always liked Unser. His hair was thinning, and his skin looked pale and sallow, but I knew that those symptoms were mostly from his treatments. He was fighting cancer. I felt suddenly as if my heart problems were minimal by comparison.

“How are you doing?” I carried on the conversation, now feeling some kind of moral obligation to do so.

“Oh, you know, I’m hanging in there.”

We reached the lobby, and I was saved from having to come up with something meaningful to say. I was terrible in these kinds of situations. Mom rushed over, looking visibly stressed about the whole scenario.

“Wayne, can you tell me what’s going on here?” she asked, sounding more than a little perturbed.

“I’ll explain in the car,” I assured her. “Let’s get going.”

As Mom drove me back to Juice’s house for the second time that day, I gave her a run-down of everything that had happened in the interrogation room. When I’d finished, she was grinning widely.

“He drained his bank account? That’s perfect!”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I can’t wait to tell the guys. Juice is going to be so excited.”

“See? Your mind is always on him.”

I scoffed. “Oh, come on. He’s the only person that I see every day without fail. Of course he’ll be happy that I’m not going to jail for murder.”

“Are you going to start working tonight?” Mom smoothly shifted topics, and I was grateful. “Should I give the guys a heads up that you’ll be there?”

I chewed on the thought for a moment. I would have loved to just show up and surprise everyone, but I also kind of wanted to tell Juice all of my good news first. “No, I think I’ll wait until tomorrow. I’m pretty sure that being arrested and interrogated by Hale is enough excitement for one day.”

“Now you’re starting to think smart,” she said in approval. She parked the car in front of Juice’s house, and this time we didn’t bother with a long goodbye. It wasn’t like the cops were going to show up again, but I still wanted to get inside.

Juice had left the coffee pot turned on when he’d left for work. I wasn’t entirely certain that he hadn’t just forgotten about it, but it seemed as if he knew me well enough to guess that I would want some when I got home. I poured the rest of the pot into the biggest mug I could find in the cupboard, then headed out the back patio doors and sat down on the deck.

Casey came bounding across the yard, a brightly coloured section of knotted rope dangling from her jaws. She dropped the toy at my feet as she clambered up the steps and sat next to me. She pressed her nose up against my face, begging for attention. I petted her lightly, satisfying her for the moment while I sipped my coffee.

I took a moment to contemplate what would happen to her if something were to happen between Juice and I that caused me to move out. If I went back to my apartment, I would have to try and convince Jax or Mom to take her in. In either scenario, there would be problems. Jax would have a baby at home soon, and though Casey had never shown any inclination to disliking children, I knew that I couldn’t burden my brother with the extra responsibility. And Mom had her bird; if Casey had to come inside during a storm, that was bound to cause problems. In the end, I would have no choice but to get rid of her.

She nuzzled up against me, whining earnestly. I reached down and grabbed the rope, tossing it across the yard with all my strength. She took off after it, racing as fast as her legs would carry her. I played fetch with her until I was finished with my coffee.

“Alright, Casey,” I told her as I stood up and dusted myself off. “I’ll take you for a real walk later.”

I grabbed my empty coffee cup and headed back inside. I took up my usual spot on the couch, turning on the TV and flipping through the channels. I soon found that there was nothing on, which wasn’t exactly surprising for this time of day. I hit the power button on the remote and left the room. Maybe I could go for a drive, since now I was allowed to.

I found my keys stashed in the bottom of my purse, and I made my way outside. It wasn’t until that moment that I remembered that my car was currently parked on the TM Automotive lot, where it would be safe. I muttered grumpily under my breath as I turned and retreated back inside. Maybe I would just take a nap instead.

I returned to the couch, but within a few minutes I became frustrated that I couldn’t immediately fall asleep. I really was getting cabin fever. I grabbed Casey’s leash from the front closet and went back outside.

I clipped the leash on her and unlatched the back gate. She pulled roughly on the leash, itching to go for a run. Even though Tara hadn’t actually told me that running was allowed yet, I decided that I would attempt a leisurely jog. I didn’t make it very far before I had to return to a walk and catch my breath.

I took Casey to the off-leash dog park and let her run free for awhile. She was more than happy to chase after other dogs as I sat in the shade of a poplar tree and relaxed. I heard the familiar rumble of a Harley somewhere nearby, and I began to look around. Juice’s machine appeared on the street, his Mohawk haircut hidden by his sleek black helmet. He slowed down as he neared the park, and I stood up to go and greet him. If he was here, he was surely looking for me. I brushed the grass from my backside as I made my way to the sidewalk. He pulled up and cut the engine, but remained seated on the bike.

“What’s up?” I asked, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

“My shift is over, and Gemma told me that I needed to talk to you. I went home, but you weren’t there.” He pulled off his sunglasses so that I could see his eyes.

“Oh, right. I actually have a lot to tell you. But it’s not really things I feel like discussing in a dog park, you know?”

Juice began taking off his helmet. “I’ll give you a ride.”

I jerked a thumb back over my shoulder. “I’ve got Casey. Meet you at home?”

He secured the strap of his helmet once again. “Yeah, okay.”

I leaned over and planted a quick kiss on his lips. When I pulled back, he looked stunned. He glanced around quickly to see if anyone had witnessed what I’d just done. I laughed at his reaction.

“Who’s going to be around this area that will care that I just kissed you?” I asked.

“You never know,” he replied, though he looked rather smug now that the surprise had worn off. “See you in a few minutes.”

I knew that it would probably take me a lot longer than a few minutes to get back to his house, but I nodded in agreement anyways. Casey was always so worn out after we went to the dog park that she lagged behind the whole way home. I called her over, and after a moment of hesitation, she turned her back on the husky that she was play-fighting and came running back to me. I clipped the leash back onto her collar and started off in the direction that Juice had just vanished. Twenty minutes later, I filled her water dish from the outside tap and set her free once more in the backyard. I’d left the patio doors unlocked before, so I was able to go straight inside without bothering to walk all the way around the house.

“So tell me, what’s your big news?” Juice asked. He was somewhere in the house that I couldn’t see him. He must have heard the door close behind me.

I followed the sound of his voice into the kitchen. He was sipping from a beer, and when I appeared he gave me an expectant, waiting stare. I couldn’t stop the sudden grin from breaking out across my face.

“I’m not going to jail,” I proclaimed.

“Since when were you going to jail?”

“Since I got arrested today,” I replied, as if it were no big deal.

“Wait, what?” Juice nearly choked on the beer he’d been taking a swig of. “Care to explain a bit further?”

I gave him a quick rundown of the interrogation, including the fact that my ex had left an incriminating pattern of large cash withdrawals in his wake. When I was finished, Juice nearly dropped his beer as he rushed to embrace me. His arms cinched around my waist and he lifted me right off of the floor. I clutched onto him tightly, glad that he had shown such a high level of excitement over this. He set me back down, and our mouths collided. For the first time, he wasn’t holding anything back. His hands held me fast, pulling me against him as closely as he could without hurting me. I felt as if I was dissolving into him; as his tongue snaked past my lips, every barricade I had ever built around myself dissipated.

Juice’s grip tightened as he lifted me up onto the kitchen counter. Our faces were now level, and it was easier for both of us to access one another. I pushed his cut off of his shoulders, and it fell to the floor in a careless heap; I couldn’t ever remember seeing it in that kind of condition. Juice always took the extra few seconds required to hang it up.

I slid my fingers smoothly under the hem of his black tee shirt. He took the hint and peeled it off, only breaking our lips apart for a fraction of a second. His hands explored the skin of my back beneath the cotton of my shirt. I felt the clearly defined muscles on his chest and stomach. Something about the skin against skin made this feel so right.

I pulled back as I pulled my shirt off, giving him free reign to continue. As I moved in to kiss him again, however, I noticed a tangible change in the atmosphere. I stopped, looking at him in a silent question.

Juice was staring in horror at the ropy red scar that cut my chest in half vertically. “Lex, your heart,” he whispered.

“It’s fine,” I persisted, trying again to kiss him.

He took a step backwards, looking as if he truly detested himself. “I could have hurt you,” he said.

“No, it’s fine,” I repeated, feeling a sudden, hurt desperation overtake me.

He shook his head, still staring at where the incision had been made. “No, it’s not okay.”

My temper flared suddenly. For the first time, my moodiness was going to be taken out on Juice. I grabbed my discarded tee shirt and clambered down from the counter. “I’m not broken,” I told him fiercely as I stormed off down the hallway. I ducked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me and jamming the button lock into place.