Aggro - CoraLee June Page 0,46
Kai. He seemed to not trust his family either. He kept me safe.”
That apparently was the wrong thing to say, because Chase’s scowl dipped even further. “What else happened?”
I thought about what Kai had told me. There was something going on with Lex and Violet. Kai had caught them talking to one another, and suddenly the hotel room key in Violet’s shorts made doubt settle in my stomach like a heavy block of cement. “Kai mentioned that he caught Lex and Violet talking a lot. She also went to Lex’s house without Kai once. There was a hotel keycard in a pair of shorts she borrowed from me. You don’t think Violet was…”
I didn’t even want to articulate it. Violet was a free spirit. She had one of those hearts that poured love into anyone she met. She was beautiful, likeable. Hell, she was flirty even when she didn’t try to be.
“What hotel?”
“Sandals Resort. Why would she go there?”
Chase chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Let me look into it, okay? You’ve done a lot. Thank you. Let’s not jump to any conclusions until I can check things out.”
I didn’t want to think that Violet was hooking up with Lex, but there was definitely something there. Doubting Violet made me feel sick to my stomach. Chase patted my thigh, perceptive to my inner turmoil. “You okay?”
“I just feel bad for Kai. What if Violet was cheating?”
Chase pulled his hand back and stroked his jaw before turning his attention outside. He stared at the crashing waves before responding. “I guess it would give him more motive then, huh?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t want to think about what that meant. Just as I was about to defend Kai, a knock on the door startled me.
“That’s the detectives,” Chase answered before getting up to answer the door. It felt wrong having this meeting without Chase’s parents present. I was sure if they didn’t have an ironclad alibi of being in Los Angeles, the police would be looking into them for being so heartless and leaving right after Violet’s death.
Two men followed Chase into the living room, and I turned to look at them. One, I recognized. Detective Rodriguez was a tall, handsome man. He had piercing black eyes and long lashes that cast shadows on his cheeks. He had worn the same suit every time I’d seen him, and his clipped accent was both soothing and harsh. The other man standing with him was new. He looked more relaxed, with a wrinkled shirt, cargo pants, and scuffed shoes.
“Miss Shirley, I’m not surprised to see you here. I’m glad Chase isn’t alone for this. We’ve already emailed the report to Mr. and Mrs. Jones,” Detective Rodriguez said with a forced smile.
I didn’t like where this was going. The second detective, who identified himself as Detective Brown, started reviewing the file. His words floated right through me; I couldn’t process the biological terms he was using to describe someone I loved so much.
His voice droned on for an eternity until one simple word demanded my attention. One word that crashed all around me like waves during a hurricane. One word that had me doubting all over again how close Violet and I really were. Fetus.
Violet was pregnant.
Detective Brown kept reading the report in his easy monotone manner. He didn’t notice the identical looks of shock on both Chase’s face and my own. He talked about how the purple spots in Violet’s eyes and the trauma to her hyoid bone were evidence of strangulation. His demeanor was of a man stating the weather, not one who had just dropped a bombshell.
Detective Rodriguez held up his hand to silence Brown and looked back and forth between Chase and me. Rodriguez clarified, more for Brown’s benefit than anyone else’s, “Neither of you knew she was pregnant.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, my voice coming out in a whisper. Chase was still too stunned to say anything.
“Yes,” Brown answered. “Normally the medical examiner wouldn’t have even looked. But since the body had been disarticulated by the wildlife, all of the organs recovered were examined individually. Based on fetal development, she was very early on in the pregnancy, between seven to ten weeks along. She may have only just found out herself before her death.”
“We are running the fetal tissue for DNA, but unfortunately, forensic labs are backed up. It will take at least six weeks to get the results back,” Rodriguez said gently. It was clear that