metal on bone. But I wasn’t used to the person I was cutting waking up. Luckily Detective Torres was more focused on his hand being mutilated than on who was doing it. He opened his mouth to scream, but I slammed the handle of the knife against his head, again and again, until his body stopped moving.
God, double assault on a detective? And cutting off his thumb. I lifted the bloody digit. And then there was the bit about murdering my husband. If Detective Torres ever caught me, I’d go to prison for life. And I couldn’t let that happen. I liked fresh air too much.
I grabbed a few tissues and wrapped them around the bloody stump on his hand. He wouldn’t bleed out. He’d wake up soon and get the best medical attention in the city. Detective Torres would be fine. I pressed my hand to the side of his throat, waiting to feel a pulse. For a second, I felt nothing. My heart started racing. I’d just wanted his finger, I hadn’t meant to kill him.
But then I felt the light thumping of his pulse. It was slow, but it was there. I’m so sorry. I leaned down and lightly kissed the top of his head. But you should have believed me.
I wrapped his finger in some tissues too, and then shoved it and his phone into my coat pocket. I grabbed a coat for Aiden too, lifted my backpack over my shoulder, and ran out into the garage.
I climbed into the car and Aiden tore out of the garage before I was even safely strapped in. There were already families outside drinking hot chocolate and cider, Christmas music blaring. It wasn’t dark yet, but the Christmas light competition festivities had already begun. The whole neighborhood would be filled with lights, costumes, and tons of drunk parents until well past midnight. It was the biggest neighborhood party of the year. A tradition I used to love. One that I’d actually miss.
I watched my house disappear in the rearview mirror. And for just a second, I wondered if maybe this year I would have won. Aiden turned left out of the neighborhood. I thought I’d feel better when we got out. But my heart was still racing.
I glanced at Aiden out of the corner of my eye. Maybe my heart was racing because I still had no idea who he was. I pulled Snuggle Muffins onto my lap. We’ll be okay, boy. No matter what happens, I promise we’ll be okay.
He sniffed my coat pocket and I moved him away from it. The last thing I needed was for Snuggle Muffins to eat Detective Torres’ thumb. It was the key to getting my money back. I pulled out some dog food to preoccupy him.
“Do you still have my phone?” I asked Aiden. I had my whole life to question him. Right now I needed to figure out if my mutilating Detective Torres’ body was all for nothing.
He kept his foot on the gas as he shifted to pull it out of his pocket. I grabbed it and stealthily switched it with the one in my pocket. And I even more stealthily put Detective Torres’ dead thumb to it. The screen unlocked.
“I’m going to bring up some directions,” I said as I opened up Detective Torres’ emails.
“Sounds good,” he said.
I held the screen away from him and searched. “Turn right up here to get onto I-95.” I’d already memorized the route to Mexico. I didn’t need directions. I continued to scroll through Detective Torres’ emails.
There was only one email starred on the whole page. That seemed like a good place to start, so I clicked on it.
“We’re running low on supplies again.”
-T
T? Who the hell is T? T. The letter rolled around in my head. T. My mind stopped spinning when I remembered why I wanted Detective Torres’ phone in the first place. T for…Tremblay? It was definitely possible. Detective Torres had acted so weird whenever I brought up Canada. Like he was hiding something. I copied the email address into the search bar but no other emails from that address appeared. Why would Sophia Tremblay be emailing Detective Torres?
“You look pale,” Aiden said. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” I thought about Noah’s finger shoved down my bra. And Detective Torres’ finger hidden in my coat pocket. No, I wasn’t okay. I wanted Sophia’s address, not…this. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. What if Detective Torres was in