as a murder, as he should? I saw no familiar faces here yet; the police that were here weren’t detectives or anything.
My mom stood behind me, watching our interaction with a passive face. Now wasn’t the time to play the disapproving mother; she was holding back, which was good. “With everything that’s been happening here lately, I wouldn’t rule out foul play.” Her voice got louder, and she shot a look to the nearest cop. “And I hope these fine gentlemen aren’t just trying to avoid more paperwork. I hope they do their job and look into this.”
With my mom leading the way, we went into the house and sat down in the living room. There, we tried to calm Archer. I sat beside him, an arm around his back. Even though it wasn’t her kitchen, Mom got him water, which he didn’t touch. Kind of like me, he looked like he wanted to be sick.
Mom disappeared, probably to speak with the police or maybe even call Ollie, leaving me to sit with Archer alone. Well, as alone as we could be, given the fact that, apparently, his mother was dead upstairs, having bled out right when Melinda supposedly tripped and fell down the stairs.
Odd timing for the both of them, wasn’t it?
“This wasn’t an accident,” I told him, knowing it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. There were no words to say, nothing to tell him to soothe his broken heart. He’d cared for his mother so much, he’d forced himself to be with Brittany for the last year. And now…now she was dead, and he was effectively alone in this cruel, harsh world. “I’m so sorry,” I added, watching those blue eyes turn to me, rimmed in red.
Watching someone like Archer break down made me all different kinds of depressed. Why did this have to happen? Why him? Why his mom? I hated that I had no answers, and that I couldn’t make it better for him. There was no undoing this, no taking back the afternoon’s events.
“I know it wasn’t,” he whispered, leaning into me. He held me close, breathing me in. I hoped my presence calmed him somewhat; I hoped I was a weight, a rock in this stormy sea for him. This was a pain I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. I wasn’t that cruel.
But, clearly, someone else in Midpark was.
When my mom reappeared, I pulled away from Archer, getting up. Being on my feet made me feel like I had an ounce of control here, even though I didn’t. “Have you found out anything?”
“Oliver’s on his way here. Detective Wilde should be on his way as well. I don’t know if they think this is connected to the other girls, but I’m going to push for it.” Mom, taking charge, even though it was for a boy who she normally would hate to see me with. She went to Archer’s side, gently setting a hand on his shoulder.
The look Archer gave her right then broke my heart into even more pieces.
“Archer, honey, you should keep yourself hydrated,” Mom told him. “I know the last thing you probably want to do is eat, but once Oliver gets here, I’m going to go pick you up some dinner. Is there anything specific you’d want?”
God, I really wanted to hug my mom right then. Even if she wasn’t a fan of Archer, she was being the mom he needed right now, the caring hand that would help steady him.
“I’m not hungry” was all Archer could say.
“I’ll choose, then,” she said.
More official Midpark police department cars showed up outside, more people filing in the house. A man carrying a large camera, for one, along with a few coroners, though they took to waiting in the kitchen while the scene was documented upstairs.
Ollie arrived shortly after the coroners did, walking into the house like he owned the place. Every cop here knew who he was, and they ducked out of his way as he came straight for us. He set a hand on my mom’s back as he traded places with her, and while she disappeared to get takeout, he began to ask Archer what exactly had happened on this terrible afternoon.
“I came home from school,” Archer spoke, nearly choking on the words. “Melinda was passed out at the foot of the stairs, and I found my mom in her room, in front of her makeup mirror. Her wrists were…cut deep. The knife was on the floor, like she’d dropped