Revealing Annie - Freya Barker Page 0,79

my pocket when Bryce stops right in front of me.

“Fucking hell, kid,” I swear at my son. Probably not the best example of parenting, but I can’t seem to come up with anything else right at this time.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. It’s just Hunter was whining and I though he needed to pee.”

I pluck the leash from his hand and get the dog in the back seat before turning back to Bryce. He looks worried and I force myself to calm down.

I may have overreacted.

No, I know I overreacted, but hindsight is twenty-twenty and in my defense, shit has been a little chaotic lately.

“Come here,” I tell him, even as I notice Annie rescuing the groceries I’d dumped in the back seat from a very excited Hunter.

Bryce takes a tentative step closer, but I tag him behind the neck and yank him to my chest.

“Scared the crap out of me, Bryce. Feel my heart pounding? That’s fear because I didn’t know where you were.” I feel the boy’s hands fist in my shirt by my sides. “I panicked. That’s on me, but I’m kinda learning on the job here, so help me out a little and don’t disappear without telling anyone.”

I release him and he takes a step back.

“But you were inside…”

“Yeah, and you’ve got a phone. Coulda called us to let us know.” He drops his head dejectedly and I put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, we both kinda messed this one up. Next time we’ll both do better, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I press a kiss to the top of his head—something I’m pretty sure is illegal to do to a teenager—and nudge him toward the truck.

Half an hour later, Bryce is in the basement playing a game, both dogs probably by his side. Their reunion had been heartwarming, and after ten minutes running around the yard, they’d come inside, Daisy leading her buddy to the water bowl.

Annie went upstairs to gather up dirty sheets to wash, and I’m making a start cutting vegetables for dinner, when the doorbell rings.

Annie

I have my arms full when I make my way down the stairs. The low rumble of men’s voices reaches me from the kitchen and I head in that direction.

Both Keith and Tony are sitting at the kitchen island and Kyle just pulls his head from the fridge, holding a beer.

“Want one?” He holds up the bottle to the guys.

“No thanks.”

“Not while I’m on the clock.”

Then he turns to me. “You, Annie?”

“I’ll pass. Hey, guys,” I greet the others. “Let me get this started.”

I dive into the laundry room, stuff the sheets in the washer, and get the machine going. Back in the kitchen I sidle up to Kyle, who immediately throws his arm over my shoulder, when I notice a big envelope on the counter in front of the detectives. My car keys are on top.

“Shit, I totally forgot about the car.”

Tony grins. “No worries, looks like you had a busy afternoon.” He scratches Hunter, who’d come up to check out the new visitors. “Clearly you got your way.” He smirks at Kyle.

“Wait a minute, how many dogs do you have again?” Kyle fires back. “Oh, and cats?”

“Whatever,” Tony dismisses him before turning back to me. “Anyway, since we were coming here anyway, we brought your car.”

That leaves me curious about the envelope.

“Thanks for that. So…Kyle said you charged him? Parsons?”

“The DA did, yeah. He feels there’s sufficient evidence we pulled from his trailer,” Keith volunteers. “A few things we’d like to go over with you, though.”

I shrug. “Sure. What is it?”

Keith picks up the envelope and slides the contents on the counter. A bunch of snapshots from what I can see, and what looks like a pair of panties in a Ziploc bag.

“Ewww,” escapes me, and then I look closer. “Wait a minute…I recognize those.” I grab the bag to take a better look and immediately drop it when I notice a few areas marked with a circle. “Double ewww.” I shiver and Kyle pulls me tighter to his side. “Is that…?”

“Afraid so.”

“We pulled these pictures and the panties from the drawer in Parsons’ nightstand. All of them together.”

“Good thing he’s locked up,” Kyle announces in a growly voice while I sift through the snapshots.

Some were taken of me walking Blossom—I feel vindicated knowing someone actually was watching me—a few of Kyle and I kissing in front of my trailer, and one of me putting out the garbage behind the bakery.

“You haven’t seen these pictures before, Annie?” Keith asks.

“No.