My phone rang and I picked it up. “Where are you?” I barked into the phone, thinking it was her.
“I’m in California.” It was Robert and he sounded hesitant.
“Shit. Sorry, Robert. I thought you were Hadley. What’s going on?”
“Are you in New York?”
“Yeah, I just got here.”
His heavy sigh made me tense. “I think you should go to the station. There’s been an accident.”
“Accident? What kind of accident?”
“Look at the news and you’ll see. I’m sorry, Blake. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you.”
Dropping my phone, I ran into the hotel bar and pushed past everyone crowded around the counter. The TV’s above showed nothing but fire, and the words below emblazoned in blue, Hadley Rivers, dead?
Holy fuck.
Women around me cried while others watched the news in complete horror. I couldn’t watch anymore. “She’s dead?” someone cried. “How can she be dead? Wasn’t she just giving a concert tonight? She was so young.”
I refused to believe it. She wasn’t gone, it had to be a mistake. What if it wasn’t?
“Fuck.” I gripped the counter and momentarily felt lightheaded before the anger took over. If it was her in that car, someone was going to pay for taking her away from me. Growling, I hurried back to where I dropped my phone, dialing Robert’s number as I stormed out the door.
“Evan’s, you okay?”
“Call the Chief of Police out here and tell them I’m coming.”
“What are you going to do? You can’t interfere in this.”
“I don’t care. I want answers.” Everything inside of me was numb. I didn’t want to feel the pain yet. I wanted answers, and I sure as hell was going to get them.
“I’m sorry Mr. Evans, but I can’t allow you back there. The chief said only family is allowed at this time.” The arrogant twat glanced down at his paperwork, completely dismissing me.
My blood boiled. I’d been sitting there for over two fucking hours. “Look, fucker,” I growled, grabbing him by the neck, “I showed you my badge and told you who I am. I want to talk to the Chief of Police. I suggest you let me back there before I rip off your goddamn head.” He grasped at my hands, but all it did was make me squeeze harder.
“Mr. Evans, let him go. I’m Byron Jennings.” I glanced over my shoulder at the middle-aged man, pursing his lips. “Robert called and told me to expect you.” He had graying, dark hair and a moustache, his uniform badge confirming he was the Chief of Police.
I squeezed shitdick’s neck one more time because it felt good, and then let him go. He grabbed his neck and fell back in his chair, coughing.
Byron stood to the side and motioned for me to walk past. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t assault my staff.”
“And I’d appreciate it if he wouldn’t act like a cunt. Now what happened to Hadley?”
Sighing, he started down the hall and I followed. “It looks like her bodyguard lost control of the car. They slammed into a tree right outside of Burnsville. According to her agent, she was staying at a hotel in town. It makes no sense why they were heading out of the city.”
Where the hell was she going? “Something’s not right. She sent me a text right after her concert saying she was on her way to the hotel. There’s no fucking way this was an accident.”
He shrugged. “We don’t have any evidence proving otherwise. Hadley’s father did say he’d received threats on her life over the past couple of years, but as far as we can tell, they were all just ploys to get his money. Believe me, if this was intentional, we’ll find the culprit. Right now, we have our people gathering everything they can. As it stands, it’s being ruled as an accident . . .”
Byron’s mouth kept moving, but I couldn’t hear a fucking thing he said.
The signs were there . . . why couldn’t anyone else see it as I did? It wasn’t a fucking accident. My chest tightened so hard, I could barely draw in a breath. I didn’t want to feel the pain of her loss; I wanted the anger. It didn’t hurt as bad if I could focus on that. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face. I should’ve been there to protect her. If I’d only gotten to her sooner.
“Mr. Evans, stop!” The voice seemed so far away. I could feel arms drawing me back. There was blood dripping from my right hand and a large hole in the wall. There was a larger hole in my chest. “What the fuck is your problem?” Byron shouted.
I collapsed into the wall and looked down at my hands. They were blurry and my eyes burned. I never fucking cried. The cops in front of me watched my every move, as if I was going to snap.
“I’ll pay for the damage,” I said, not even recognizing the voice that came out of my mouth. I didn’t feel like myself anymore.
“Guys, back off,” Byron commanded. The cops scattered, but chose to stay close just in case. I couldn’t blame them. I was a ticking time bomb. The chief approached me cautiously and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Robert told me you two were involved. I’m sorry, I know this is difficult. But I can’t help you if you don’t calm down.”
“Tell me the rest.”
“From what we can piece together, after the crash, the car burst into flames. There didn’t appear to be a struggle to get out.”
The thought of Hadley burning to death made me sick. Swallowing hard, I nodded and blew out a shaky breath. “How fast were they going?”
“Judging by the damage, it was probably around twenty miles per hour. There were skid marks found at the scene, where they swerved off the road. You’re more than welcome to look at what we have so far. We’ve also recovered a couple of Hadley’s belongings.”
Jaw tense, I nodded. “I want to see them.”
He led me further down the hall and I stopped in front of one of the doors. I recognized the guy inside. It was Nick, and he had his arm around another female, who sat sobbing uncontrollably.
Byron nodded to them. “That’s Hadley’s agent, Felicity, and her brother, Nick. He and Hadley were involved for a time.”
“I know.” Even though it was all a ploy, I didn’t bother correcting him. It was no use. I was the last person Nick would want to see.
“All right, let’s go in here.” Byron opened the door to the next room. There was nothing in there but a table and four chairs. “Have a seat and I’ll get everything we’ve gathered so far.” I walked inside and paced the floor to keep my body moving. If I slowed down, I’d crash. A few minutes later, Byron walked in with two file folders and a box, placing them on the table. “Do you need some privacy?”
“Please,” I replied. He nodded once and shut the door on his way out.
I slid the folders toward me and didn’t bother with the box. I wasn’t ready to see its contents. I’d never been so scared to open a file in my life. Taking a deep breath, I opened the first folder and read everything from start to finish.
There were no witnesses to see what’d actually happened. I didn’t like that at all.
Pushing the folder away, I stared down at the next one containing pictures. I carefully opened it up and closed my eyes when the first picture came into view. It was of the back of the car, all black and charred from fire. Bile burned my throat as I flipped to the next picture; the backseat, with nothing but a pile of ash. To be burnt like that, the car had to have been on fire for quite a while.
Closing my eyes, I slammed my fist on the table. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
I pushed the pictures away and my hand grazed across the box. If I couldn’t look at another picture, how the hell was I going to look in the box? My body shook and I was ready to explode, but I didn’t know what to do. For the first time in my life, I was lost.
Taking a deep breath, I reached for the box and opened it. Everything was covered in a black film. There was one thing that stuck out at me above the rest. I pulled it out and wiped it off with my shirt. Gritting my teeth, I clenched the crystal so hard in my fist it drew blood. It was all that was left of the necklace I’d given Hadley; it was all that was left of her period.