Michael took a step toward her. “Shut up, Angela.”
“Do you really think I care what you do to me now?” she wailed. “I have no reason to be quiet. I have no reason to live, you fool. I hope to God you die in prison. I hope someone sticks a knife in you. I hopeeverything horrible that can happen in prison happens to you.”
“You stupid bitch,” he hissed. “How can you be so dumb and self-destructive?”
“Because I don’t care what happens to me.” Her face was flushed and her eyes cold. “I don’t care about anything anymore, thanks to you.”
Michael bunched his shoulders. “I should have killed you while I was at it, bitch.”
“I wish you had,” she whispered. “I hate you, Michael. I hate you more than I’ve ever hated anyone. I’m going to tell Sheriff Callum every single detail of what you did to Kyle, Lincoln, and… and… Liam. I want you to rot in prison until the day you die.”
His face was mottled, and he seemed to slump slightly, as if her words actually hurt him. I was once more struck by how bizarre their relationship was.
“You’re under arrest for first-degree murder, Michael. Are you going to come quietly, or do we need to do it the hard way?” Royce’s expression was grim. It was obvious he didn’t expect Michael to go down without a fight.
When Michael groaned and sat on the arm of the couch, I think everyone in the room was shocked. Royce holstered his weapon, and he approached Michael with caution. But Michael didn’t struggle at all. He just let Royce cuff him and lead him out of the house.
The minute Michael was gone, Angela crumpled into a heap on the floor and sobbed. She wept so hard I was actually concerned she’d be unable to catch her breath. As I watched over her, I felt numb. I assumed at one time Michael and Angela had loved each other. I had to wonder, what had gone wrong? When had the love turned into something else? Why had it changed?Was that just what happened to love over time? Did resentments grow where once there had been acceptance?
I couldn’t imagine my feelings ever turning toxic like the Raidens’. Even when we’d had our little bobble a while back, I’d never stopped loving Royce. I did find love mystifying. That was just a fact. But even so, I could never see what I felt for Royce morphing into the ugliness I’djust witnessed.
Love was challenging. Imperfect. But loving Royce was like breathing. I’d always need oxygen, and I’d always need Royce.
Chapter Thirty
Royce
Once I had Michael at the station, he was much more submissive. He didn’t suddenly respect me. I wasn’t stupid enough to think that. His demoralized demeanor had nothing to do with me and everything to do with Angela.
After ten minutes of sitting in silence, with him staring blankly at the tabletop, I cleared my throat. “Are you willing to talk?” I asked gruffly, fully expecting him to ignore me.
He flicked his gaze to mine. “What do you want to know?”
“All of it.” Was he actually going to talk to me? My pulse sped up as I watched him. He didn’t look like a man about to spill his guts. His jaw was tight and his eyes steely, but for some reason, he started talking.
“I don’t like you, Sheriff.”
“Yeah, I know.” I sighed. “But that’s not what I care about. I want to know why you killed three people.”
He grimaced. “It wasn’t supposed to go that way.”
“Okay, so, what went wrong?”
“Fucking everything,” he growled.
I tapped my pen on my yellow legal pad. “Why don’t you start with Kyle. Why did Kyle have to die?”
He sighed. “Kyle was a fool. That little punk actually thought he could blackmail his way into being sheriff. I mean, come on.”
“Okay, but why did he have to die? Couldn’t you just have told him to go jump in the lake?”
Michael curled his lip. “He knew about Angela and Liam. How was I supposed to just let that go? He threatened to tell everyone about their affair. Taking him out was damage control.”
“So what if he did tell people? She’d had affairs before.” Plenty of them, if the rumors could be believed.
“This was different,” he rumbled. “Angela was stupid enough to think she and Liam were in love.” He looked disgusted. “I mean, what a stupid bitch.”
I shrugged. “Maybe they really were in love.”
