Page 24 of Watch Me Burn
The thought of that felt like a dagger in my heart. But if my mom placed a no-contact order on him, Ethan was as good as in prison again.
I was lying, of course, as I would never stop until I found my dad’s real murderer, but if lying to my mother was the only way to keep Ethan safe, I’d sure as hell do it.
My mom’s eyes were still hidden under cucumbers, so I couldn’t read her expression. But she did say exactly what I needed to hear.
“Fine. A few weeks. And then you tell him to hit the road.”
Her lips were pursed like this was the last outcome she wanted to agree to, but I got the yes I’d pined for at the end of the day.
My toes happily kicked into the air. This news was great! I’d get home, and everything would continue exactly as it did the past few days—me and Ethan together, under one roof, finding my dad’s real killer.
Chapter 11
Ethan
To tell the truth, these delays to the investigation were making me antsy.
Mr. Lautner was an old man, and who knew when he’d vanish off the face of the internet. Reaching him was hard enough, and he’d only meet up with me on the condition that Anna was present.
So where the hell was she?
“Spa-ing with her mom . . .” I mumbled, staring at Mr. Lautner’s Facebook page.
I whipped up a hearty meal for her and me to feast on when she got home so there was no more time to waste on ordering food. Funnily enough, I’d plated all of these pan-fried chicken breasts without even knowing when the hell she’d get home. I definitely needed to update myself on that, so we could at least both move forward on our work today. Knowing her days off would help tremendously in sliding Mr. Lautner a date.
CLICK!
Right as I put her plate on the dining table, Anna walked in through her entrance and locked eyes with me.
“Hey!” I said. The sky had already darkened, but I noticed her face was much brighter from a distance.
Anna smiled. “Hey.” She hung her jacket and walked beside me to peer at the dining table. “You cooked?” she remarked with awe.
Nodding at my creation, I said, “Wanted to do what I could to help out. I know you’ve had a long day at work today and a spa appointment.” I fixated back on her so I could rub her shoulders, trying to keep the peace by not focusing on the spa part of the day. I hated when we fought. So did she. But I yet again caught a freshness to her shiny cheeks.
I walked over to the couch and stared out the window in the living room.
“So how did it go at the spa?” I asked. It was supposed to be an innocent question, not meant to be accusatory at all—but the undertone to it was obvious and, well, not good.
She must have noticed too because all that met me were footsteps, more footsteps, and more footsteps.
“Anna, I asked you a question.”
The sound of Anna pacing around her room could be heard behind her door. “Uh . . .” She left an awkward silence for a while, then stepped out of her room and strode past me, stopping at the tip of the dining table.
“All right, let’s cut the kid stuff. Stop with the passive-aggressive jabs, they’re not helping anybody. And FYI, I’m not lounging around at some spa—”
“That’s exactly what you’re doing.” I slammed my hands on the wall. “All these days I’ve been waiting around, not having a lick of a clue whether you’ll even have enough time for us to get that meetup with Mr. Lautner. If you don’t give a shit about me, fine, but don’t you want to know who killed your dad?!” I pointed furiously at the laptop on the coffee table as if the answer was right in there with Mr. Lautner.
Curling her fingers into fists, Anna snapped, “How dare you! Of course I do! But you don’t know what it’s like having your own mother breathe down your neck like some stalker ready to strike.”
Laughing sourly, I countered, “And your idea was to invite this supposed ‘stalker’ out to the spa while we have an investigation that’s growing staler by the hour? It’s like you don’t even care about this case anymore, Anna.”
“I do! A lot, actually, considering I’m actually fighting with my mom nonstop to make sure you don’t get jailed for a violation of a new no-contact order. And don’t you realize who’s keeping this roof over my head? I gotta pay bills, too.”
“Must be tough. Family problems and work, huh? Well, guess what, those are two problems I’d love to have after rotting innocently in prison for fifteen years thanks to—”
Wetness pooled at the edges of Anna’s eyes. Clearing her throat, Anna stormed past me and to the doorway.
