Broken Trust: A Dark High School Romance(76)

“You—” she cleared her throat. “You all need to get back here right now. Some huge shit has gone down. Katelyn Huntley is dead, and they’re about to arrest Dante.”

The phone went dead, and we were all left staring at it for a few moments.

“Fuck,” I said in a rush before I basically threw the phone at Jasper and sprinted toward the cars. They caught up to me in seconds, all of their legs much longer than mine. Not to mention their fitness. We jumped into the cars, and Beck was just about on two wheels as he spun us around to get back onto the main road.

It wasn’t like I needed much push to have mad love for the Bugatti, but that night, when it got us back to the party house in minutes, I could have literally kissed her.

Before I could dash along the driveway, Beck wrapped his arm around me, and hauled me back to his side. “There is a killer out here,” he said. “Do not run away from me.” He spoke in the sort of soft voice I expected a serial killer would use right before they skinned their victims. It was low and deadly.

Scary as fuck.

We started up the drive and were joined by the other guys almost immediately. It wasn’t hard to figure out where everything was going down—there was a large crowd gathered around the side of the house, all of them being questioned by police.

“It was definitely the big tatted guy,” one chick was saying, tears streaming down her face. “He threatened her and said that he would kill her. We all heard it.”

Lots of others agreed, and I cursed Dante for his fucking big mouth. I might have been angrier at him than I’d ever been, but I hadn’t even had a chance to confront him about Catherine yet. I hadn’t given him a chance to explain what he was doing. If I’d learned anything from my fight with the heirs of Delta, it was that there were two sides to every story, and sometimes hearing the other side, changed your perception.

Dylan and Evan started chatting with a police officer, one they clearly knew well, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. A force beyond my control was pushing me forward. Katelyn’s body was taped off, but they hadn’t covered her up yet.

“What happened?” I asked a chick who was pressed right against the yellow tape. From my angle, all I could see was blonde hair, spread out everywhere.

“Stabbed. Ten times,” she said, not even looking my way. “She might have been raped too. Her underwear is missing.”

“Doubt she even wears underwear,” I said, honestly. It was probably not nice to think ill of the dead, but … to be honest, Katelyn was a bitch, and I wasn’t going to pretend otherwise just because she was now dead.

“There’s Dante,” Beck said from behind me

“Where?” I asked, not seeing him.

My head was spinning as I tried to see between the police and medical people. Beck tilted my head to the right, and I gasped as Dante came into sight. Dante was framed by two burly officers, his hands cuffed behind his back, a stoic expression on his face.

Without another thought, I raced toward him. “Dante,” I called, and for the first time, something like pain crossed his face. He turned in my direction, and I couldn’t stop the tears. “Wait,” I called. “You have the wrong person. Dante would never kill her.”

For the first time I wasn’t quite sure that was the truth, but it didn’t stop me from defending my oldest friend.

The officers stopped and eyed me closely before their gazes lifted to meet Beck’s eyes. “She yours, Beck?” the younger of the two said.

I made an angry growling sound. “I’m a fucking person. I don’t belong to anyone.”

“She’s Delta,” Beck said over the top of me.

Both officers eyed me with new interest. “Why are you arresting him?” I said quickly. “You can’t have any evidence.”

“How about the threats he made toward the victim earlier in the night?” the young officer said. “Or the fact that he was found with multiple blades illegally concealed on him.”

“Were any of them the murder weapon?” I asked, almost terrified of the answer.

The officers exchanged a look, and I figured they weren’t going to tell me anything more, until Beck cleared his throat. They met his gaze again, and then immediately answered. “No. None of them match the blade marks, but we only have preliminary forensics. For now, Dante will need to answer some more questions down at the station.”

It took everything inside of me not to reach out and try and yank my friend out of their hands. “I didn’t do it, Riley,” he said, his eyes boring into mine. He was imploring me to believe him, and in this regard, I pretty much did.

“I know,” I said quickly. “We’ll get lawyers for you. Don’t say anything until they show up.”

Dante nodded. The officers started to lead him away again, and I would have faltered if Beck hadn’t kept me upright. Dante looked back. “I’m so sorry, Riley. So fucking sorry.”

I didn’t know what he was apologizing for exactly, but it was destroying me nonetheless.

“Dante,” I called, crumpling forward.

He was almost at the closest police car then, and I could only just see him when he shouted. “Stay away from Catherine. Don’t trust a thing she says—”

Anything else was muffled as he was pushed down into the back of the car.