The Safe Bet (Hidden Truths #1)(77)

“I love someone else.”

He shook his head, his face twisting with anger. “No. You’ve been flirting with me these last few weeks. Wearing slutty clothes and brushing up against me. You’ve been teasing me.” He shoved his hands through his hair before balling them into fists at his sides. “You’re a whore like your mother.” He grabbed her by the arm and tugged her against him, his hot breath on her face. “Your mother fucked me, made me fall in love with her, and then wouldn’t leave that asshole, David. She was everything to me. Fucking everything.” His voice, a low growl, echoed through the air.

She could feel his spit on her face as he yelled. “And you’re just like her—a manipulative bitch.”

“Why’d you kill her if you loved her?”

He ignored her as he began to yank her arm, trying to force her down the path, farther away from the ball.

“No.” She twisted and turned in his arms. She slammed her heel into the top of his shoe.

“Bitch!” He released his grip for a moment before seizing her arm again. “Your mother wouldn’t be with me, but—Goddamn it—you are.”

“Let her go.” A familiar voice roared through the air.

Kate shut her eyes at the sound. No, not yet. I didn’t get it yet!

Michael was on Erick in a split second. He reeled his hand back and socked him in the jaw, knocking him off his feet and to the ground. He kneeled down and reached for the lapels of his blazer before twisting Erick’s arms behind his back, effectively disabling him.

“Get the police,” Michael yelled while flipping him over, shoving his knee into Erick’s back, pushing his face against the concrete.

She chucked her heels and rushed with bare feet down the cold path to the ballroom, screaming for help as she neared the doors.

The security guards were at their stations, and there was a crowd of police, as well. The Boston Police Department was being honored at the ball this year. “Help!” she hollered as loud as her lungs would allow.

Everyone in the room stopped dancing, and the orchestra members dropped their bows. The party came to a screeching halt.

She was shaking.

The armed security guards and unarmed, uniformed police officers followed her down the trail. They rushed to action when they saw Michael standing over Erick’s body.

The guards aimed their weapons at Michael. “Back away!”

Michael looked up from Erick, his exhaled breath evident in the cool night. He held his hands up as he locked eyes with Kate.

“No. No, he’s the one who saved me,” she cried out, but no one seemed to hear. She watched in horror as they cuffed Michael and his eyes never left hers.

*


“Explain what happened tonight,” the detective said while sitting across his desk from Kate.

Kate glanced around the room, wondering where they were holding Michael. Why wouldn’t they let him go already? But why was Michael even at the ball?

Kate looked down at her hands in her lap and back up at the green eyes of the middle-aged detective staring back at her. “I have something I’d like you to hear.” She took an uneasy breath and reached into the pocket of her jacket.

The detective cocked his head and leaned back in his chair as Kate set her phone on his desk.

“Listen,” she said. She hit the play button.

When the recording ended, the detective squinted his eyes and leaned forward across his desk. “I didn’t hear him say he murdered your mother. Angry at her, yes . . . and he certainly hit on you. We can charge him with assault.”

Kate pressed her palms against the desk, knowing she needed to speak fast. “Twenty-seven years ago, my mother was shot while she was eight months pregnant with me.” She continued to explain the story, as well as the events that had led up to Dustin Scott’s arrest two months ago. “You can verify the story with the FBI.” She sat back in her chair, a little breathless.

“What finally tipped you off that Erick, a friend of the mayor’s, allegedly murdered your mother?” He scratched his chin and reached for a pen.

“The flowers.” She blinked a few times, still a bit shocked by how everything had come together. “When I was in Charlotte, white tulips were left on my mother’s grave and delivered to me anonymously at my hotel. I thought it was my stalker, but it wasn’t. Erick gave me the same flowers a few weeks ago, telling me they were my mother’s favorite. Something in my gut told me he was the guy.” She took a moment to replay the last few weeks in her mind. “I wasn’t sure, so I put my theory to the test. Flirted with him. Made him feel at ease with me. And then, tonight, I had hoped he would make his move—and he did.”

“A little risky, don’t you think?” he said, looking up from whatever note he was jotting down.

“I knew there were dozens of police officers at the ball. I wasn’t too worried.” Maybe it was a little stupid. “But I needed to draw him away from the ball. Make him feel comfortable.”

“And then you secretly recorded him?”

She nodded.

“And your friend, Michael Maddox . . . was he part of the plan?”

No. “You’d have to ask him what he was doing there.” She bit her thumb, nervousness settling in now that the adrenaline rush had dissipated from her system.