Ruthless Regret (Ruthless Games Duology #2)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

ZAIN

I don’t stop her from leaving. I don’t follow her to the door. I don’t ask her to stay and listen to me. I don’t even deny her accusation that I used her as bait. With everything I’ve done over the past few days, she’s not going to believe anything I say to her.

Right now, it’s better that she’s away from here. Away from me. She’ll be safer with her mom, and I’m confident that the sheriff will leave someone there to watch over her.

And, I have more important things to focus on. Things like …

“Where the fuck were your men?” I turn the second the front door closes, and face the sheriff, who’s walking toward me.

“It’s a small town, and we don’t have many deputies based here. I had to put in a request to the police department over in Franklin Bay. We’re also trying to keep this low-key, remember? The last thing we needed is the press getting wind of something happening. Announcing that we had someone in custody was a stupid risk, and you shouldn’t have done it.

“The press are going to have a field day with that information. You also agreed that you’d stay at your parents’ place while we continued the investigation. If your friends’ real killer is still out there, you’ve just given them a heads up. So, don’t give me shit when you’re changing the goalposts without any warning.”

I glare at him, but I can’t really argue. I was so focused on ensuring that people believed in my innocence, that I told the reporter and the people watching the show about the case being reopened and someone of interest being spoken to.

“I don’t think it’s wrong that I want everyone to know I’m not a murderer. I want people not to side-eye me everytime I leave my house.”

“I understand that, Zain, but there are procedures we have to follow. Now, do you want to continue fighting about what happened, or get results? My men are searching the area now. If there’s anything there, they’ll find it. In the meantime, since Ashley refused to stay and talk to me, you need to tell me what happened.” He waves a hand toward the living room. “Shall we?”

He walks past me and sits on the couch. I don’t move from where I’m standing.

“There’s nothing to talk about. Someone broke in, and grabbed Ashley.”

“Sit down, Zain.”

I debate whether it’s worth ignoring him, but it’s a petty power play and won’t achieve anything, so I cross the room and sit in one of the armchairs.

He nods. “Okay, so tell me what happened before you called me.”

I sigh, and attempt to control my impatience. He’s not going to ignore police procedure and tell me what I want to know until I’ve answered his questions.

“We did the interview, then came back here.”

I got a phone call about an email with information I needed to look at. I can’t tell him that, because then he’ll question what the information is, and how I obtained it.

“We were in here.”

I fucked her on the couch where you’re sitting.

“Ashley got up to use the bathroom. Her mom called my cell looking for her. While I was talking to Esme, I heard a crash.” My voice is clipped. “I thought Ashley had broken something, so I ended the call and went to check. The windowpane in the back door was shattered. That’s when I called you. You heard the rest.”

“Did you see anyone outside when you arrived at the house?”

“I didn’t.”

“And nothing seemed unusual?”

Aside from the fact I had sex with the woman I’m supposed to hate, and it was the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time?

“No. Nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“The house alarm was set, so no one was in here when we arrived. I didn’t go out into the back garden until after I heard Ashley scream. I had no reason to. Could someone have been out there? Yes, but I wouldn’t have seen them.”

“Okay. So, you heard Ashley scream, then you called me and went outside. Then what happened?”

“I couldn’t see anything. There was no sign of her.”

I thought for a second that maybe she’d run away again.

“I followed the path around the house, which leads to the front. Then she screamed again. I retraced my steps and saw her near the back wall struggling with someone.”

“Do you remember anything about them?”

I shake my head. “His face was covered.”

“ His?”

“The build and height suggests it was male. Ashley fought against his hold on her. I called her name. It distracted him long enough for her to get free. She tripped and fell. And that’s when he …” My voice falters, the image of her on the ground, with him above her, knife in hand flashing through my mind. “He had a knife.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course I’m fucking sure. I shouted her name again, and ran across the grass. When he saw me coming, he ran. He was over the wall before I could catch him. I was going to follow, but I wanted to make sure Ashley wasn’t hurt first.”

“I assume she’s not hurt.”

“Only her feelings.”

Which I shouldn’t care about. I don’t care. She didn’t care about my feelings …

“Yes, I picked up on that. I assume she had no idea about the stunt you were planning to pull with that interview?”

“No.”

“Then how did you get her to agree to marry you? I thought you had a plan set up before you came to see me.”

“I did. But it had nothing to do with marrying her. That was part of a different plan. But … things changed, and I haven’t had time to explain it to her yet.”

“So, going into the interview she had no idea that we’d brought someone in for questioning?”

“No, the first she knew about it was when I announced there had been an arrest during the interview.”

He sighs. “It wasn’t an arrest. It was a request for a chat. We don’t have enough evidence or cause for an arrest.”

“But you can hold him for forty-eight hours, and question him.”

“Which we were trying to do.”

“Whatever. What the fuck happened today? Why wasn’t anyone here?”

“Well, like I said, we had to reach out to the Franklin Bay police department to request help. And we had to be careful because we didn’t want word getting out before we were ready. But in all honesty, there was no reason to think anything was going to happen. Bringing officers in to watch your house was a precaution, based on the fact someone clearly doesn’t want you back in town.”

He’s referencing the brick through the window at my other house.

“We didn’t think someone would attack you or your wife.” He leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Which brings me to my next question. Why did she think you were using her as bait? And bait for what?”

I shrug. “She has a temper, and she likes to accuse me of things I haven’t done.”

Because everything I’ve done to her so far points to the fact that I was using her.