Ruthless Regret (Ruthless Games Duology #2)

Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

ASHLEY

Time has slowed to a crawl, and the quiet of the house is starting to get to me. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read and reread the articles I printed out. But there’s nothing new to find in them. I even found some highlighters in a drawer so I could mark the parts that stand out, and make them easier to find later. I’m not sure why I need them to be easy to find, or what I’ll do with them, but I have to do something .

The next logical step would be to contact Zain. He’s obviously been trying to find answers for a while, and I guess his revenge plan against me was part of that. But I’m not ready to speak to him. I don’t think I can right now without it turning into another fight.

And the last time we fought …

I jump to my feet. I’m not going to think about that. I need to find something to do, anything to keep my mind occupied.

Maybe cleaning will help. That’s normal, right? People clean when they need to get their mind off things. And I need some normal in my life right now.

I open the closet where we keep the cleaning supplies, and pull out the vacuum.

I start in the living room, far away from the articles sitting on the table, and the hum of the vacuum drowns out the silence as I move it across the carpet. For the first time in days, my mind isn’t racing. It’s just me, the machine, and the sound of it sucking up dust from the carpet.

If only it was that easy to clean up the mess of my life.

Once the vacuuming is done, I move into my bathroom, where I wipe, polish, and scrub until it shines. By the time the sun begins to set, I’ve cleaned every surface I can reach. I’ve rearranged the kitchen cabinets, stacked and unstacked the dishes, and even reorganized the spice rack.

The house smells fresh and clean, and the sense of control cleaning gave me has settled my nerves. It’s easier to breathe now. I’m not jumping at every sound, and I can look back at my paranoia of earlier and laugh to myself about it.

The sound of keys jingling in the door warns me a second before it swings open. Karla and Jessa tumble through it, both talking at once, and just like that, the house feels alive again.

“Hey!” Jessa-May calls. “We brought pizza. Hope you’re hungry.”

They come into the room, and Karla deposits two pizza boxes down onto the coffee table. “You will not believe what happened at work today.”

A weird sense of relief washes over me. The house feels less forbidding and more normal with them here. I stand up and go through to the kitchen to grab plates.

“What happened?”

“Oh my god!” Jessa-Mae flops down onto the couch. “You know Harper, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, do you remember a few weeks ago there were whispers that she knew the rock star who got admitted after an accident? He came in today for a checkup with Dr. Marshall.”

“Oh, I remember him. Everyone was excited because his band mates were in the building as well, right?”

“That’s the one. He came out of the appointment just as Harper was walking past.” She leans forward to flip open one of the boxes and grabs a slice of pizza. “He pulled a pair of panties out of his pocket and handed them to her, and said she left them in his hotel room.”

“ What? ”

“Yeah. Sherry saw the whole thing. She said that after he gave them to her, he walked off. She chased after him, and hit him, and then they just blew up. He had her pinned against the wall, while his bodyguard kept everyone away. Sherry didn’t hear what they said to each other, but she said they almost kissed, and then Harper broke free and ran.”

“Is she okay?”

“She went home soon after it happened. I didn’t see her, but Sherry said she looked sick.”

“I’m not surprised. I wonder how they know each other.”

Karla and Jessa trade glances. “I searched for them both after I heard about it. Turns out Harper was engaged to him a couple of years ago.”

“Harper was engaged to a rock star ?” I find that hard to believe. In the time I’ve known her, the blonde nurse has always been sweet and quiet. “Wait … she’s dating Dr. Marshall, isn’t she?”

“I doubt it. Not if she hooked up with the bad boy who had her panties,” Karla says around a mouthful of pizza.

“That’s crazy. I hope she’s alright.” I take my own slice of pizza and sit back, tucking my feet beneath me.

“I’m sure she will be. But … a rock star , Ash. Can you just imagine the stories she must have from that time?”

“And what went wrong for her to split with him. I saw the guy. He’s hot as fuck,” Jessa adds.

“Rock star and bad boy isn’t a good combination, I guess.”

“Walking red flags are always attractive.” Jessa hikes one eyebrow.

I will myself not to turn red. She doesn’t know I slept with Zain, but Karla does. I refuse to look in her direction, because I know my face will give it away, and Jessa will notice.

“I’m not a fan of them personally,” I say.

She snorts. “Which is why you were dating Scott.”

“We were hooking up, not dating.”

“You don’t hook up with someone exclusively for three years, Ash. That’s not how it works.” She waves her pizza in my direction. “Are you going to reach out to him now you’re back home?”

I think about it for a minute, then shake my head. “It wouldn’t be fair to him. I didn’t know he had expectations beyond what we were doing. I was happy with things the way they were. He wants more.”

“He’s a good man.”

“I know. But the last few days have made me realize a few things about myself.”

“Like what?”

“Like I’ve just been going through the motions for years. Taking whatever the easiest path was for things. I don’t want to do that anymore. I want … more.”

“Does that more include a certain dark haired psychopath, with a bad attitude?” Karla grins at me.

“No, but it includes getting answers to what really happened.” I stand up, and go into the kitchen to pick up the articles. “There were some weird things going on during the investigation of Jason and Louisa’s murders. I found some articles that raised questions.”

My friends look at me with matching expressions. I don’t need to be a genius to figure out what they’re thinking.

“What kind of questions?” It’s Karla who breaks the silence.

I sit back down, and spread the printed articles out on the coffee table.

“These are the ones that mention things that all the mainstream sites didn’t. They talk about witnesses who saw someone else at the scene, and how the forensics are inconsistent. But neither of those came up at the trial.”

“So what does that mean?” Karla asks. “Didn’t you say you believe Zain is innocent now?”

“Yes. I’m positive he is. And if Zain didn’t kill them, then someone else did. Whoever that is, they’ve been hiding for years. Did someone on the police force know who it was? Were they trying to convict Zain so no one would look deeper? Or was it just a case of it being an easy win? They had a suspect who ticked all the boxes, so why bother looking any further?”

Jessa sets her pizza down. “You think they knew someone else was involved, and buried it?”

“I don’t know, but these articles definitely suggest that the case wasn’t investigated properly. There’s a mention of the lead detective pushing to wrap up the case quickly. Me witnessing Zain in the room with their bodies made him the perfect scapegoat.”

Karla reaches for one of the articles. “What are you planning to do with what you’ve found?”

“I’m not sure,” I admit. “But I’m sure there’s more. What if the person who attacked me yesterday was trying to get to Zain before the truth came out? Or what if they were trying to stop me from remembering something important?”

Jessa exchanges glances with Karla. “You really think that could be what happened?”

I hesitate, not sure how to explain the uneasy feeling I’ve had all day. “It sounds crazy hearing you say it out loud, but yeah. I don’t know why, but it feels like someone has been watching me all day long.”

“If someone is trying to keep you from looking deeper, they might not stop with yesterday’s attack.”

I look at Karla, then at Jessa.

“I’m not backing down. I have to figure this out. For Jason, Louisa, and me.”