Sins Of Her Sister

Chapter 22

Ryan

I’m in the kitchen when Blaze and Aaron bust through the front door, I jump and my heart stops for a second.

“Jesus, you scared me!” I gasp, holding a hand to my chest. I scowl at them. Blaze laughs and pulls me into a hug.

“I told you I was coming back today to check on you.” Blaze chuckles.

“I know, but a heads up would have been nice.”

Aaron walks up to hug me next, just as Layla enters the kitchen. She sits at the island.

“What's up, guys?” she asks.

Blaze eyes her warily while Aaron greets her back. I elbow Blaze in the side and he wheezes before giving my step-sister a closed smile.

“So, how are you both doing? Feeling?” Blaze asks like the worry wart he is.

“I'm fine,” I mumble, turning my attention to the oven to take the pizza out. It smells delicious and my tummy growls.

“I’m okay, too. I feel a lot better,” Layla says as Blaze eyes her. Sensing my thought process, Aaron saves the day. He takes a seat next to Layla.

“That's good. We were really worried.” Aaron gives her a sympathetic smile. They’re having their own conversation, while I grab a beer in the fridge for Blaze.

“Chill out,” I plead, pushing the bottle into his chest. He gives me a eyeroll.

“Fine,” he concedes. Once I've got him compliant, we're about to join in on their conversation when the doorbell rings.

“Who the hell could that be?” I ask.

Two officers stand at my door when I anwer it.

“May we come inside?” one asks.

“Ummm, sure,” I hesitantly say, moving aside to let them in. They give a head gesture in acknowledgment toward Layla.

“Miss Thomas,” the short stocky one says. Layla doesn't acknowledge his greeting, but she's extremely pale and is fiddling her fingers.

Layla

The same officers who questioned me at school are in the house. Now that I’ve recovered all of my memories, I am freaking the fuck out. I know there's no way they know anything or have any type of evidence against me, but there's always that what if

My ass is glued to this seat in fear and I can barely breathe. I’m nervous about triggering another blackout. Thinking about that causes my panic to rise even further.

“Sorry to interrupt your ladies’ evening, but we come bearing bad news,” Officer Rollins says with empathy in his eyes. My mind is running rapidly, going straight for the worst scenarios I can think of…flipping through all of them in my mind.

“W hat’s going on?” Ryan steps up and asks. She has purple bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep and I suddenly feel guilty for troubling her for the past twenty-four hours.

“Ryan Cross?” one of the officers asks .

“Yes?” she responds.

“We found your father’s body near the river. He was murdered,” he says. Officer Rollins looks genuinely sad while Officer Smith looks ready to accuse her of something.

“What happened? How do you know he was murdered?” Blaze asks, grabbing Ryan’s hand in comfort. Jealousy grows in my chest. I want to be the one holding her, the one giving her a shoulder to lean on. Especially now.

“We would rather not go into details. It was very gruesome...” Officer Rollins says apologetically.

“Just give them to me.” Ryans voice never wavers. “I deserve to know.” She holds her chin up higher. Officer Smith fills her in and panic sets in the other officer's eyes, but it's too late.

“Well ma’am…His throat was sliced open, his eyeballs were gouged out, and his intestines were on the outside of his body. I'm thinking half of them are missing since the buzzards had already started feasting on them.”

Ryan lets out a gasp and my mouth is hanging open in shock. My fear is that Kali was the one who killed him, but surely, I would have seen it in my memories.

“Why would anyone kill him?” Ryan stutters, looking at the ground. Blaze pulls her into his side and jealousy rears its ugly head again. I know he’s her best friend, but she's mine.

“I find it really odd that after Carson King was declared murdered, your father is found dead. They both had relationships with people in this house!” Officer Smith scowls.

“Enough!” Officer Rollins shouts, placing a hand on Officer Smith’s chest, lightly holding him back. Sweat is already pouring off of him, I feel bad he has such an asshole for a partner.

“Are you accusing them of something?” Blaze asks, his tone so deadly. I think I even shrink into myself a little from his tone.

“Any person with a brain would accuse them or be wary,” Officer Smith growls.

“I think it's best you two leave,” Blaze says, standing taller than everyone in the room. Officer Smith gets in Blaze's face and before the two can go at it, Officer Rollins pulls his partner back and leads him to the front door.

“I am so sorry, ladies,” he apologizes. “Please have a good rest of your evening. Miss Thomas, you both have our card. If any of you have any questions, concerns, or info, please call us.” Officer Rollins nods his head and meets his partner at their cruiser.

Ryan rounds on me. “What the fuck does he mean you have their card?” she asks, her eyebrows pinching together.

“They questioned me at school yesterday morning about Carson's death,” I say.

“Do they think you have something to do with it?” Ryan asks me.

“I think the tall, lanky one may,” I mumble.

“That's crazy, Layla. You would never hurt a fly, much less a human being. Even if it was dick-head Carson.” Ryan stands between my legs and holds me.

“Is it crazy though?” Blaze laughs, making me and Ryan break apart. He’s leaning against the kitchen counter, his arms crossed over his chest.

“What?” Ryan snaps.

“Come on, Ry! You saw how she acted that night. The way her eyes went dark. She was a psycho bitch before she knocked us out. Then she leaves school with her boyfriend and he’s suddenly dead the next day? Yeah, some fucking coincidence.” Blaze scoffs.

Ryan’s silence astounds me. The memories flood my mind and I realize I can't even defend myself. Kali killed him. Since Kali and I are the same person, it was me who killed him. The tears in my eyes threaten to spill so I hurry to wipe them away before anyone notices, but it's too late because Blaze already had his eyes on me.

“Oh, please. Go shed those crocodile tears for someone else. All those missing and dead people knew you, Layla. Anyone in their right mind would be suspicious. I mean, you knocked out your goddamn step-sister, for crying out loud. Fuck me, but the fact that you even laid a finger on her. You’re a psycho bitch! If I find out that you’ve hurt Ryan, I’ll fucking end you. I always thought Ry was overreacting when she talked about your little innocent act, but now…I see right through your bullshit.” Blaze’s jaw clenches, his chest moving up and down from his heavy breathing.

My hands tremble and my heart pounds in my chest. I don't know if it's from embarrassment or if I'm pissed off, but I can feel the heat in my face. I faintly hear Ryan telling Blaze to chill out. I’m trying to calm myself down, but everything goes black. Fuck.