Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 120165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
“One with past ties to the Nazarov brothers,” said Winwick. “I’ve done my homework. And you haven’t answered my question. Where were you?”
I swallowed. I didn’t have an alibi. I hadn’t thought I’d need one because I’d staged the murder to look like an accident. But apparently I’d missed some detail, probably when I ran to go after Bronwyn. “This is ridiculous,” I told her, standing up.
“We can talk about this here, now,” said Winwick, her voice rising in excitement, “or we can talk about it downtown. One more time, Mr. Aristov: where were you?”
Bronwyn suddenly stepped forward. “He was with me.”
29
BRONWYN
Every head turned to me. My stomach dropped forty floors to the basement. What the fuck did I just do?
Detective Winwick looked at Radimir. Then she glanced back and forth between the two of us, maybe trying to figure out our real connection. “Are you sure you have the right night?” she asked. “Think carefully, now.”
She was giving me an out. All I had to do was shake my head and walk away. And Radimir was glaring at me, furious. He wanted me to walk away, too, and let him take the heat.
But I couldn’t do that. Not just because the guy he killed had been a rapist. Because I didn’t want Radimir to go to jail. “I’m sure,” I said.
Detective Winwick pressed her lips together. “Alright,” she said. “Why don’t you sit down and tell me about that night?”
Oh shit. Naively, I’d been hoping that he was with me would be all she needed. On legs that were suddenly shaky, I walked around the couch and sat down next to Radimir, directly across from Winwick.
“What’s your name?” asked Detective Winwick.
“B—Bronwyn. Bronwyn Hanford.”
She smiled encouragingly at me.
Oh my God, I’m about to lie to the police. I’d never even spoken to a cop before. I knitted my fingers together. Wait, that looks guilty. I gripped my knees instead, my palms sweaty. “Um…”
Detective Winwick leaned forward, a slinky cobra ready to strike. I was way out of my depth and she knew it.
I fumbled for a story, my heart crashing against my ribs. We stayed in and watched a movie. No, then she’ll ask which movie. He was working late at the office. He’s a workaholic, that fits. I opened my mouth. No, idiot, I said he was with me and why would I be at his office? I clamped my mouth shut again.
“In your own time,” said Detective Winwick sweetly.
Oh shit, I can’t do this. Nothing I came up with sounded remotely convincing. “Uh…” I saw Winwick’s lips twitch in victory—
“We were in his car,” I blurted.
Everyone stared at me. “In his car?” asked Winwick.
“Yeah. I’d been to visit my grandmother at the care facility she’s in. A little before ten, I was walking home and... Radimir drove up beside me and offered me a ride home. Except he didn’t take me home. He parked in a side street and fucked me in the back seat.”
Winwick stared at me, not even trying to hide her disbelief. “You and Mr. Aristov were...making love at the time of the murder?”
“I mean…” I swallowed. “I wouldn’t call it making love.” I knew my face was red, but I just went for it, letting the memories spill out. “He ripped my bra off. Licked my breasts. Shoved my jeans and panties down and started fucking me. Hard and deep. But we didn’t stay like that. After a while he turned me over onto my hands and knees—well, just my knees, really, because he was holding my wrists behind my back. By the time we got our clothes back on, it must have been more than an hour.” I stared right into her eyes. “Is that okay, or do you need a blow-by-blow?”
Now she was blushing. “No, that’s...um…” Her eyes searched my face, confused, as if she was convinced by my lie but knew something was off. At last, she sighed. “I’ll be in touch if I need anything else.”
The two detectives filed out. When the door closed, I shut my eyes and flopped back on the couch, a limp jellyfish. The couch creaked as Radimir twisted around and I felt him glaring down at me. I grudgingly opened one eye.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he told me.
“If I hadn’t, you’d be in handcuffs right now.”
He cocked his head to one side. “How did you lie like that?”
“I wasn’t lying, exactly…” I avoided his eyes. “It was a fantasy. I had a fantasy about you, the night we met.”
His voice roughened with lust. “A fantasy with all those details? Me ripping your bra off?”
I got up and stomped over to the kitchen area. “Yes.”
I heard him get up and follow me. “You on your hands and knees and—”
“Yes, okay?”
The room went very quiet. I didn’t look at him, but I could feel the glow of pride and lust coming from him. Then: “I had fantasies about you, too.”