A String of Secrets

Chapter 15

My arms burned after my workout, and Damian gave me a few methods to help with the soreness. Exercising with him was interesting, but he's extremely talkative and I felt super awkward because most of my responses were one-worded, not to mention hesitant because I didn't trust him.

It was nearly ten in the morning by the time I left, and on the way home, I made a plan to shower, deep condition my hair, clean my room and spend the rest of the day studying in silence. When I parked my car, I grabbed my phone to check my messages. To my relief, there weren't any scary ones, but there was one from Eli.

Eli: I know you don't want to hear from me considering everything I put you through last night, which I'm extremely sorry for, but I wanted to check in with you as soon as I woke up. Are you okay?

Physically? Yes. Emotionally and mentally? Fuck no.

Mari: I'm fine. Thanks.

I don't wait for him to respond. I got out of my car, locked it behind me, then carefully went inside the apartment. Upon walking in, I heard the blender from the kitchen.

When Dana heard the door shut, she shut it off and turned to face me. Her hair looked a little wet, which told me she got out of the shower not too long ago. "Hey," she started cautiously, and again, there was that sad look in her eyes.

"Hey," I responded as I looked away from her for a few seconds to take my shoes off. "Sleep well?" Without knowing, a hard and sarcastic note crept into my voice, and a part of me felt bad about it.

She caught it, and her shoulders slumped slightly before she gestured to the blender, trying to find another way to start a conversation. "Did you want a smoothie bowl? I went to the store about an hour ago to get some fresh fruit." Beside the blender were a few containers of fresh fruit. Strawberries, mangoes, pineapples and cherries. All of my favorites.

"I ate already, but thanks," I lied. I definitely didn't eat, but I didn't want to talk, plus I had an unwanted image of her poisoning my food, which was crazy, but not unrealistic and impossible given everything else that's happened lately.

The stress was killing me, and I really needed to sleep, but at the same time, I had work to do. I needed to finish my homework for other classes, then I needed to finalize my plan of handling this project.

"I understand that you hate me, but please hear me out," Dana said as she propped herself up on the counter.

"Dana-"

"Please, Mari." Her hazel eyes filled with tears, and I watched as she looked down for a few seconds to blink them back before facing me again. Then she sighed shakily. "You don't have to be scared of me. I swear, I'd never hurt you. I'm sorry for lying to you and hiding all of this from you. Alex and I just wanted to keep you safe."

The eerie text messages from the killer rose up in my memory, and I tightly clenched my hands into fists. Stop being paranoid. You saw last night that they're two different people.

But again, it wasn't impossible.

"Why are you doing this, Dana?" I asked quietly, unable to keep the fear from creeping into my voice.

"Do you know just how much people get away with in this city? Think about how often you've watched or read the news in this city and saw that another murderer, rapist, or any other kind of criminal walked free."

It happened way too often, and even though the thought of finishing school in another state had been my focus, solving cases right here and putting criminals where they belonged had been my main goal ever since I was a child.