My Boyfriend's Murder (The Clandestine Series)

Chapter 1

Friday, October 12

I remember his eyes when he said it. They were effervescent and lively like bronze sparkling cider. "I love you, Ehlana." It's amazing how one person's words can make the universe pause, but it was the last time he would ever say them.

I didn't know that.

My heart was saturated in devotion for Colton. He had thought of everything: from a sun-dome tent and sleeping bags that zipped together, to the swim suits we would wear when we camped out at the lake. Everything was packed in the back of his boss's black Jeep Renegade we were borrowing for the long weekend.

His lips pressed to mine and every distraction from crickets chirping to the flickering of the moth light trap on the porch disappeared.

It had been one year since Colton and I had met and he had planned the perfect anniversary rendezvous.

I was going to be a virgin until marriage, or at least I had planned to be, but when I was with Colton, I forgot my ideals and became impulsive. Us, being seventeen, made the marriage part impossible, and when I was near him, he whittled down my virtuous barriers and infiltrated my senses without me realizing it.

His fingertips brushed my back sending spiraling tendrils up my spine. "I love you, too," I said.

We leaned in to kiss again but were interrupted by the vibrations coming from Colton's phone. The screen said "The Aviator." Everyone in his index had a nickname I failed to keep up with. He glanced at it and stepped back, sliding his finger across the screen and placed his cell to his ear. His smile faded as he answered. "Speak to me." I couldn't hear what the person on the other end said but I could hear intensity in their voice. Colton kicked a rock on the driveway back into the rock bed and pivoted to look back at his boss's house. "Okay." He hung up and pressed the key fob to unlock the doors on the Jeep. "Go ahead and get in. I'll be right back."

I leaned my head back with a pout. "C'mon, baby. I wanna get going."

"You and me both." He puckered a kiss in the air toward me and went back inside the house. We had just come from the party inside being hosted by Colton's boss, Will, for all of the employees on probation that did construction.

I climbed into the passenger's seat and waited for ten minutes. I looked at the time. 8:30 p.m. The stars were out. Colton... I looked to the front door basked in the glow of the LED moth light. Do I have to pull you out of that party?

Colton bolted out the door, slamming it behind him, and clambered into the driver's seat. He barely glanced at me and jammed the key into the ignition, started the engine, adjusted the rear-view mirror, and looked over his shoulder as he backed down the driveway, gassing and breaking hard. I held the handle over the door as he turned the steering wheel hard and took off down the street.

"Colt," I said, "I'm excited to get there too, but I want to arrive in one piece."

He squeezed my knee. "Don't get spicy with me baby. I like spicy. I'll eat you up." His phone began vibrating and lighting up in his pocket, but he ignored it. His confidence made him sexier, and I unwittingly let him get away with reckless behavior. I know that now. He sped down the block and slowed as we entered the intersection but didn't stop at the stop sign. He glanced to the left and made a right into oncoming traffic. The car behind us slammed on their brakes to let us in.

"Stop! You're freaking me out," I said.

He stared ahead at the road. "Okay," he replied mindlessly, but he wasn't taking me seriously.

"There's no rush-" I added.

"I know." He glanced in the rear-view mirror and hit the gas again. He got on the on-ramp to the highway and merged into traffic, riding up near the bumper of the car ahead of us.