A hand pressed Brea to the concrete as her eyes slid open. Flashing red and blue lights reflected off the snow. They didn’t belong there, but then, neither did she.
“Am I going back to the Clarkson Center?” she wheezed out.
No one answered. By now, half the school probably watched from the windows.
She lifted her head, searching for Myles and only finding splatters of blood where he’d been before.
“Myles?” Still, no answer. Any minute, he’d walk out of the school to wrap his arms around her. “Where’s Myles?”
Whoever held her down took pity on her finally. “The boy who was here? They’ve taken him to St. Mary’s.”
“The hospital? Is he…” She swallowed. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I’d be surprised if he survived the ambulance ride.”
She shook her head. It couldn’t be real. Just another one of her delusions. Myles was fine. He had to be. He was the best person she knew, the only one who’d ever loved her.
It should be her in that ambulance.
The man hauled her up, and her legs wobbled beneath her. She turned her head, catching sight of his police officer’s uniform. He nodded to where three other officers waited beside two police cruisers.
“Brea Robinson, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Myles Merrick.”
“No, I couldn’t have hurt him. Not Myles.” She tried to remember everything that happened, but it didn’t seem real. They really thought it was her that did this?
The officer continued reading her rights, but she couldn’t hear him over the ringing in her ears.
“You’ll be able to call your people from the precinct.”
Her people? He meant her parents, but they’d never been her people. That title had always rested solely with Myles, the boy next door.
And she’d killed him.
Brea Robinson was a lie.
A horror story.
But the truth? She wasn’t sure if that even existed.
The cop shoved her into the back of his cruiser, her hands cuffed behind her back.
She leaned her head against the seat and stared at the ceiling, wishing she could see the blue sky Myles loved so much. A tear escaped, but she couldn’t wipe it away. “I’m sorry, Myles.”
Chapter Two
The door to Brea’s cell opened. For the last twenty-four hours, the only person she’d seen was her therapist, Doctor Cochran—and his sedatives. He claimed that seeing her parents or anyone else right now would only upset her further.
“Sedation is my friend,” or so he said. The doctor just didn’t know how good Brea was at tricking him and the nurses into believing she’d swallowed the pills. She had a growing collection of them under her bed, just waiting for the moment when someone finally told her she had actually killed Myles. Her best friend. The promise of those pills were her only comfort now.
”Brea Robinson?” An officer she didn’t recognize stepped into her pristinely white cell. “You’re being transferred.”
“Transferred? Where?” Brea sat up on her cot.
”Dunno.” The officer scratched his head, checking the clipboard in his hand. “That fancy doctor of yours signed orders to send you to some big city prison in Columbus with a psych ward, where you’ll wait for your arraignment.”
“How is Myles?” Brea clutched her clothes to her chest as she followed the officer from her cell.
“Dunno.” The officer hitched up his pants as they walked down the long corridor to the main office.
“Do my parents know where I’m going?”
“Your parents signed over their parental rights to your therapist. Looks like they might have washed their hands of you.” The officer held open the door for her to pass through.
Brea shuffled forward, unable to make sense of the last twenty-four hours. Everything was a blur. “I need to know how Myles is doing.” Her voice sounded distant to her own ears as the precinct officers filed her transfer paperwork, completely ignoring her. No one ever seemed to listen to her. “Please, is he okay?”
”Quiet,” another police officer said behind her. Brea turned, startled to see him there. She looked up, and up, to find he had the most striking midnight blue eyes she’d ever seen. “We will leave in a moment, keep your mouth shut.” His tone was curt, and he looked like he didn’t know how to smile, but his presence sent a wave of warmth through her, calming her fears. Everything would be fine soon. Once she got settled in the psych ward, her doctor would explain everything. That was the familiarity she needed now.
Brea followed the handsome officer with the beautiful eyes and stony frown outside into the freezing night. She didn’t even have her coat. Wasn’t it odd to transfer prisoners so late at night?
She ducked her head into the backseat of the police cruiser, wondering why the officer hadn’t handcuffed her for the transport. The ride to Columbus would be a few hours. Maybe he thought she’d be more comfortable?
Brea’s thoughts whirled from one thing to the next, like she couldn’t focus on any one thought long enough to question her newest circumstances.
“Myles?” She leaned forward. “Can you tell me anything about Myles? Can you call the hospital and check on him?”
”You’re better off forgetting him and whatever he might have meant to you.” The voice was like warm hot chocolate. She didn’t like his words, but he somehow managed to make them sound like the most soothing of responses.
“What about my parents? Did they really sign me over to Dr. Cochran?”
“As far as your parents are concerned, they never had a daughter named Brea Robinson. Now just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
Brea yawned. ”I don’t think I like you.” His voice sent an unwelcome warmth racing through her, but through the fog of her confusion, she couldn’t quite work out why that was a bad thing.
It was dark when Brea woke, still in the backseat of the police cruiser—still with no idea what was happening. A spark of fear curled in her gut, and she latched on to it. It was the only true emotion she’d experienced since leaving her cell.
Gazing out the window, Brea expected to see highways and cars heading for the city. Instead, she saw trees and vast stretches of farmland. They were the only car on the dark country road. Panic seeped into her bones as she watched the man behind the wheel. She caught his gaze in the rear view mirror, his dark eyes flashing like sapphire jewels in the night. She’d seen eyes like those before.
I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy. Brea squeezed her eyes shut tight before she dared to chance a second glance at the officer. His normal midnight blue eyes peered back at her through the mirror. Exactly, I’m not crazy. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was never a good thing for Brea Robinson to see things that weren’t there.
“Where are you taking me?” She tried to keep the accusation from her tone, but Brea did not have a good feeling about this gruff man who claimed to be a police officer.
”Somewhere safe. Just relax. We’ll be there soon.”
Once again, his words had a mesmerizing effect on her. Part of her wanted to do something drastic to try to escape, but the other part of her wanted to sit back and relax like the officer suggested. Brea resisted that second part of her subconscious mind trying to tell her everything was fine when it clearly wasn’t.