Blackout by Allison B. Hanson

Author:Allison B. Hanson [Hanson, Allison B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Published: 2014-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

I paused only briefly before I pressed the buzzer.

“Hello?” his voice was weary. It was dark. I looked at my phone to see it was almost ten. Maybe he was sleeping.

“It’s Shayna.”

The buzzer buzzed. I trudged up the three sets of steps, running into Billy as I stepped out on the third floor.

“Hi, Miss Shayna,” he greeted me happily.

“Hi, Billy.”

“It’s late.”

“Yes, it is,” I acknowledged. “I didn’t realize what time it was.”

He held out his digital watch helpfully. “It is nine fifty-three.”

“Okay. Good to know.” I patted his shoulder and moved down the hall. Tristan’s door hung open in anticipation of my arrival.

I walked in, and he offered me a strained smile.

“It’s so good to see you.” He made a move to touch me but stopped himself. “I’m sorry I snapped at you this morning. I’m just so upset about Mrs. Grimby.”

“We need to talk,” I said ominously.

Tristan swallowed and nodded. “Right.” It was obvious he thought I was breaking up with him. I could see the pain in his face.

I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around him, clinging to him tightly. He reciprocated, and I could feel his breath in my hair.

“I know. I know it wasn’t you,” I said softly. He backed away, and his blue eyes fixed on mine like lasers.

“What?”

“Even if you did this, which I don’t think you did. I know it wasn’t really you. I know about…Aaron,” I whispered.

“Oh, God! How? No!” He threw his hands in the air in dismay. He paced, looking tortured. The sight was too much for me to bear. I looked at him and saw the dark circles under his eyes; his clothes were wrinkled. He was a mess.

“Tristan, you can tell me anything,” I said.

“I know I probably should have told you this. I should have explained it, but I was so sure this thing between us…I figured I would have already scared you away by now.” He shrugged.

“You haven’t scared me away. I’m worried for you.”

“Why would you want to stay with me now, Shayna? I’m a freak.” He frowned. “A freak who is in love with you. You make me feel normal. I thought maybe…I’m sorry. Look, we don’t need to talk. It’s okay. I understand. I expected this to happen at some point. I had the most amazing time with you. No hard feelings, okay?”

“Actually, if we don’t talk, there will be some extremely hard feelings.” I raised my brows. I needed to get to the bottom of this before someone else arrested him for these murders. “I’m not giving up,” I assured him. “Please give me a chance.”

He nodded as if deciding something.

“Okay. Have a seat. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Soda? Whiskey?”

“No.” I smiled at his offer. How could he kill someone? He couldn’t. “Sit with me.” I gestured to the seat beside me on the sofa. He sat immediately.

“I understand you have a job to do. I’ll answer any questions you have. I know how this looks.

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