“I woke up later than usual. I was never an early riser, but I never slept in like that either. I was groggy. It felt like I was hungover or something, but I hadn’t had nearly enough wine for that. Ty wasn’t in bed so I figured he’d gone to work. I got up to go take a shower, hoping it would make me feel better and I tried to figure out why I felt so bad, but the night before was coming back into my mind jumbled. I remembered bits and pieces of it, but not the whole thing and that wasn’t like me at all.” She paused to take a breath because she knew the really hard part was coming. “I felt like I was about to throw up, so I tried to get to the toilet, but I didn’t make it. I threw up on the floor and that’s when I saw the blood and I saw Ty there.” She wiped a few more tears away and sobbed lightly while still tapping her foot. “There was a knife in his chest and blood everywhere. I didn’t know what to do. I put my hands on his chest to see where the blood was coming from, but I couldn’t stop it. It took me a few minutes to figure out that he was cold. I kept saying his name over and over to try to get him to wake up, but he didn’t so I grabbed the knife to pull it out. I know that was stupid, but I wasn’t thinking.”

  “You were in shock.” He supplied.

  “I tried to save him.” She could still feel the blood on her hands. It was sticky and cold and red and smelled of iron and she felt like an innocent Lady Macbeth every time she washed her hands for about a month after the murder. She just couldn’t get it off. “When I looked up, I saw Lizzy. At first, I didn’t think it could be real because she hadn’t been there the night before, but I got up and checked. She was cold too.” She grabbed at a tissue from the box on the desk and blotted her eyes. “I called 911.”

  “I checked the files and I didn’t see any record of you being taken to the hospital to be examined.”

  “They checked me out physically and because of the shock, but that was it. I was fine.”

  “Miss Masters, you said you felt sick the night before and you woke up with a poor recollection of the previous night.”

  “Yes.”

  “You had very little to drink that night, correct?”

  “A glass or two of wine at most.” She was growing impatient.

  “Can I call you Alyssa?”

  “Sure.” She said thinking that he could call her anything if he got to the point.

  “I could kill the responding officers right about now.”

  “Why? Detective, why are you asking these questions?”

  “Because Alyssa, I think they saw you as a party girl and assumed you’d had too much to drink. I actually think you were drugged so that the murderer could come back later that night to kill Ty.”

  Her jaw dropped.

  ***

  “You guys are okay?” Penny checked as she sat in the small conference room the staff used for meetings.

  “I think so.” Hannah replied. “I know I love her and she loves me. The rest, we’ll just have to figure out as we go.”

  “I envy you in one way and then in another, I don’t.” Penny expressed and took a bite of her sandwich she’d brought for lunch.

  “How’s that?”

  “Because you met her, what a few weeks ago?”

  “Yeah. Why?” Hannah rolled up the bag of chips she’d been snacking on.

  “Because you love her already and she loves you. That’s pretty awesome. I’ve never had that. I’ve been in a few serious relationships and I’ve been in love, but I don’t know. I’ve just never felt it that quickly.”

  “Neither have I.”

  “But on the flip side, you sure did pick yourself a complication, didn’t you?”

  “She’s not a complication. She’s just going through a rough time right now.” Hannah explained. “When I told you it was complicated, it was more because I knew how I felt, but we weren’t together yet. It was complicated because I didn’t know what to do, but now, I know. Now, I know I want her.”

  “Well, I guess it’s not likely she has any hot friends, huh?” Penny lifted an eyebrow.

  “Actually, she has one.” Hannah thought of Rachel. “But she’s also technically her ex-girlfriend who is still in love with her so you might not want to go there.”

  “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a good idea.” Penny bit into a carrot. “But just so I have the complete picture, how hot is she exactly?” She winked at Hannah.

  “Can we talk about this business plan now please?” Hannah laughed at her.

  “Yes, let’s talk about my brilliant plan now. What do you think?” She closed the container and pushed the leftover food aside.

  “It’s good. I think it’ll work. I want you to make the next schedule.”

  “I’ve never done that before.”

  “I know. Take a stab at it based on the current schedule and your proposed changes and run it by me. We’ll see how you do. If it works, you can start making the schedules, alternating with Antonio of course.”

  “You are a good boss, you know that?”

  “Not many people say that to the manager that just gave them more work to do.” Hannah laughed.

  “When it’s the work that can help them make better at their job, they do or at least they should.” She stood and took her container. “Alright, I’m going to head out. I’m back on at six.”

  Hannah picked up her cell and found Alyssa’s name in her favorites. She pressed it and listened to the phone ring until the voicemail picked up. It should have been Alyssa’s lunch break. Hannah hung up without leaving a message and went back to her office.

  Chapter 27:

  Alyssa heard the knock on her door and didn’t get up right away. What the detective had said had stuck with her and she’d tried to recall every moment from the day Ty and died. Detective Hartley thought she’d been given GHB or a drug like it. They never tested her blood alcohol level or took her blood to test for anything else. She’d been in shock initially and by the time that wore off, she’d been arrested and the chances of anything showing up in a test were zero.

  The detective believed that someone slipped her something that day, but what he didn’t know yet was why. Why would they kill Ty and Lizzy, but not her? Why was nothing taken from the apartment? It hadn’t been a robbery gone wrong. Lizzy was clearly at the wrong place at the wrong time. Detective Hartley believed it might have been someone that Lizzy would have known. She was only three so if it had been a stranger, she wouldn’t have been able to give a clear enough description and likely wouldn’t have been called to identify the attacker, but if it was someone that knew she’d recognize them, they’d have to eliminate her too.

  “Al, are you home?” Hannah’s voice questioned and she snapped to attention.

  She walked over to the door and opened it, noticing that Hannah was still carrying her oversize purse she always carried to work and was still dressed in her heels and black business suit with the pencil skirt. She hadn’t even gone to her own apartment yet.

  “Hey, sorry.” Alyssa offered for her delay.

  “Are you okay? I called you twice today.” Hannah still stood in the doorway.

  “Yeah, come in.” She offered.

  “What’s wrong, babe?” Hannah walked in and sat her purse on the floor. She asked as she sat on the sofa and waited for Alyssa to join her.

  “Do you want something to drink? I still have some of that cherry pie left.” Alyssa walked toward the kitchen.

  “No, I’m fine. Al?” Hannah’s eyes were pleading.

  Alyssa sighed and lumbered over to the sofa; her arms and legs feeling heavy.

  “I had a weird day.” Alyssa sighed, lumbered over to the sofa and plopped down next to Hannah.

  “Why?” Hannah turned to face her, bringing her legs under her body after kicking off her heels. Her elbow rested on the back of the sofa and her fingers began twirling a strand of Alyssa’s dark hair.

  “A detective stopped by the office today to ask me some questions?” She sighed again. Hannah’s elbow rested on the back of the sofa and her fingers began twirling a strand of Alyssa’s dark hair. “About what happened.”

  “What? The case was dismissed. You can’t be-” Hannah stopped twirling.

  “No, it’s not about that.” Alyssa interjected as she could feel the worry in Hannah’s tone. “He actually thinks I’m innocent.”

  Hannah resumed the twirling again, but move a little closer to her. Alyssa placed her hand on Hannah’s bare calf. She was calmer at the mere touch of Hannah’s skin.

  “Then, why was he asking you questions?”

  “He wants to find out what really happened that night. He’s trying to find the killer.”

  “He wanted to talk to you?”

  “I’m technically a witness.”

  “I guess that would qualify as a weird day.” Hannah used the hand twirling Alyssa’s hair to instead encourage the girl to move her head to Hannah’s shoulder, which she did.

  “It gets weirder.” Alyssa was glad that her position meant she didn’t have to look into Hannah’s eyes while she talked. “He thinks I might have been drugged before it happened. GHB maybe.”

  “What?” Hannah’s tone expressed some surprise, but mainly worry. “Does he think that… Were you…” Hannah couldn’t seem to get the rest out.

  Alyssa lifted her head, pressed her lips gently to Hannah’s and looked into those expressive green eyes.

  “He doesn’t think that and I don’t either. That night is still a little blurry, but I woke up fully clothed with no signs of anything. That’s why I never thought about it and the cops at the time didn’t bother to check.”

  “Thank God, babe.” Hannah breathed out a deep sigh of relief and put her forehead against Alyssa’s.

  “The weirdest part of the whole experience was the fact that a detective believed me. He believes I’m innocent. He’s not technically on the case. He’s looking into it on his own and he believes me.”

  “If he’s not assigned to the case, why is he looking into it?” Hannah pulled back to look at her.

  “He knows Ty’s dad. When we were talking, we discovered that we’d met once before at a July fourth party I went to at Ty’s parent’s house. Detective Hartley had been there. I don’t remember officially meeting him, but we were both there.”

  “Oh, wow!”

  “Yeah, I don’t know what happens next. He told me he’d reach back out to me once he had some information, but I went through the motions at work after he left and then I’ve just been sitting here. I didn’t know what else to do. I keep replaying that whole day and night over and over in my mind trying to remember things. If I was drugged, how and why just me? If he wanted to kill Ty, wouldn’t it have made sense to drug both of us or to even kill both of us so they didn’t risk me remembering something or waking up.”

  “Al, don’t talk like that.” Hannah put both hands against the sides of Alyssa’s neck. “I don’t like thinking about that.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t help it. I’ve been thinking about that for two years. Why am I even still alive?”

  “I’m glad someone’s looking into the case again. I want whoever did this behind bars. God, if they catch who really did this, people would probably leave you alone, Al. The press would go crazy initially, but then they’d leave you alone.”

  “I’d like that, but I just want the person who did this locked up. It’s not fair that they’re still out there and that Ty and Lizzy are gone.” Alyssa said. Hannah stared at her and gave a small smile. “What?” Alyssa asked and offered a smile in return.

  “You are amazing.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you didn’t mention the fact that you’d been locked up because of a crime someone else committed. You didn’t mention your pain or the time you lost. You only want the person to pay for what they did to Ty and Lizzy.”

  “I lost two years, Hannah, but they lost their lives. Ty’s parents and Derrick lost Ty and they lost Lizzy forever. That’s worse. They deserve to know what really happened and to see the person responsible behind bars.”

  “Yeah, amazing.” Hannah kissed her gently.

  “Do you want to change and then we can figure out dinner?” Alyssa smiled back and looked down at her.

  “Yeah, let me go next door and find something. I’ll come back over in a few.”

  “Why? Just put on some of my sweats or something.” Alyssa stood, pulling Hannah up by the hands. “Or better yet, take those clothes off and don’t bother putting on anything else.”

  Hannah laughed as Alyssa pulled her into her bedroom. Alyssa pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts while Hannah stripped. While Hannah changed, Alyssa went out to the kitchen to find something to cook for them. She heard her cell phone go off and picked it up off the counter. She read the text message and saw it was from Rachel. She wanted to know how things ended up with Hannah.

  “Everything okay?” Hannah asked and then wrapped her arms around Alyssa’s waist from behind, looking down at Alyssa’s phone as Alyssa did.

  “Rachel wants to know how things worked out with us. I kind of told her you and I were dating and that I tried to push you away.”

  “Then, she kind of saw us making up.” Hannah recalled.

  “Yeah, I think she just wants to make sure I’m okay. She’s trying to be a friend again.”

  “She’s trying to see if we’re still together.” Hannah kissed her neck and stepped away to go to the refrigerator.

  “Either way, the answer to her question is the same.” Alyssa responded to the text and set the phone back down.

  “I get it. I talked to Lindsey today since I was a terrible friend and forgot to call her with an update yesterday like I said I would.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah, she was concerned too, but she doesn’t want to get in my pants.” Hannah replied with a knowing glance at Alyssa’s phone, which had just beeped again.

  “How do you know for sure?” Alyssa teased and picked up the phone.

  “Because she’s married and pregnant and madly in love with her husband.”

  “That’s great, but you are very hot. She could still want to get in your pants.” Alyssa replied and then looked at the text.

  “What’s that look mean?” Hannah asked, noticing her expression.

  “She told me yesterday that she wasn’t sure she could do the friend thing just yet and that she’d text me in a few weeks if she was ready, but now she wants to go for coffee this weekend.”

  “Oh.” Hannah tried not to sound concerned.

  “She wants to meet on Saturday in LA.”

  “Oh again.” Hannah said and then pulled a bottle of water out of Alyssa’s refrigerator. “Are you going?”

  “I don’t know. This is kind of unexpected.”

  “It shouldn’t be. I told you she’s in love with you.”

  “I’m in love with you and she knows that. I literally just told her we’re fine and we’re together.”

  “Do you want to go?”

  “I don’t know.” Alyssa realized that was true.

  If someone would have asked her on Saturday if she wanted to see Rachel again after their Friday night encounter, she would have given them a definitive no, but after Rachel poured her heart out to her on their water tower, Alyssa wasn’t sure where she stood now. She hadn’t forgiven her entirely yet and she knew things would never be the same, but she also missed Rachel. She missed having any friends in her life and the thought that they might have a chance at getting at least some of what they once had back, had her thinking about going to meet her for coffee.

  “I’ll drive if you do.” Hannah offered. “I won’t stay. I can go shopping or find something else to do while you guys hang out.”

  “You don’t have to do that. She knows I’m with you so if I come, I’m bringing you.”

  “Babe, as much as I am not a fan of you spending alone time with someone you have a history with and someone who still loves you, I shouldn’t be there when you guys are trying to get back what you lost.”

  “It’s just soon. I wasn’t expecting her to want to try so soon.”

  “If you’re not ready, you’re not ready.” Hannah told her and wrapped her arms around Alyssa’s neck. “Either way, I’m here if you need me.” She pecked her lips and pulled back as her own phone sounded in her purse. “We’re popular tonight.”

  She pulled away and walked to her purse, pulling her phone out.

  “I assume Rachel’s not calling you too.” Alyssa took a drink of Hannah’s water.

  “It’s Lindsey.” Hannah gave her a small smile. “Hey, didn’t I just talk to you?” Hannah said into the phone. “This weekend?” She paused and walked back into the kitchen where she took the bottle from Alyssa, grabbed a sip and placed it back on the counter before putting her free hand on Alyssa’s back and rubbing it up and down. “I can’t pick you up then. I’ll be working.” Hannah put her chin on Alyssa’s shoulder and continued rubbing. Alyssa was growing fond of these moments of domesticity between them and wanted many more. She reached for Hannah’s hem and pulled the shirt up slightly so she could use one hand to rub Hannah’s abdomen while her other went to her hair, moving it behind Hannah’s ear and then kissing her forehead. “Okay. I thought you were going to tell me before you booked something. Leave it to you to be a rebel, Linds.” She paused and winked at Alyssa. “Yeah, she’s right here.” She rolled her eyes at whatever Lindsey said. “No, we were not in the middle of having sex, Lindsey. I just got here.” She laughed and Alyssa smiled and kissed her nose. “But I would like to have sex so I’m going to hang up on you.” Alyssa’s eyes grew wide and her cheeks turned a deep shade of crimson. “Send me your flight info, okay?” She said to Lindsey and put a hand on Alyssa’s cheek. “Love you too. Bye.” She hung up and looked at Alyssa. “You’re blushing.” She smirked.

  “You just told her we were about to have sex.” Alyssa replied.

  “I was just messing with her, but yeah, I’d like us to be naked at some point tonight. Now though, I’m starving. So, let’s eat something and then we can settle in for the night.”

  Chapter 28: