Forget Me Not (Remember Me Series) Read Free Page A

from the wound and sucked in a long gulp of whiskey. It burned all the way down my throat and settled in my chest.
    Heading for the bathroom I leaned over the sink and stared at my reflection in the broken mirror. It was easier to stare at a broken reflection of myself, it’s what I was now anyway. Broken. Christopher had known exactly what he was doing when he took her. He’d known what it would do to me. Things would have been easier if he’d just shot me when he had the chance. Death would have been a blessing… Anything would have been better than this hell.
    My brain took a type of sick enjoyment from throwing up all the possible scenarios, all the things Christopher could be doing to Bella. It was a way to punish myself. All the things I couldn’t save her from. All the things I’d failed to keep her safe from. My stomach rejected the whiskey as I imagined him touching her, imagined him holding her as he… I vomited, over and over until there was nothing left inside me, nothing but the hollow feeling.
    I dropped the bottle and stumbled from the bathroom and back into the bedroom. Collapsing onto the bed I scooped up the photo-album I’d found in Bella’s apartment. Pictures of her smiling and happy, pictures of her on holiday, pictures of her hugging her parents, pictures of her grinning with her friends… All of it gone. She was gone.
    Tears trailed down my face and I scrubbed them away with my hands. What good was crying? I didn’t have the right to cry for her, I was the reason she was gone. I was the problem.
    The cell phone on the bedside locker started to buzz and I lunged for it. Answering the call I pressed it to my ear.
    “Bella?”
    Every time the phone rang I had the same reaction. Always hoping, wishing it was her.
    “Where the hell are you? You asked to be kept in the loop on this investigation, Crantree. How do you expect that to happen if you don’t even bother to turn up when the results from the crime scene coordinators are in?”
    Detective Arnolds voice was filled with irritation.
    “I’m sorry, I forgot… I’ll be right there.”
    “Look, Aidan, I know you’re getting it hard. If you need some time no one will think any less of you because of it.”
    “I don’t need any time, I told you that already. I’m just running a little late, that’s all. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
    I hung up, pressing the cell phone against my forehead. How could I have forgotten? I’d known the results were coming in and they were important. So far everything else had proven itself to be a dead end. The evidence gathered from Bella’s abduction was the only thing I had left. The last thin shred of hope I had left of finding her.
    Dropping the phone onto the covers I headed straight for the shower. I turned the dial until the water ran cold and then I stepped beneath it. The icy spray stole my breath and had me gasping for air until my body slowly adjusted. But it was the best way to wake up. I needed to look alert, Arnolds wanted me gone. None of them had exactly approved of me dating a witness… They’d all taken Hunter’s view on it, you didn’t mix business with pleasure, especially not cop business.
    But it was more than just looking alert. I wanted, needed to be alert for whatever clues the techs would come up with. I knew this case better than anyone and I stood the best chance of finding Bella. I’d already let her down, but I wouldn’t let her down now. I would find her. No matter what it took, I would get her back.
     
     
    The small hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention as I entered the station. The odd stares, and knowing looks, the whispered words that spoke of my disgrace made me feel like a circus act. Some of the other detectives believed that Hunter was dead because of me, because I couldn’t keep it in my pants… That somehow Bella was even more connected to Christopher than she had been. The didn’t seem to want to believe that I was the reason he knew