The room stood in a frozen silence, thick with the kind of dread that didn’t need words to announce its arrival.Rene Ford didn’t raise his voice.He didn’t have to.He simply reached into his jacket, pulled out his phone, and tapped the screen with his thumb. A soft click echoed, then the faint hiss of a recording began to play.And then…Rainer’s voice rang out through the small room, as clear as if he were still seated across from Rene, speaking those very words just moments before,“So... quite the night you had.... How’re you feeling?”“Alive,”“Let’s go over it again... You’re saying Derek Allister cornered you in the bathroom. Said he was supposed to kill you. But then let you go?”“Yeah.”“And then what?”“I walked out the back door. Laid low until I knew it was safe.”“That’s it?... You didn’t fight? You didn’t try to stop him?”“Nope.”“You didn’t call the police immediately?”“Right."“Derek says he got jumped by two other men after you left. Claims they were sent by Alejan
The tension in the room sparked as Detective Moreno stood by the door, hand still resting on the knob, eyes darting between Rene and Captain Rainer.“Rainer,” Moreno said slowly, carefully, “why exactly are you running a closed-door interrogation with no paperwork, no active report, and no recording equipment?”Rainer straightened his spine and laughed lightly, brushing off the question as absurd. “It wasn’t an interrogation. Just... greeting Mr. Flores and checking on his health after last night's incident.”Rene leaned back in his chair, arms folded, eyes locked on Moreno.“No, Detective. It wasn’t a welfare greeting,” he said coldly. “It was a pitch.”Moreno’s brow furrowed deeper. “A pitch?”Rene nodded once. “Captain Rainer was trying to convince me to edit my statement. Downplay what Derek Allister said. Soften the implication that Alejandro Rossi was involved.”Moreno’s face shifted subtly, but he didn’t speak yet. Just let Rene keep going.“He implied that I owed the Rossi fam
The station buzzed with the usual undercurrent of tension and coffee-stained fatigue. Phones rang. Officers barked updates. The hum of printers filled the background. But all of that dimmed the moment Rene Ford walked through the glass doors.Heads turned.“Mr. Flores,” a uniformed officer called out, nodding stiffly. “Captain Rainer is waiting for you in Interrogation 2.”Of course he is, Rene thought.They led him down the hall, past offices with glass walls and detectives squinting at their screens. The door to the interrogation room was already open. Rainer stood inside, arms crossed, posture stiff like a man guarding secrets rather than seeking them.“Kia,” Rainer greeted with a clipped nod.Rene stepped inside without a word, set the phone in his hand on the table, and sat down.“Coffee?” Rainer offered, falsely polite.Rene arched an eyebrow. “No, thanks."“Suit yourself,” Rainer muttered, sitting across from him. He didn’t open a file. He didn’t pull out a recorder. Just leane
The phone wouldn’t stop buzzing.Maria’s gaze locked onto it instantly, her eyes flicking from the vibrating device on the counter to Rene’s face. The warmth in her smile faltered.She wasn’t dumb.She could read the shift in him like the weather.His shoulders were drawn up, tense. His jaw clenched ever so slightly. And while his face stayed neutral, maybe even careful, his body gave everything away. “Who’s calling?” she finally asked, trying to keep her voice light, though her fingers curled around the edge of the table.Rene didn’t answer right away. He took a breath and let it out slowly before finally replying, “The station.”Maria tilted her head. “So early?”He nodded, standing from the table. “They need me for some statements.”She watched him cross to the phone, snatch it off the counter, and silence it with a quick flick of his thumb. The screen dimmed, and he stood there for a moment, staring at the blank black glass like it held answers he didn’t want to give.“I’ll come
The voice came softly at first, like an echo across water.“Should we get a divorce?”Rene stirred slightly, the sheets warm, the scent of Maria still clinging to the pillows. He shifted onto his side, eyes still closed.Then it came again, closer, louder, more pointed.“Should we get a divorce, Kia?”His eyes flew open.His chest heaved once, and he sat bolt upright with a strangled gasp, heart slamming against his ribs like it was trying to break out of his body. His gaze darted to the side-And the bed was empty.His breath caught.No trace of Maria.The impression of her body still lingered in the sheets, faint and warm, like she’d only just left… but she wasn’t there.“Maria?” Rene rasped, running a hand through his hair, his skin clammy with sweat. “Maria!”He threw the covers aside, launching from the bed like the floor had turned to fire.He checked the en-suite bathroom first, flinging the door open.Nothing.No water running.No light on.His pulse rose like a siren in his e
With one smooth motion, Rene lifted Maria and laid her onto the pillows, pulling away slightly to trail his lips down her throat, her collarbone, the valley of her cleavage. Her breathing hitched, and she arched her hips into him, pushing against him, making him groan. His teeth scraped over a spot on her shoulder, making her shudder.Softly, Rene nipped his way up to her bottom lip, pulling on it, teasingly. He tasted salt again. When he drew back far enough to kiss her cheeks, the corners of her eyes, her eyelids, her nose, her chin, and finally, her mouth...he lingered, savoring her flavor, the scent of her, the taste.A sudden storm of emotion broke loose, causing Maria to cover her eyes with her arm and sniff quietly. But when Rene tried to pull back, she grabbed him by the shirt and brought her mouth to his again. She kissed him deeply, feverishly, demanding more, needing more, and he didn’t have any choice but to give in as her hands reached for his belt buckle, unfastening i