Page 66 of Restless Ink

“What’s wrong?”

“The door’s open.”

“Shit.”

“Maybe they left it open when they went looking for Captain. That’s what Molly said happened in the first place. How Captain escaped.” Only, it felt wrong. It all felt wrong.

“Should we call the cops?” Shep asked, already pulling out his phone.

“We’re overreacting.” Thea took a deep breath and opened the door fully. “Molly? Dimitri?”

They hadn’t been overreacting.

Molly sat ontopof the dining room table, a wrench in her fist, and her hands over her ears as she rocked back and forth.

“Mine. He was mine. Mine. He was mine.”

“Dimitri…” Thea hadn’t realized she’d whispered his name until Molly looked up sharply and narrowed her eyes.

“You. He was supposed to bemine. He chose me. Now, he’s dead, and it’s all your fault. You should have seen that you two weren’t meant for each other. You should haveseen. If you had, he’d have come back to me, and nothing would have been ruined. He wouldn’t be hurt.” She scratched at her chest with her free hand, the other still holding the wrench. “Iwouldn’t be hurt.”

“Jesus Christ.” Shep took a step forward, putting his body between Molly and Thea, but Thea was having none of that, not after everything she’d been through.

“Molly. What’s going on?” she asked, moving around her brother, who glared down at her. Tough shit. “Where’s Dimitri?”

“Does it matter? It never matters. You’re the one who did this. It’s always been you. The pretty one. The one who looks beautiful without any work. You can eat all you want and not gain a pound. You have parents and siblings, and friends who would die for you. You had everything except Dimitri. And then he didn’t want me anymore, and I didn’t think I needed him. Then you walked in andtookhim. You took him from me, and now it’s all ruined.”

There was so much packed into that statement that Thea couldn’t keep up. All those digs and slights had been for a reason, but not the ones Thea had thought they were for.

“Molly. Where’s Dimitri?”

“It’s all your fault.”

Thea barely ducked out of the way of the wrench in time.

Shep was already on the phone with the police when Molly launched herself at Thea, but Thea was done.Sofucking done with this woman and all the guilt she’d carried for what seemed to be something far deeper than anything she could have dreamed.

Shep cursed into the phone and reached out to pull Thea out of the way, but she already had her free hand pulled back and punched into Molly’s nose before he could stop her.

Molly hit the floor, her head slamming back, and an enraged scream echoing in the air. Then Molly rolled and tried to kick out, but Thea was already on the other woman, pinning her down. Her hand hurt—of course she’d have to use her burned one—and she was pretty sure she’d popped a stitch, but she was done.

“Stop it. What is the matter with you? Stop it, Molly.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she tried to remember the happiness the other woman had brought into her life, only there wasn’t as much there as there should have been. Everything was dark and different, and she had no idea what she was doing anymore.

Shep pushed her to the side and pinned Molly down, though she knew he was being gentle. The other woman thrashed, but her eyes looked unseeing, as if she were screaming at something not there. Thea knew that something had gone terribly wrong with the woman who had once been her friend. She didn’t know what had happened, but she knew anything they might have had was lost forever, and she could only hope that Molly would be able to find the peace she so desperately craved.

“Find Dimitri,” Shep barked. “I’ve got her. Cops are on the way.”

She stood up quickly on shaky legs, her hands damp and tears still streaming down her face. She staggered around the dining room, searching as if she’d be able to find him from where she was though she knew she wasn’t truly seeing anything.

Then she saw his foot.

She let out a scream she knew would haunt her dreams and ran to the kitchen where Dimitri lay face-down on the ground, the back of his head wet. He was so still, she was afraid she was too late.

“Dimitri,” she whispered. “Dimitri.”

He groaned, and it was possibly the best sound she’d heard in her life.