Sully’s eyes are steady on me. He’s flooding heat into the car through the window. “Eli Beck is in police custody. I thought you’d want that information. My colleagues are taking him back to the station now.”

A fresh spear of pain cuts into my midriff, and I press my fingers to my hip. Alex has even told Sully about Eli.

“I need to ask you something.” Sully rests an elbow on the window frame.

Chase and I glance sideways at each other.

“Beck’s given a statement. And, to be frank, some of it’s … concerning.”

“In what way?” Chase asks.

Sully pauses, then says, “He claims there was an incident in your apartment, Mr. Kennedy, last Monday morning. That he was physically attacked there around noon. He has a knife wound that corroborates.”

Alex.

Chase exhales as if all the air is leaving his body.

“We weren’t there,” I say.

“I know,” Sully says. There’s hurt in his eyes. “Alex was.” He studies our faces for a few seconds. “I realize there are drugs in play. Ruth, if you hand them over to me right now, I’ll try to keep you out of trouble.”

“Eli is lying!” Chase says, his voice so bubbled that he has to cough to clear it. “There aren’t any drugs. She doesn’t have them.”

“Alex told me Ruth hid them.”

Every synapse inside of my head is snapping. Alex knew about the drugs, hid them from Chase and me, but told Sully about them? All while denying their existence to Chase?

“Ruth, you’re harboring drugs for a dangerous felon. You’re having a baby with him. And she caught you red-handed with the drugs in a tin.”

“Jesus,” Chase says, as the realization stings us both like a slap. She’s trying to destroy both of us. More pain gathers inside of me and it’s so hot.

“Is that true?” Sully asks. “I’m just trying to understand what’s going on. Because there are some things about this that … don’t add up.”

He’s staring into my eyes, but I hold his gaze. “I brought the drugs home. But Alex found them and hid them for weeks, not me. They were in a vent in her bedroom. And Chase and I found them. That’s the truth.” The words come out as a gasp. My view is blurring.

“It’s true, it’s true!” Chase adds in a nervous flurry.

“Where are the drugs now?” Sully is asking. “And why did you come to this bus depot today?”

The pain in my middle explodes, and then there’s a viscous, briny liquid that’s flooding my thighs, spreading into a warm pool on the car seat.

“We were going to return the drugs and money to Eli,” I say. A shocking pain sears through me, and I slump toward the gear stick.