The Dead Series (Book 1): Tell Me When I'm Dead by Steven Ramirez Read Free Book Online Page B

face. It was pissing him off.
    “Detective, can you confirm that this is the home of Melyssa Soldado?”
    “Not confirming or denying anything. We have to notify the family—”
    “Didn’t you find the entire inside of the house drenched in blood?”
    “Where do you people come up with this—”
    “Where is Ms. Soldado, Detective? Is her body still inside the house?”
    “No. We have officers looking for the missing woman right now.”
    “And the attacker? Who is he?”
    Detective Van Gundy hesitated. “John Doe,” he said.
    “Excuse me, but isn’t the man you found Jim Stanley? Isn’t he the missing accident victim you’ve been looking for?”
    “You’re unbelievable. No more questions.” He pushed his way off camera.
    Evie spoke into the camera. “There you have it. Police neither confirming nor denying the identities of the attacker and his female victim. This is Evie Champagne. Back to you, Felix.”
    I turned off the TV and took Holly’s hands in mine. My legs felt like cooked spaghetti. A searing pain shot through the core of my head. My neck hurt again, and I felt woozy. My plan had disintegrated—and me along with it.
    Holly stared at me. “So you were there.”
    “I need to tell you what happened,” I said, unable to block the sound of Missy’s screaming in my head.
    “Please, no more of your confessions, Dave.”
    I went to the sink for no reason. The faucet was dripping, and I made a mental note to replace the washers. I felt woozy.
    “Yes, I was there.”
    “Please, just stop—”
    “You need to hear this. I was at the ranger station. I was there when it happened.”
    “What did you do?” She stood next to me.
    “It’s what I didn’t do.” I turned to her, my whole body hard with tiredness and regret. “I didn’t help her.”
    “What?”
    “We were walking in the woods near her house. I was trying to convince her it was over. Then Jim showed up. But it wasn’t Jim. He was like a … some kind of monster full of rage. I tried to get Missy to run, but she fell. I ran and hid in the ranger station.”
    “You didn’t go back for her?”
    “No, I was too scared.”
    “Then you killed him, right?”
    “No, I stayed inside.”
    “You left her out there with that thing?”
    “I guess.”
    Holly moved away from me and walked in circles. It was like she was playing the scene in her head over and over. She grabbed her teacup and threw it at me. I blocked it, and it bounced off my forearm and shattered on the floor.
    “You left her!” Holly’s voice was shrill.
    “I don’t care about her, I care about us . Why aren’t you happy that it’s still us?”
    “Because what you did was evil,” she said. I heard the disgust in her voice. “You don’t leave someone to die.”
    “But she didn’t die. She got away.”
    “It doesn’t matter. You wanted her to die.”
    “I wanted her out of our lives.” I made a move towards her, but she backed away. I thought she was scared of me. “It wasn’t my fault. She split his head with an axe. I’m sorry.” I was blind with anger and frustration and didn’t notice she’d taken a seat at the table. “Holly?”
    “Shut up, Dave. I need to think.”
    She sat with her hands folded in front of her, staring straight ahead. I wanted a drink bad. I imagined going to Jim’s house and emptying out his refrigerator one bottle at a time. How long could I survive on beer and dead animals? Instead I refilled my cup. The tea had cooled, tasting like pond water.
    “I was almost going to forgive you for what you did,” she said. “It was a lapse, I know. And I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t do it again.”
    “Never.”
    “But to stand by when someone is being attacked. What in hell were you thinking? What if it had been me ?”
    “It wasn’t.”
    I needed something to do, so I went to the hall closet to get a broom and a dustpan. Her face was expressionless as I swept up the broken cup and threw the pieces into the trash. The tea set