Read Online Down the Darkest Street by Alex Segura - Free Book Online

that’s good,” Pete said. “Never said you did.”
    “The cops think I did,” Rick said, cracking his knuckles. “They’re asking me for alibis and shit like that.”
    “That’s what cops do, man.”
    “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
    Pete sighed.
    “I’m running out of patience here,” Pete said. “I’m tired. I’ve had a long day. I’m getting tangled in some bullshit I don’t want to be tangled in, and I just discovered my ex’s husband has broken into my house. And he may be wanted for questioning by the police. This complicates my life. And it bothers me. So let’s get to the point before I ask you to leave and wash my hands of the whole fucking thing.”
    “You wouldn’t do that.”
    “Want to risk it?”
    “I know you,” Rick said. “That’s not how you operate. You’re like a dog with a bone—you don’t let these kinds of things go.”
    “How did you figure this out about me?” Pete said. “Considering we’ve spent, what, maybe five hours together in total?”
    “Just because you’re not with Emily doesn’t mean she never talks about you.”
    Rick let that hang and Pete let it jab at him. The idea of Emily talking about him, referencing what they once had, comparing that to whatever she had with Rick, made his head pound.
    “Get to the point,” Pete said. “Where were you the night Alice disappeared?”
    ***
    Rick’s story meandered, but seemed true, at least to Pete. He was up front about the affair with Alice; it had been going on for a few months. She had joined his company as an executive assistant. His assistant, to be exact. So he became the cliché boss that fell for his hot, twenty-something secretary. She “understood” him, got his jokes, enjoyed the music playlists he made her, was supportive of him writing that last great American novel or finally learning to play the guitar. All the shit that Emily, over time, had started shrugging off.
    The night in question, Rick had rented a room at the Eden Roc, a fancy luxury hotel on Collins Avenue in South Beach. The kind of place everyone knew, but few stayed at. It was expensive, and about an hour away from his office. It was a last hurrah of sorts. Emily was catching on, and he had decided that he wanted to work things out with his wife as opposed to taking a leap into a relationship with a coworker who got his dick hard. Pete found himself nodding as Rick told the story.
    A year ago, if someone had asked Pete what he wanted most of all, it would have been easy—Emily. To be with her again. To make her laugh, to sit around and spend time together doing nothing. Now, he wasn’t so sure. The memories—of her stepping into that cab a few days after his father’s funeral, of the terse exchanges and distant stares that followed—still stung, but seemed a lifetime ago. He felt both grateful and sad about that.
    Rick’s plan was to have one last romantic romp with Alice, break the news to her, then propose they have a friends-with-benefits scenario, where neither of them would shoot for a relationship in the long term, but they’d still fuck from time to time.
    “Did you really think she’d go for that?”
    “Yeah, why not?” Rick said, straight-faced. “She got all the goods and none of the drama.”
    “You don’t think dating a married man involves drama?”
    “Well, I’m not sure. It sounded good at the time.”
    “What happened that night?”
    “She came to the hotel, around nine. Emily thought I was working late. I slept at the office every now and then. After Alice came to the hotel, we went to that shithole club, Purdy Lounge. You know, the one by Gibb Memorial? That park?”
    “You’re kidding me.”
    “No, no. She liked that scene. Drinking and dancing. We used to go all the time.”
    Pete looked up at the clock. It was half past midnight. The “case,” or whatever he was doing, had taken up most of the day.
    “So, we’re pretty lit up,” Rick continued. “Alice loved those kamikaze shots,