Read Online Rough Edges by Shannon K. Butcher - Free Book Online Page A

looked him in the eye. “Aren’t you?”
    â€œI’m fine,” came out automatically.
    It was then that she realized she wasn’t fine. She was barely inside her own skin. Most of her had retreated to that safe place she used to go when Dad would lay into her. And later, Dan. Nothing could hurt her there.
    She hadn’t been to this place for years, but she recognized the soft, warm walls now. How much time had she spent curled up here? How many years had this been her home?
    A burst of hot rage sliced through the fog, burning some of it off.
    Fuck that place. She didn’t need it anymore. She was strong. Solid. Safe.
    Because she’d
made
herself safe.
    Bella forced herself to look at Chuck’s body. There were three holes in the back of his shirt. Now that he was facedown, she could see a puckered scar at the base of his skull—the mark left behind by the experimental implants Stynger had surgically inserted in too many men in an effort to control them. And if they couldn’t be controlled, the poison housed inside the implants would kill them so they couldn’t rat her out.
    A team of scientists and engineers had been working on stopping and reversing the effects, but so far hadn’t had any luck.
    â€œHe’s one of Stynger’s,” she said.
    Victor nodded and shared a look with Payton she couldn’t translate. All she knew was that it was full of concern. “We saw that. Do you not remember us talking about it a second ago?”
    She didn’t, but years of spinning lies had given her the skills she needed to do so now. “I remember. I’m just a bit distracted by the dead man in my office.”
    â€œOne of the lawyers will be here soon,” Payton said. “Bella, you should limit your statement to the police until you’re feeling like yourself again.”
    â€œI know what I’m doing,” she said. “I don’t need your advice.”
    â€œThen take mine,” Victor said. “Play the scared-victim card until the lawyer arrives. I’d really rather not spend more time in jail than I need to.”
    Victor in jail? That didn’t seem right. All he’d done was stop a man from killing her.
    Sirens grew louder outside. A couple of minutes later, police and paramedics arrived on the scene. She and Victor both gave their statements. When they came back for another round of questioning, she grudgingly took Payton’s advice and told them she was too rattled to talk about it more—they could speak to her lawyer.
    â€œYou’re going to need some stitches,” said one of the paramedics. He was crouched at her feet. He’d cut away the bottom half of her yoga pants and she hadn’t even realized it had happened.
    She looked down and saw the cuts across her calves. As if her acknowledgment of the wound triggered something in her brain, she finally felt the sting of the injury. Strangely, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do about the problem, though she knew she
should
know.
    Payton must have seen her distress. He stepped forward and addressed the paramedic. “Dr. Vaughn is on her way. If there are no serious injuries, she can handle things from here.”
    â€œShe should go to the hospital,” said the young man at her feet.
    â€œNo,” Bella said, too fast and loud. Her denial sounded desperate even to her own ears. “No hospitals.”
    She’d spent enough time in them already. A few little cuts weren’t going to send her back.
    â€œYou’ll have to sign some paperwork if you’re refusing to let us take you in.”
    Bella held out her hand. “Give me a pen.”
    As she finished scrawling her name and looked up, she saw one of the officers handcuff Victor and escort him out.
    Fury exploded in her gut, clearing her foggy head for a second. “You can’t arrest him,” she said. “He saved my life.”
    The lawyer shot her a