Chapter 38

Holly stood in the darkened Solarium staring at the twinkling lights of the city below. As she sipped her whiskey, she recalled the day’s events.

Her apartment had been completely trashed, and she felt violated, as if someone had ripped open the drawers of her soul and emptied them all over the floor. Not that she had anything to hide, but the blatant invasion of her privacy had hurt and angered her. She reminded herself that the cops had thought her the murderer, so they were looking for clues to her whereabouts. It seemed bad enough to be accused of something she didn’t do, but to also suffer such an intrusion … it made her feel as though she had nothing left on this earth that was hers and hers alone.

How she wanted her brother’s dog tags. It had taken everything in her power to hang them back on the dresser. It seemed that she’d left behind the only thing she had of Billy except her memories and an old picture, but Justice had been right. They needed something to nail the guy, and the bloody dog tags would certainly do it.

However, if the man had seen her, he would most likely destroy them. Although he may have wanted to keep them for a souvenir, he most probably put himself in danger by keeping the tags. Unless he didn’t think there would be a prayer of getting caught, or maybe he simply didn’t care.

She hoped he would keep them so that when they went to the police, the cops would find the proof of her innocence. How they would explain being in the apartment and finding the damning evidence, she had no idea. However, she did know the sentence for breaking and entering would be far less than murder.

What would become of her life after all this? Would she still have a job? Could she explain to her superiors that she hadn’t gone A.W.O.L. but had literally been fighting for her freedom? Maybe Justice could help her with that. He seemed to know a lot of people up the food chain. For all she knew, he could have already talked to someone about her situation.

And what about her and Justice? What would become of them? She had feelings for him, but was the attraction because of the situation and her need for comfort, or could it be real? He’d pretty much come in and swooped her under his protective cape, so could it be possible that she was going through some type of savior complex attraction?

“Who knows,” she murmured to her refection, then took another long sip of whiskey.

The amber liquid burned the whole way down and went straight to her head.

When they’d returned back to the mansion, Justice had said he needed to make a phone call and had disappeared in his room. She’d rummaged through the refrigerator and made them roast beef sandwiches, leaving his out on the counter. That had been two hours ago. Could he be avoiding her?

As she stared down at the flickering lights of the city, she wondered what went on at their locations. Were their owners happy? Did they fight with each other? Did they laugh? Were they making love? It seemed so odd to her that they all lived on this planet, but they all resided in their own worlds, and no one’s was the same.

“That’s called the journey of life,” she said. "It can be beautiful and ugly, but a journey, nevertheless."

Sitting down on the couch, she decided she’d give Justice another half hour, then she’d go find him because she had to slake the loneliness that had cocooned her tonight.

“Are you using him to do that?” she whispered into the night, but she didn’t bother to contemplate an answer as restlessness had her on her feet again, staring out the window.