Murder Mystery - H.S

5

"Protect you from what?" Andrea shuffles a laugh.

"Supposedly, whoever killed my mother is coming after us yet again."

"What?"

"Not a big deal; I mean, I don't even live at home. If anything, my father and Zayn should be more watchful."

"Juliet, that's a big deal; your mom's murder remains a murder mystery; you need to be careful."

"You sound like my brother." I rolled my eyes, "It's been almost eight years. I think that Mom's death was just a coincidence."

"I'm just looking out for you, and I'm sure it's all done out of love, you know?"

"Perhaps, but why him? After all, Zayn is my brother, and he is the one who should be keeping an eye on me rather than some random person who accused me of stealing and crashing into my car, and mind you Zayn knows this."

" Zayn knows what that man did?"

" Well, Zayn found out at the dinner but it was like he didn't believe anything I said."

" He works for your dads' cartel?"

"No, not that I'm aware of, although he undoubtedly works in illegal activity; I believe he has his own, but I'm not sure."

"Perhaps moving into his apartment won't be entirely bad." I gulped down my drink and shrugged.

"I like my apartment plus, it'll be harder for me to go to work—oh, that reminds me they wanted me to switch jobs like it didn't take me forever to already get a job at this hospital."

"Well, it does seem a little unfair, but JJ, your safety is important, and, you know, what happened to your mom was, um... horrible, something no human deserves—"

" I know." I cut her off. " Doesn't mean I deserve to die like my mother just because I'm not following any rules-- doesn't mean I will die like her."

" Nobody said that Juliet. Of course, you don't. She didn't deserve that and nobody deserves that."

" Right." I looked down at my bowl of fruit my appetite now gone thinking about that night. December 8th, 2023 "Can we please not talk about my mom?" Silence.

" Right. Of course, I'm sorry, are you okay JJ? Didn't mean to remind you."

" Yeah, I'm fine. Call me later. I'm cooking pasta."

It was a lie.

I was a horrible cook.

"Mhm, my favorite, maybe I'll take that offer and go over it. See seeing you later; take care,"

"Bye, bye." I pick up my wine glass and walk towards my living room after hanging up the phone. I'm humming to myself as I turn on the light, and a dark figure in the corner of my eye catches my attention.

A yell escapes my lips, the glass cup falling from my fingertip and shattering all over the floor, with glass shards hitting my skin. "What the fuck?" I pause and look down at the shambles I've made on my carpet.

"Fuck. Fuck—what are you? " I turned around and put my hand over my face. "You can't sneak up on people like that." I covered my face sucking in a breath, my throat tightening up on me.

"You certainly enjoy talking about things you shouldn't have."

I ignore him and concentrate on my breathing. I shut my eyes tightly. "You don't sneak up on a woman like that," I mumbled through sharp breaths that made my chest hurt. I groaned and rose to my feet again; everything around me was dizzy, and my head was lightheaded.