Two Can Keep A Secret

Chapter 7

I blinked.

I blinked some more.

"What?"

Reina glanced out the window before looking back at me.

Slowly and with exaggerated pronunciation, Reina repeated, "I think Colt was murdered."

I was still frozen in shock. Wasn't it just a few hours ago that my classmates had joked about that same possibility?

Reina stomped her foot impatiently. "We're wasting time! Let's go!"

With shaking hands, I gripped the steering wheel. The ride to Colt's house was slow and silent. When we pulled into Colt's driveway, I was shocked at how empty it was. In the driveway, there were two cars packed, one of them was a police car, the other a shiny silver BMW. Reina's mouth tightened when she spotted the expensive car. As soon as the car slowed down, she hopped out and when I had finished parking, I followed. The door was slightly open so we pushed through. So much bright yellow police tape surrounded the scene that I was afraid to even take a step. Reina's eyes stayed focused on a particular section of the shiny hardwood floor. She remained still and I began to get worried.

"I didn't know Colt was rich," I commented, trying to ease the tension. I looked around at the beautiful house. Unlike Jack's house which screamed expensive to any innocent bystander, Colt's house was subtly dripping of money in the form of handcrafted furniture, velvety-looking dark leather, and delicately shaped warm golden lights.

Colt's former house.

Reina laughed bitterly, snapped out of her trance, "Trust me, he didn't know either."

We continued to walk through the house until we finally bumped into a bored looking police officer with a notepad in hand talking to an irritated man dressed in a neat suit. As soon as he caught sight of us, his face hardened even more.

"Get out of my house!" He yelled at Reina.

When her eyes widened dramatically, I knew Reina was up to no good. "You still live here? The last time I saw you was six months ago when me and Colt walked in on you and-"

"Shut up!" He hissed violently, "Leave this house now."

Reina glanced at me and took note of my confused expression.

"Alyssa, let me introduce you to Colt's father: Henry Werth Dean. Honestly, though, he's not important in this visit. I wonder why they even allowed him to enter the house."

"You think Colt told the water bill, electricity bill to fuck off and they just disappeared? I paid the bills, Reina, and more importantly, I own this house!"

"If you say so," Reina shrugged, before turning to the police officer. "What news have you discovered on the Colt case?"

"Colt case? There is no case. We're just performing a standard private counsel with the immediate family of the deceased," the officer answered smoothly. I almost laughed at his attempt to cover up his alarm at Reina's statement.

"That's a lie," I slipped into the conversation, "You've moved the body and while you may not have done an autopsy, you obviously suspect foul play. Why else would you cover the place in police tape as not to disturb the scene of the crime? Also when we walked in, you didn't seem to be having a private counsel with Mr. Dean. Also, usually private counsels after a death with no interest to the police station are given by an actual medical practitioner. So let me repeat, what news have you discovered on Colt's murder?"

The police officer blinked, unfazed. Reina's eyes sparked with mischevious interest.

"Nice going, Nancy Drew," she smirked.