Cliffhanger (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book One)

Chapter 10

"Will you tell your friend about this?"

Belinda examined his profile. She didn't want to have to do anything, but he didn't seem to be leaving her with much choice. "I really think you should just go tell the police yourself. It could save you a lot of trouble later. If you don't, it just looks like you're hiding something." As she said it, Belinda bit her lip. It didn't look like he was hiding something, he was hiding something.

Kyle swallowed. "I'm sorry, Bels. I'm really sorry." He kissed her forehead and headed to his room.

"Does that mean you won't?" Belinda's voice echoed along with her frustration.

He didn't answer, leaving her alone in what now felt like a big, empty box. Belinda took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. Why was every pleasant moment in her life scarred like this? She would wait and try and talk some sense into him in the morning. If he still refused...well, she would try not to think about that.

Kyle avoided her in the morning, barricading himself in his bedroom. Belinda sat at the kitchen island trying to work on her to-do list for her cupcake boutique, thoughts of Kyle "making peace'" with Jeff and Bennett's gray eyes absorbing her concentration. So when the doorbell rang, Belinda wasn't at all prepared to deal with anyone.

Bennett's detective friend was outside her door with a uniformed officer behind him. Belinda's eyes shot open and all other thoughts evaporated.

"Is your brother around this morning, Ms. Kittridge?" he said.

So they were back to that. Last night, he'd called her honey, which Belinda could only guess meant something incredibly awful was about to happen. Belinda nodded and stepped aside for them to enter and then flew up the stairs to Kyle's room, banging on his door. He opened, glowering, until he saw the detective.

"Mr. Kittridge," Jonas said in his official voice, "you're under arrest for the murder of Jeff Clark."

Kyle ignored the involuntary squeak that shot out of Belinda's mouth and let them handcuff him and lead him outside without a word, refusing to even glance in Belinda's direction. She followed them out, staring blankly as the officer helped him into the back of the police car.

Belinda could only watch from a distance, feeling more helpless than she ever had, and she'd felt pretty helpless in the past.

"Do you have anyone you can call?" Jonas said with a less official tone. 

"Our parents are on a cruise."

He nodded in understanding. "Will you be okay?"

"I...I think. I'm not the type to go into hysterics if that's what you mean."

Jonas smiled. "I didn't believe so." He dug his hands in his pockets, staring at the grass. "This is entirely off record of course, but I would call Bennett if I were you." Jonas nodded to her, slipped into the passenger's side of one of the patrol cars, and ambled away. Once they were out of earshot, she could only hear the distant whining of a landscaping tool and her own heartbeat.

Before she'd opened the door to the police, Belinda had felt hurt, but now she was on the verge of a complete meltdown. Kyle had shut the door in her face, refusing to open up and tell her exactly what happened. And now this. And their parents were out of the country. Belinda had just told the detective she wouldn't go into hysterics. Well, maybe she'd lied.

Belinda stood there in a daze for a few minutes, thinking numbly whether she was actually in a dream. Deciding that was a lost cause, she plodded back into the house and up the stairs, her steps seeming to echo louder than before, and flipped open her computer. She typed in Tate Security and called Bennett.