How They Got Away With Murder | Book Three

Chapter Thirteen-Part One

      Alyssa was terrified of what would go down in Bonnie's home the minute she saw Annalise's presence. It wasn't just what the woman brought up, but the fact that Laurel and Karmen were also present with the rest of the group. She wasn't completely sure how Laurel felt about Annalise, but she was confident that Karmen's hateful opinion hadn't changed. She was surprised the blonde even made an appearance.

      When she first looked at Annalise, she was shocked at what she saw. The woman's face was adorned with cuts and bruises, her eyes dark, as if something haunted her.

      Now, Alyssa stood next to the chair Connor slumped in, her eyes flickering between her professor and her best friend, who distanced herself from the others. 

      "Thank you all for coming." Annalise started off by saying. "I know you didn't have to. You could have just run off to Brazil already."

      Connor tsked. "Is that really an option?"

      Annalise brushed him off with a small smile before her face fell. "I failed. I promised to protect you all, and I didn't. I tried but...the D.A. offered Wes immunity. It would make sense to come to you next."

      "AK, come on. You know we all have your back." Asher said reassuringly. Alyssa just barely caught the sight of Karmen violently rolling her eyes.

      "We don't know that." Annalise responded, as if sensing the inner hostility from the blonde. "The D.A. really wants to take me down for this. I would imagine that anything they offered Wes would be hard to turn down."

      "Oh my god."

       Surprisingly, it was Laurel that broke first. Everyone turned to look at her as she seethed,

      "I'm sorry, did you really call us here to beg us not to tattle on you?"

      Annalise heaved a sigh. "No. And I'm sorry if it's coming off that way."

      "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

      "Laurel, please, just sit down." Michaela softly pleaded. Lately, it seemed the girl was practically Laurel's keeper. 

      Instead of listening, Laurel went on, "Why aren't we talking about going after the people who killed Wes?"

      Bonnie interjected, "We don't know who killed him."

      "He testified against Charles Mahoney a week before he died."

      "It's not that simple." Annalise shook her head. Laurel clicked her tongue.

      "It is. It is that simple. We should do something."

      "These people are dangerous."

      Laurel glared at Annalise. "So what, we're just gonna sit around and act weak and victim-y?"

      "No one's acting like a victim."

      Finally, Karmen scoffed. "You are. As much as I hate to admit it, Laurel's right. We need to find out who did this. Your little sad act isn't gonna solve anything. Now, are we done? Can we go?"

      Without waiting for an answer, both Laurel and Karmen stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind them.

      It seemed the two girls killed the conversation, as the others were let go not long after that. Connor drove her home, but stayed with her, as she told him she needed to say something. When they got inside her apartment she went off on a tangent about the night she wiped Annalise's phone. It ended with her confessing that she saved a copy of the information on it.