Freakshow

Chapter Nineteen

"Liv," Cairo yelled as I broke away, running for my trailer. My emotions were all over the place and I couldn't get the image of my dead friend's broken body clutching Cai's phone out of my head.

All along I'd suspected he knew more about Cara's disappearance than he'd let on. How could I have been so stupid?

I got to the trailer and fumbled for my keys. My hands were shaking when I tried to open the door, but the key didn't seem to work.

"Liv!" Rose said right behind me. I jumped and dropped the keys and started to cry. "Oh my God," Rose continued, "I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?"

"That was his phone," I said and handed the keys to Rose. Rose opened the door and we went inside. I had to busy myself, so I wiped my tears and plugged the kettle in for tea. "That was Cairo's phone. You saw that, right? In her hand. She was so broken, so small..." My voice trailed off and I started to cry again. Just slow, hot tears leaking down my face, but I couldn't help myself.

"I know," Rose said in a quiet voice, "but we have to go back there. We can't hide out in here drinking tea like nothing happened. We'll have to talk to the cops, ID the body, that kind of thing."

"Should I tell them it's his phone? Should I tell them I fucked him last night? Rose, what do I do?"

"Security called 911, the police will be here any minute. We have to go back there Liv, get your head together."

"But it was his phone, and she was torn apart. Did he do it?"

"That's a question you'll have to answer, but we need to go."

Rose was right, as much as I wanted to react with my usual pattern of behaviour, stick my head in the sand, retreat into a cozy cave of denial, I had to face this head on. There were legal implications, as well as the danger it posed to my heart and my emotional well-being.

"Right," I replied, "okay, we can do this. I got this."

* * *

There were several police present when we got back to Cara's body. Cairo was standing with a small group of them, three officers who appeared to be asking him questions. He stood a good head taller than all of them and the quick motion of his hands as he answered them betrayed his anxiety.

I hoped he was upset over Cara's death, not over getting caught for it. I stood with Rose and watched them put a white sheet over Cara's body. Crime scene technicians were holding her hands up wiping them with cotton swabs, taking samples.

Surely if Cai had been involved, they would find out through DNA on Cara's body. I told myself that there could be no way somebody would get away with a murder like this, especially in such a small community with today's advances in science.

They would be caught, and I prayed it wouldn't be Cairo.

"This all feels like a nightmare," Rose whispered to me.

"What should we do?" I asked, "I don't know who to talk to."

I looked over at Cairo again, he appeared less agitated and glanced in my direction. When he caught my eye, he tried to give me a small smile, but it turned out more of a lopsided grimace.

"I told you he was dangerous," Orion said over my shoulder.

"Cairo? Your own son? He didn't do this," I said, surprised at how vehemently I defended him when it was somebody else doing the accusation.

"Can you be so sure?" Orion asked, his voice stretched into a sly implication.

"I am sure, you sick fucking bastard," I whispered back, not wanting to attract attention to us.