The Miami Diaries Book 1

Chapter 3

T/W: Mentions death and and wanting to die.

***

Steve

This woman thinks I'm...Tim. I suppose she must be the one.

"I..I'm sorry. I..I thought..." Her voice trails off as she looks away.

"And you are?" I ask gently.

"Lex Graham. Speed is, I mean, was, my...fiancé."

"Oh, shit," I say. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks." Lex still isn't looking at me. I don't know if it's because she's embarrassed or because I look too much like my...brother.

"You look a lot like him," Lex says, as if she'd read my mind. Since she's not looking directly at me, I study her. She's beautiful. She has long dark hair, blue gray eyes and has a slender physique. She's not overly tall, maybe five-five or five-six. I wonder if I should offer her a ride to the church.

"Would you like a ride to the church?" I ask. Lex finally looks at me and nods.

"Thank you." I step closer to her, wanting to take her hand, but decide against it. We walk in silence to my truck. I unlock the passenger side door, open it up and assist Lex inside. She thanks me again. I smile and close the door, hurrying over to the driver's side.

"You sure you want to come with me?" I ask. "I am some strange guy. For all you know, I could kill you."

I mean it as a joke and Lex's lips twitch into a tiny, forced smile before she turns stoic again.

"To be honest," she says. "The way I feel, I wouldn't care. At least I'd be with..Speed again."

***

"I think I remember Speed mentioning you."

"I wasn't sure if you...knew," I say. "We, uh, had some...issues several years back." Lex nods.

"Do-do you know what-happened to your brother?"

"Yeah."

"Who told you?"

"My mom called me. I'm not sure who told her," I say. Lex's face tightens.

"Probably Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Speed's...boss." We've reached the church and I pull into the parking lot, find a place to park and cut the engine.

"You don't like him," I say to Lex as I unbuckle myself.

"It's his fault that Speed's...gone." The venom in Lex's tone surprises me. I know she's grieving, and she probably feels like she has to find somewhere to send her anger, but still...

"How do you figure?" I ask.

"He was with Speed when it happened."

"I'm sure Horatio Caine did everything he could," I say softly.

"You're entitled to your opinion." Lex open up her door and climbs out. I quickly follow her.

"Steve?"

"Can-can we walk in together?" I wordlessly hold out my hand to Lex and surprisingly, she accepts it.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

***

Lex

I cannot wait to escape this crap. So many people have come up to me, telling me how sorry they are. Including...Horatio. He's only told me how sorry he was ten times already. So help me; if tells me that one more time, I'm going to kick his perfect teeth in.