Till Death Do Us Part {Completed}

Chapter Sixteen - How To Catch A Killer

~Chapter Sixteen - How To Catch A Killer~

     The night before prom, Lucas and I walked into the cool, calm atmosphere of Leviche’s, our usual date spot, and he led me towards the table.

            I didn’t really expect to get much out of this date. But our time before graduation was rapidly running out, and I was all out of options. I had applied to a few colleges, but had not yet received a letter of rejection or acceptance, and I had no idea what was happening with Lucas. I should’ve felt like a horrible girlfriend, but I lacked the will to care about what Lucas thought of me. He’d killed someone—my could-be boyfriend—so the last thing on my mind was what college he’d attend. I was hoping by the time the new college year rolled around, he’d be spending it in a jail cell, not on campus.

            A constant fear lingered in the back of my mind, and no matter how hard I tried to shake it, it was always there. The fear that, once Lucas finally confessed—if he ever decided to—I’d lose Finn forever. Finn’s murder would be solved, his body was laid to rest, and he really had no other reason for being here. I knew that he deserved to move on, but I didn’t know how I was going to be able to function without him there with me anymore. It sucked. It really, really sucked.

            The waiter came over, and I barely processed what I was doing as Lucas and I ordered. Lucas initiated conversation, and I answered whatever he said with relative normalcy, but my mind was somewhere else. It was on the boy that I was going to have to say goodbye to soon. When he left my life forever.

            Lucas captured my hand in his, and his dark eyes pierced into me. “Babe, are you okay?”

            I blinked out of my reverie and swallowed. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, though my voice sounded a little constricted, even to my ears.

            He gave me a weird look, as if he didn’t believe me. “Are you sure? Because you seem a little out of it. Anything you want to tell me, Lace?”

            Anything you want to tell me, my mind retorted, but I didn’t say it out loud. Instead I tucked some of my blonde hair behind my ears and shook my head. “Nah, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

            “Ouch, sounds painful,” Lucas joked. He joked. How could he joke at a time like this? He’d killed someone. Now was not the time to play roundhouse comedian.

            I forced a laugh. It sounded a little weird, but still passable.

            Lucas cleared his throat and came closer. “You know, I have some good news,” he said, smiling at me.

            “What?” I asked, hoping it was a confession. I knew it wasn’t going to be—it certainly wouldn’t be good news on Lucas’s part—but a girl could dream, right?

            “I got into Indiana,” he said, grinning crazily.