I glanced at Christy and our eyes met.
“Jealousy can make a person do terrible things,” Christy said.
“I didn’t do it!” she cried.
My phone vibrated again, and I glanced at it. There was a text from Ethan.
“I can’t believe you killed your cousin,” Christy said, shaking her head. “Who would do something like that? You’re a monster!”
“Get out of this apartment!” Brittany screamed. “Get out or I—” she said and then stopped. “Just get out! You’re a liar! You’re both liars!”
While Christy was talking to her, I checked my text.
Mia, we arrested Sam. He was the last one who saw Suzanne alive. I won’t be able to make our dinner date.
I texted him back. Brittany just admitted she killed Suzanne. You need to come to apartment fifteen at Creekside apartments.
While I was texting, Brittany picked up a tennis racket and took a swing at Christy. I reached across and grabbed the racket before it hit her. “Hitting people with tennis rackets is rude.”
“Both of you get out of here!” she screamed. “I’ll kill you if you don’t get out of here!”
“Christy, let’s go.”
We left in a hurry and when we got around the corner, I called Ethan.
Chapter Twenty
It was Christmas Eve and the lights on my Christmas tree twinkled in the dark. I had a fire burning and Ethan and I sat with Boo and Licorice in our laps. We had just watched A Charlie Brown Christmas for the second time this season and my head was on his shoulder.
“So she killed her cousin over a boyfriend. Not even a boyfriend, really, just someone they both had a crush on.”
“Looks that way. I knew the two of them hated each other in high school, but I didn’t think it would come to this.”
I sat up and looked at him. “No one would have thought it would come to this. She kept saying how close she was to Suzanne. What a liar.”
He nodded. “It’s amazing that a killer would lie like that.” He chuckled.
I rolled my eyes. “Why did she choose that night? And how did she get the lock off of the carousel gate?”
“She claims she didn't break the lock off the carousel gate. She said it was open. I think the reason she killed her that night was just opportunity. Suzanne had hung around late, talking to Sam, but Sam left before she did. He left the lights on, and even though he said he locked up the carousel, Suzanne was able to get inside.”
“So Brittany just followed her in there?"
He nodded. “She did. And when she realized they were all alone, she stabbed Suzanne. She claimed she didn’t mean to do it, but they had gotten into an argument over Sam. She said she always carried a knife, just in case.”
“Just in case she wanted to kill someone?” I asked. “Sounds premeditated to me.”
He nodded. “She’s sticking to her story about always carrying it. When they argued over Sam, she said she got angry and killed her on accident.”
I took a sip of my hot cocoa. “Accidentally killed her by stabbing her in the chest. Right.”
“Accidents happen,” he teased.
“It’s just sad, isn’t it? Killing somebody over a man is a terrible reason to commit murder. A man that neither of them was even with.”
“Any reason is a terrible reason to commit murder,” Ethan said.
I chuckled. “I guess you’ve got a point there. Should we watch A Charlie Brown Christmas again?”
He put his arm around me and pulled me close and kissed me. “No, why don’t we skip watching another television show.”
“What did you have in mind?” I asked.
He set his cocoa on the coffee table and removed Licorice from where she was snuggled up in his lap. Next, he got down on one knee in front of me and I gasped.
“This isn’t what I think it is, is it?”
He grinned and pulled a small box from his pocket. “This is exactly what you think it is,” he said and opened up the box. There was a solitaire diamond ring with a white gold band in the box.
I felt tears come to my eyes. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. Are you sure?”
I nodded as tears coursed down my face. “Of course I’m sure. Why wouldn’t I be sure?”
He chuckled. “Mia Jordan, will you marry me?”
“Of course I’ll marry you,” I said. “But Ethan, we can wait if you want to.”
His eyes went wide. “Wait? Wait for what? We’re not getting any younger, you know. Amanda and Brian have a head start on us and they’re going to have a baby. Our kid is going to be so much younger than there’s that they won’t be in the same class together.”
A baby? “Wait a minute, we’re going too fast. You’re not marrying me just because you want our kid to be in the same class with their kid, are you?”
He chuckled. “Of course not. I just want to be with you. Do you want a kid?”
“Of course I do,” I said. “I don’t know when though. I told Amanda that if we did get married anytime soon, they were just going to have to have a second kid at the same time we have our first so they can be in school together.”
“I hadn’t thought of that idea,” he said. “What do you say? Will you marry me?”
I nodded. “Of course I’ll marry you.” I leaned over and kissed him. This was going to make the leather jacket I had bought him pale in comparison. I’d have to find a way to make it up to him.
I wasn’t sure where life would take us, but as long as we were
