Chapter 39: Chapter 39

JAMIE

I slid into the backseat of Ezra’s car, my heart pounding like a drum. I gave him the address, and though his eyebrows knitted together in confusion, he didn’t question my abrupt exit from the party.

We were supposed to spend our last night at the beach house with Harry and Eoin, partying until the wee hours of the morning. But that plan had been tainted by the chilling phone call from Carmen.

My eyes darted to my phone as we merged onto the road. There were no new messages from Carmen. I had told her I was on my way, but she knew it would take some time before I could reach her.

How long could a person sit with a corpse before they started losing their mind?

“Congratulations on your engagement, miss.” Ezra’s voice broke the silence, warm and genuine.

I looked up, managing a smile as I met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “Thank you, Ezra,” I responded, my voice wavering just a bit.

An awkward silence filled the car.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, concern seeping into his voice. Ezra knew me well enough to sense when something was wrong.

I hesitated, searching for the right words. “Sure,” I said, striving for nonchalance. “I just need to see my friend. She’s upset, and I didn’t want her to be alone.”

The truth was, I was scared out of my mind. A knot of fear twisted in my gut. I had no idea what I would find when I walked into Carmen’s apartment. All I knew was that Brent was dead. The thought of Carmen alone with his lifeless body sent a chill down my spine.

As Ezra killed the engine in front of Carmen’s building, my phone buzzed in my hand. It was a call from Mason.

“Damn it.” Panic washed over me. It was only a matter of time before he realized I was missing.

I answered the call, pressing the phone to my ear.

“Jamie, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Where are you?” Mason’s worried voice filled my ears.

“I’m with Carmen,” I replied shakily. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to tell you. I just got caught up and left.”

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

I glanced out the car window, hesitant to reply. I wanted to tell him the truth, because I knew Mason would know what to do. But I couldn’t.

“Everything is fine,” I replied. “Carmen is just a little upset. She needs me right now. I’m going to stay with her for the night to make sure she’s okay. See you at home tomorrow?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t argue.

Mason let out a sigh, clearly disappointed but understanding. “All right, if that’s what you want. I’ll see you when I get home.”

“Okay,” I said, my voice soft. “I love you, Mason.”

“I love you too,” he replied, and I ended the call. My heart was racing. I knew I had made the right decision in not involving him, but the guilt was hard to shake. We were newly engaged and I was already lying to him. Not a great start.

The anticipation was almost unbearable. My heart pounded in my chest as I raised my hand to knock on Carmen’s front door. The fear inside me was at a fever pitch. I felt like I was standing on a giant vibrating machine, my body unable to relax.

Finally, the front door opened, revealing a familiar face. But it wasn’t Carmen. Confusion washed over me as I saw Ethan standing in the doorway.

“Ethan…,” I whispered.

“Come in,” he said, his expression serious. He held the door open for me, allowing me to enter the apartment, then closed it behind us.

Ethan lowered his voice. “Carmen called me an hour ago. This is bad, Jamie.”

His words hung in the air, echoing Carmen’s after that phone call. We walked down the hallway toward the living room, the silence between us thick and heavy.

Despite the two-hour drive, I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. It was clear there had been a struggle. As I stepped into the kitchen, the first thing that hit me was the chaos. Kitchen stools were overturned, and random items were scattered all over the floor.

My heart was hammering in my chest as I swiveled toward the living room. The first thing that seized my attention was Brent, sprawled lifelessly on the floor, a chilling sight that froze me in my tracks. Then, a soft whimper reached my ears and I followed the sound.

Carmen was huddled in the corner, her back pressed against the wall, her hands hiding her face as she wept quietly.

“Carmen!” I called her name, crossing the room to her. I crouched down next to her, pulling her gently into an embrace. Her body shook, her tears soaking through my black dress.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I thought he was going to kill me,” Carmen’s voice was muffled against my shoulder. “Everything happened so fast, I had no other choice.”

“It’s okay,” I soothed, stroking her hair. “I’m here.”

As I comforted Carmen, my gaze drifted to the floor near Brent’s body. A bottle of scotch lay on its side, its contents staining the hardwood.

He was drunk when he showed up tonight. It was obvious he had an alcohol problem. The last two times I’d seen him, the stench of booze was unmistakable.

“I’ll be back in a minute, okay?” I said. I stood up to find Ethan. He was by the door, his face ashen, his eyes filled with worry.

I stopped in front of him, placing a comforting hand on his arm. “Did she say anything about what happened?” I whispered, my heart twisting at the sound of Carmen’s soft sobs.

Ethan shrugged. “Not much,” he said. “All I got from her was that he was hurting her, she panicked and hit him.”

“We should call the cops,” I suggested.

“And say what?” Ethan’s voice was doubtful. “Brent’s dead, his skull’s bashed in. They won’t see this as an accident. She’ll get life.”

I tried to stay calm, but my heart was racing. “Everything here points to a struggle,” I reasoned. “It was self-defense. Wouldn’t his drunkenness count for something?”

Ethan shook his head. “They could twist it against her, like she took advantage of his drunken state. I’ve seen enough crime shows to know how this works.”

He sighed, looking at Carmen with pity. “She won’t come out of this unscathed.” My heart dropped. I didn’t want him to be right. The thought of Carmen being charged with murder filled me with dread.

“So, what do we do?” I asked.

“We get rid of the body.” Carmen’s voice was steady.

We turned to look at her as she approached, wiping her tears. “Ethan’s right, they won’t see this as self-defense,” she said. “I’ll be blamed for this, his family will ensure it.”

“You’re serious?” I asked, my voice trembling.

Carmen nodded. “I killed him, Jamie. He was forcing himself on me and I did what I had to do.”

She glanced at Brent. “He left me no choice.”

“But won’t someone know he was here tonight? The CCTV?”

“The building doesn’t have CCTV. The landlord’s a cheapskate, he told me himself,” she said, looking at Brent again. “No one knew he was coming here tonight. He didn’t want anyone to know…because he had his own plans.”

The thought of burying Brent’s body was unthinkable. I’d never even seen a dead body before, let alone bury one.

But the situation was right in front of me, and I had no choice. I was going to help my best friend bury this body, so she wouldn’t spend her life in jail.

I’d deal with the guilt later. “Okay…,” I said, exhaling. “I’m in.”

The idea of moving Brent’s body was both horrifying and necessary. We stood in the living room, staring at his lifeless form, a strange mix of revulsion and pity washing over us.

Ethan and Sara’s home renovation project was a stroke of luck for us. Ethan had plastic sheeting in the trunk of his car, intended to protect his floors from paint splatters in the coming days.

He’d already spread a large sheet of plastic in the hallway. We decided to use this spot to wrap Brent’s body, as it was clean and devoid of any evidence.

“We need to move him to the hallway and clean up before we leave,” Ethan suggested, sounding steady despite the grim task at hand.

Carmen and I nodded in agreement. We bent down to lift the body.

“On two. One, two…,” Ethan counted, and together we hoisted Brent’s body.

He was heavier than I’d anticipated, a testament to his gym dedication and physical upkeep, something he always bragged about.

“Wow, he’s heavy,” Carmen grunted, her voice strained as she struggled to hold up her end.

Carmen had his legs, while Ethan and I managed his arms, maneuvering him through the doorway into the hallway.

I tried to avoid looking at Brent as we carried him, but my eyes were inevitably drawn to his lifeless face.

As we turned the corner, his head accidentally bumped against the doorframe. I glanced down at him and my stomach churned as blood trickled down my leg. “Ew…,” I murmured.

We gently laid him on the plastic, the hallway descending into a heavy silence. The only sound was our ragged breathing.

I couldn’t believe what we were doing.

Seeing Brent’s lifeless body sprawled on the plastic was horrifying. His face was pale and waxy, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

The realization that we were about to bury him was almost too much to bear.

After covering Brent’s body, Carmen and I cleaned the living room while Ethan moved his car closer to the back entrance.

Carmen and I knelt on the cold hardwood, scrubbing the floor furiously. Our muscles ached, and our minds were filled with the implications of our actions.

“This isn’t how I imagined spending my night,” Carmen whispered.

“Me neither,” I replied, rinsing my scrubbing brush in the bucket before continuing.

“I didn’t want this to happen.” Carmen’s voice trembled. “Brent had already taken so much from me…and now he’s going to take my future too.”

“We won’t let anything happen to you,” I reassured her softly.

I understood her fear. We were all scared.

Carmen stopped scrubbing and sat on the hardwood floor, her body shaking. “But we’ll still have to live with this… We all will. I dragged you and Ethan into this, you’re accessories. You’ll go to jail too, Jamie.”

A lump formed in my throat. I’d already lost years of my life, time with my daughter, and with Mason.

The thought of losing more was unbearable.

Carmen was right. If we were caught, I’d go down too. More years of my life would be stolen.

But there was no turning back now. I wouldn’t let Carmen take the fall for this, not after everything she’d already endured because of him.

“Ethan and I made our choice. We’re with you on this,” I said, squeezing her hand gently. “We’re going to do this, and we’re going to do it right.”

Carmen nodded, her gaze falling to our intertwined hands.

It was then that she noticed the large diamond on my ring finger. “He proposed,” she whispered.

“Last night,” I confirmed. “I was going to tell you at the party.”

Carmen nodded understandingly. “I’m so happy for you,” she said, managing a weak smile.

Despite the circumstances, I found myself smiling back.

Ethan cleared his throat, breaking the moment. “Let’s get this over with,” he said. We turned to face him, our hearts pounding.

Like Ethan, I wanted to finish this as quickly as possible. The thought of lifting Brent’s body again sent chills down my spine.

But I knew what had to be done.