Chapter 5

The small dog lay on the floor at my feet, its body still warm. A tiny, final whimper escaped its lips, and then it was gone.

My body froze. I couldn' t move, couldn' t breathe. And then I saw it.

Hanging from the dog' s jeweled collar, tarnished and dirt-caked, was my father' s Distinguished Service Medal. The highest honor an NYPD detective could receive. The one he was awarded posthumously. The one I kept in a locked box by my bed.

She had used it as a dog tag.

"Give it to me," I whispered, my voice shaking with a rage so profound it felt like it would split me in two.

Krystal clutched the dead dog to her chest and stumbled into Jaxon' s arms, sobbing hysterically. He held her, murmuring words of comfort, his eyes on me, cold and hard.

"What happened, Alina?" he demanded.

My head was buzzing. "I don' t know."

"You liar!" Krystal screamed. She threw a small pill bottle onto the table. It was my medication. The "vitamins" Jaxon had been giving me. "I found this in his water bowl! You poisoned him because you were mad about the dog bite!"

"I didn' t!" I denied, my voice cracking. "I would never... Just give me the medal. Please."

I reached for it. Jaxon' s hand shot out, grabbing my wrist. His grip was like iron.

"Apologize to her, Alina," he said, his voice dangerously low.

I stared at him, and then I started to laugh. A wild, unhinged sound that made people at the surrounding tables stare.

"She' s a monster," I heard someone whisper.

"I didn' t do it," I said, my voice eerily calm. "And I will not apologize. Now, tell your wife to give me my father' s medal."

I looked him straight in the eye. "Or did you use my father' s memory to play fetch, too?"

For the first time, Jaxon looked shaken. He glanced down and saw the medal. His face paled. "Krystal, what is this?"

She flinched. With trembling fingers, she unclipped the medal from the collar. "It' s just a piece of tin," she sneered, holding it out to me. "I don' t know why you' re so worked up over this cheap thing."

I reached for it. She opened her hand. The medal fell, arcing through the air, and landed with a soft splash in the river that flowed beside the restaurant' s terrace.

"Oops," Krystal said, her eyes wide with fake innocence.

The world went silent. My mind went blank. Without a second thought, I scrambled over the railing and jumped into the dark, freezing water.

The cold was a shock, stealing my breath. I dove again and again, my fingers scraping against the muddy riverbed, searching blindly. I was about to give up, my lungs screaming for air, when my fingers brushed against something cold and metallic.

I resurfaced, gasping, the medal clutched in my hand. On the terrace, Jaxon wasn' t looking at me. He was holding Krystal, pointing up at the sky.

"Did you see it, honey?" he was saying, his voice soft. "I made it snow meteors, just for you."

Krystal' s sobs turned into a delighted gasp.

The meteor shower wasn' t for me. It was for her. His grand romantic gesture was for his wife.

I thought I had no heart left to break, but I was wrong. The pain was a physical thing, a crushing weight that made it hard to breathe. I regretted ever loving him. I regretted ever meeting him. This was his birthday gift to me. A final, public humiliation.

He finally seemed to remember I existed. He rushed to the railing, his face a mess of confusion and guilt. "Alina, are you okay? Let me get you to a hospital."

I pulled myself onto the bank, shivering, my clothes soaked and heavy. I managed a weak smile. My voice was a raw rasp. "Tell me, Jaxon. Am I, and my dead father' s memory, worth less to you than that dog?"