“Tell her.” Easton nods toward Valencia.
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“Come on, Dad. It was your idea to take him out to the fort. I was ten years old, I couldn’t move a body all by myself.” Easton spins around to grin at me. “Who do you think helped me?”
Forty-Nine
Valencia finally looks up, her face wet with sweat and tears. Marcus’s eyes are wide and he shakes his head, but he looks terrified. Like he got caught in a lie.
“Marcus?” It’s all Valencia can say.
“No,” Marcus says. “He’s lying, don’t believe him.”
“Oh, come on, Dad, we’re all being honest today. Tell your wife the truth.”
“You helped him?” I ask.
Despite thinking this myself, it still feels like a shock. I really hoped Easton might have done it himself. He’s so sure and calculated, it felt obvious that he was the only one who could do all this. I didn’t want it to be true that one of his parents knew. But Marcus helped him all along. And he’s been lying about it.
“Stop!” Marcus says. “Valencia, you know I would never hurt our children.”
“No, Dad, you didn’t hurt him.Idid. You just sat there and cried and said I’d ruined my future and how could I be so stupid. Then you slapped me and said you’d help me hide him so no one would ever find out.”
“Stop it!” Marcus screams.
But Easton’s voice remains calm and cool. “Then you helped me row him out to the island.”
“Shut up! Stop it! Stop it stop itstop it!”
“Oh, Marcus.” Valencia sounds heartbroken.
“And then I told JT the story you made up so the police would know I had an alibi. The one you coached me to tell—you were a way better coach at that than you were at soccer, by the way.”
“You’re a fucking liar!” Marcus screams.
But I’m not sure who to believe. Easton isn’t the kind of person who would give credit to someone if he did it himself. He’d relish how smart he is, and how capable.
Easton tsks and shakes his head. He stands over Marcus, looking down at him. “You know, Dad, I was really hoping this would bring us all closer together. That the truth would set us free and all that bullshit. But I guess not.”
“You’re a liar! Don’t believe him, Valencia. It’s not true.” Marcus’s eyes are almost as red as his face, and he looks like he’s about to cry.
“Do you believe him, Mom?” Easton turns his attention back to her.
Valencia looks at Marcus with fear and confusion, her face wet with tears and sweat.
“I would never,” he says quietly. A sob racks his body. “I would never hurt our boys. Please believe me,” he pleads. Tears slide down his face. “I missed him, too. So, so much.” His face contorts in agony as he sobs.
“Marcus,” Valencia says.
Snot drips from his nose as he looks up at his wife.
“Well.” Easton sighs.
Then he jams the ice pick into Marcus’s left side. I cry out in shock. Valencia screams as Marcus gasps. Easton holds the ice pick there.
“I was hoping to send you on to the next world with a clear conscience, but...” He pulls out the ice pick and blood trickles down Marcus’s side.
Marcus coughs up more blood as he looks to Valencia. “I... never...” He shakes his head.
