“He was terrified. He told me what happened, and he said he didn’t know what to do.”
“You told me to calm down,” Gabriel said. “You told me?—”
“I told you I’d find a way to get to you, and I snuck out of the house and met you at the cabin.”
Foley straightened.
Whitlock’s jaw tightened.
“It was all my idea,” Brianne continued.
“Brianne, don’t,” Gabriel said.
“It’s all over now,” she said. “It doesn’t matter.”
I crossed my arms and leaned against the counter. “What was your idea?”
“I told him not to go to the police.”
“Why not?”
“He was drunk. I didn’t think they’d believe it was an accident. I thought if he confessed, they might not believe him, and it would ruin his life.”
“You said—” his voice cracked. “You said burying her was my only option.”
“I said it would protect you,” she replied. “And it did, until now.”
I turned toward Gabriel. “You may not have murdered Anne, but you had a chance to do the right thing, and you didn’t. You did what Brianne suggested, and you buried Anne in that dilapidated cabin. And you lived with that.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.”
I shifted my gaze to Brianne. “And you. Audrey came to you because she trusted you, and I’m guessing she suspected someone in the friend group killed Anne, but she never expected it to be you. And you rewarded that trust by taking her life.”
Brianne swallowed. “She knew enough to be dangerous. Once she went to the police, once they reopened the investigation, I was sure they’d find a way to trace her back to Gabriel, forensics being what they are nowadays.”
“You should have told me,” Gabriel said. “I would never have allowed you to go through with your plan.”
“That’s the reason I didn’t.”
“All this time, you’ve been mourning Audrey, acting as though her death struck you as hard as it did her own mother,” I said. “It’s disgusting.”
Hands trembling, Gabriel faced his wife. “You destroyed us. You destroyed our family.”
“Don’t blame me,” Brianne said. “If you hadn’t taken Anne into the woods that night, none of this would be happening.”
Foley stepped forward. “I believe we’ve heard enough. Gabriel and Brianne, you’re coming with us.”
They didn’t flinch or resist or hesitate.
Whitlock read them their rights and took them into custody, and as the door closed behind them, my thoughts turned to Talia and the truths that had been exposed at long last.
41
I ascended the stairs, each step seeming heavier and more difficult than the one before it. Talia’s door was shut when I reached it.
I knocked, saying, “It’s Georgiana.”
“Are you alone?”
