“Don’t make this any more difficult than it has to be.”
I huff out a breath, and a tiny puff of fog dances along the light breeze. It’s getting darker and colder by the second, and my feet are going dangerously numb.
The panic has transitioned into a hyper sense of awareness, keeping me alert and ready for whatever attack I’m sure is about to come. Maybe he’ll throw me off the trail and leave me to freeze out here.
But as we walk the once familiar path, a significant change is apparent, and I realize we’re walking towards a large body of water.
This area used to have a small creek bed running through here, but this? This is a whole lake.
My mouth drops open at the sight and Kyle notices my reaction.
“You like it? I had them put it in. The perfect way to hide a corpse you don’t want found, don’t you think?”
I stare at the water in front of us, realizing the lengths he’s willing to go to just to clear his name. Dread comes over me as we amble onto a lone pier with a small boat attached to it.
“Get in the boat, Hazel. I’m going to take you to see your friend.”
CHAPTER 41
ACE
17 YEARS OLD
“What the hellare you doing here?” My brother asks as I stand in his doorway.
The scene I saw last night is still burned in my brain. Taunting me with the images of my own flesh and blood ending the life of our friend. I’d been too chicken shit to confront him, certain in the moment I wasn’t seeing what was right in front of me.
But now, in the morning light and after ruminating on my statement to the police, guilt torments my every waking thought.
For as long as I can remember, family loyalty has been drilled into my head. Blood is thicker than water and all that. But what if the blood you’re tied to is evil?
“Why did you do it?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Do what?” He’s laying down in his cot, feet crossed at the ankles and arms raised lazily above his head. How he can look so relaxed after what he did is beyond me.
Disgust sits on my chest like a brick intent on crushing the organs within. Everything I’ve known about my brother has shifted within the span of hours. He’s always been a selfish prick, but I never would have imagined him capable of murder.
“You know what the fuck I’m asking. I saw you.”
His eyes slide over to me, and the cold indifference I see there is enough to send a tendril of fear down into my core. I’m looking at a cold-blooded monster. The mask he wears is stripped bare for me to see what lays underneath, and it’s been forged in the pit of hell itself.
He stands then to his full height. At just eighteen years old, he’s already towering at an impressive 6’4 stature. I land just three inches shorter, which he never ceases to let me forget. But I’m stronger. Faster. And can easily take him in a fight if I need to.
“You don’t know what the fuck you saw, you hear me?” He says, pushing past me.
Decision made, I take off down the opposite way. It’s clear he has no remorse for what he’s done, so I’ll just have to disclose what I know to the police.
Sitting in this interrogation room again, I already know I’ve made a clear mistake. I should have known my father’s long reach would infiltrate to the police force, but naively, I thought telling the truth would have an impact. That my brother would face the repercussions of what he’s done and help clear Hazel’s name.
The thought that Hazel could be capable of harming anyone is laughable. Sweet, life of the party, Hazel. The source of my deepest obsession. I’ve studied her for months, learning her every like and dislike. Learning what makes her smile, and what makes her shut down.
It hasn’t escaped my notice how infatuated she’s been with Kyle. I’m not stupid. I know how I come off to most people. Reserved. Quiet. A lurker.
The easy manners of my brother and father never landed in my DNA. My father seems to think I take after our late mother in that sense. The way he’s said it to me always felt as if that were a disappointment, but if escaping whatever quality allows for them to cause this kind of harm, then I’m glad to have missed that particular gene.
“Now, son, I don’t want to hear any more about what you think you saw. Why don’t you head on back to your dorms and forget this whole thing ever happened.” The paunchy sheriff says, clearly wanting to get the fuck home. He’s never had to handle a case like this, and it’s already gaining statewide attention.
On the way in, news reporters lined the sidewalk, talking into their microphones and making wild speculations on what’s transpired. They’ve named Hazel as the main suspect, having some of the townspeople calling for her arrest. But with only Kyle’s testimony to go off of, they’re running on nothing but wild theories.
