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“I knew Landon played some online games,” Geneva said. “Or he used to. From when he was about eleven or twelve. I didn’t know he kept up with it. I didn’t know he was so immersed in it. He never talked about it. I mean, he was just normal. He had two jobs by the time he was fourteen. He worked on a landscaping crew and at the farm store. He had friends. He played baseball.”

She grew quiet, staring off into space. Then Geneva picked up the thread of her story. “He tied me up in the barn and left me there. The next thing I knew, he was choking the life out of me. And then ... and then the wall caved in. And there you both were with that gun.”

“Gun?” Mac said, glaring at my father. “Tom ...”

I had the same reaction. I hadn’t yet had the chance to ask my dad about it.

“Relax, you two,” Dad said. “It wasn’t loaded.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but clamped it shut.

Dad stood behind me, resting his hand on my shoulder. He let out a bitter laugh. “Four thousand pounds of American-made steel versus two thin layers of corrugated sheet metal. No contest at all. Lord Almighty, that’s a damn good car.”

Chapter

Thirty-Seven

Geneva spent the next week recuperating at our house on the island. She said she could never go back to the house she grew up in. Even if she’d wanted to, the place was currently overrun with law enforcement as they executed search warrants in every aspect of it. Landon himself was all too eager to claim the spotlight he felt he’d been denied for the past decade.

He confessed to everything, corroborating the incredible story Geneva shared in the hospital. Just before his sixteenth birthday, Landon felt a connection when he heard Derrek Sidney’s story. He felt he’d been called to continue Derrek’s legacy after his capture. When Geneva and her friends settled on the plans for their weekend getaway, Landon thought it was fate. It turned out Landon had already been inside the house and knew the layout. The landscaping crew he worked for two summers before had a job out there and had been allowed to use the bathrooms. Art Drummond, the owner, had no recollection of it.

So far, there’d been no evidence linking him to any other murders either before or after Deadwater Lake.

“You sure I can’t drive you to the airport?” I asked Geneva. It had only been eight days since her own brother tried to kill her for the second time. Medically cleared, she wanted to leave Helene and never look back.

“I’d rather say our goodbyes here,” she said. “Thank you for everything, Mercy. I would literally be dead without you.”

Yesterday, I went to her house and packed the things she asked me to. It fit into a single carry-on.

“Have you decided where you’re headed?” I asked.

“I still have friends just outside of Chicago. They’ve offered to let me stay with them for a couple of weeks until I figure out my next step. I’ve got a lead on a better job. It would be remote, handling social media marketing for a group of health clinics. It’s not glamorous, but the pay’s not bad. It’ll give me time to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.”

“You know if you need anything,” Dad said, “you just call.” He sat in the kitchen, sipping his coffee. Yesterday, he’d offered Geneva a job here. We were still in need of an office manager. The gesture made Geneva cry, but she just couldn’t bring herself to stay.

I understood.

“Are you going to see your dad before you go?” I asked.

It had been a sensitive subject. Kevin finally admitted to his daughter how he’d deceived her about his recovery. The truth was just one more tragedy in the life of Geneva Bell. Kevin didn’t want her to leave. He thought if Geneva believed he was dependent on her, she’d stay to take care of him. Ironically, with the severity of his injuries, he now actually did need round-the-clock care for a while.

“We’ve already talked,” Geneva said. “I helped get him set up at the rehab place. He’s covered there for the next six weeks, at least. After that, he’s got the means to hire someone to help him at home. He’s tried to guilt me into staying a little longer. But I’m done being manipulated by the men in my family.”

“You have nothing to feel guilty about,” Dad said. “You deserve to have your own life. You don’t owe your dad anything.”

Dad gave me a pointed look when he said it. I rolled my eyes.

I heard the sharp honk of Kobe’s horn. He’d agreed to take Geneva to the mainland, then drive her to the airport. He made extra cash as an Uber driver. A little over a year ago, he’d brought me to town the same way.

“Thanks again,” Geneva said. She hugged me, then walked over to give my dad a kiss on the cheek. I walked her outside but she insisted on going the rest of the way alone. I waved to Kobe down at the dock, then watched Geneva descend the steep stairs to the shoreline and climb into Kobe’s boat.

“It’s gonna be rough for her for a while,” Dad said. “Maybe forever.”

“She knows the truth now,” I said. “There are no more secrets in her life. No more lies. That will mean something.”

Kobe beeped his horn again as he pushed off and roared toward shore. I hoped Geneva took us up on our offer and reached out down the road. At the same time, I had the sense that this was the last time I’d ever see her.

“You wanna go fishing?” Dad asked. “Take the day off?”