Never Giving Up (Never #3)(69)
I looked to Porter whose jaw was tense and clenching and I knew that if Kyle wasn’t already dead, he’d be on a rampage right now looking for him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t! That day he came in to Poppy, he was taking you to lunch and when you went in the back to get your coat, he told me that if I said anything to anyone he would release everything.” She paused and took in a shuddering breath. “That’s also how he forced me to steal all that money from you.”
My heart stopped and my breath was stuck in my throat. In the corner of my eye I saw Porter place Mattie in her crib and start pacing the room, back and forth.
“I’m so sorry, Ella. I never meant to do any of this and if I could go back and change everything I would. I just didn’t know what to do. For so long, years, he had a thumb over me, taunting me with the videos, telling me he’d post them all over the internet and my future would be ruined. A few times I almost refused, almost let him follow through with his threats. There were other times I also thought about ending it all. I just wanted to be that carefree, fun, happy girl I use to be, ya know?”
“Oh my God, Brittany, I can’t believe he did that to you,” I whispered. Even after everything I’d been through with Kyle, learning the depths and lengths his evilness spanned was always still surprising. I wouldn’t put any of this past him, but still found it hard to believe that someone I’d wasted so much of my time on could even think of pulling something like this off.
“When I heard that you’d killed him, that you had shot him dead, that was the most wonderful moment of my life, and that alone made me so sad. The idea that the death of someone gave me some sort of freedom, well, that really messed with my mind. But I couldn’t get over the happiness. Finally, I thought, finally it’s over.” She sniffed again, wiping her nose on a kleenex.
“But then the private investigator came into the store and I knew I either had to tell someone, or I was going to be found out.” A new wave of panic moved over her and I watched as she simply fell apart.
“I’m so sorry, Ella. Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I would never have stolen from you—not in a million years. I know what you must think of me and . . .”
“Brittany, don’t say another word.” Porter’s voice was loud and firm from across the room. He walked over and knelt in front of her. “If this is the true story, if he really did this to you, and I don’t have one tiny sliver of doubt that he did, you need to talk to the police. Ella and I, of all people, understand that Kyle was by far the worst person that ever walked this earth, and I am so sorry that he did that to you. It wasn’t your fault and we could never place blame with you. But you have to tell this to a detective.”
She nodded, sniffling at the same time. “I know. I just wanted Ella to hear my side of the story before I turned myself in.”
“What do you mean turn yourself in?” I asked, finding my voice suddenly concerned with what she was planning to do.
“I’m going to the police station to tell them what I’ve done.”
“You mean what you were coerced and blackmailed into doing?” All of a sudden I was filled with rage that Kyle had tried to ruin someone else’s life. However mad I was, I was even sadder knowing he had probably succeeded a little with Brittany. Even from the grave he was still causing pain. “Brittany, there is no active investigation right now about the missing money. We hired a P.I. because we were curious as to how he did it. But no one is looking to press charges against you. You did nothing wrong.” Brittany looked at the ground and nodded her head, but she still looked defeated. I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking, or the bravery it took for her to come here and tell her story. “You’ll go to the police station, Brittany, but not to turn yourself in, to give a statement, to aid them, perhaps, but that is all.”
Porter reinstated his purposeful march across the room, angry steps leaving angry thumps in their wake. Mattie slept peacefully as years of drama unfolded around her. I watched Brittany and she looked down to her lap and cried, softly mumbling how she never meant to hurt anyone.
We were all better off now that he was dead.
It was a harsh statement. It was also a true statement. He hurt more people than he helped. If I hadn’t defended myself last year, if I hadn’t killed him, not only would I be dead, but he’d still be hurting other people. Brittany might still be under his thumb. For the first time in maybe ever, the guilt over killing another person wasn’t weighing so heavily down on me.
Once she’d quieted down and pulled herself together a little bit more, Brittany stood and made to leave. I hugged her and tried to remind her that none of this was her fault, that what he had done was wrong. She nodded at my words, but I knew she wasn’t agreeing with me. It would probably take her a very long time to accept that fact, but I hoped that someday she would. She told me she would go to the police station straight from the hospital and I gave her Dillard’s name, telling her to only talk to him. I hugged her again and then watched her walk out of the room.
My eyes found Porter and they were wide, my mouth hanging open a little, completely and totally shocked at what the last hour of our lives had left us with.
“Can you believe any of that?” I asked him, hoping he was just as shocked as I was.
“I know I’ve said this before, but he’s lucky he’s dead already, because otherwise I’d find him and finish him off myself. What a worthless waste of a human being.”