Tell Me Pretty Lies(43)
I glare at Holden and his big ass mouth.
“First of all, I never faked it with you,” he says, tossing her a wink, and Shayne blinks, unamused before she stands like she’s going to leave.
“All right, hold up,” he says, blowing out a breath, looking at me. I nod, giving him silent permission to be real with her. It’s been a year, and we still don’t have answers. Our way isn’t working. Might as well try a different tactic.
“A few months ago, we started looking into the day that Danny…” he trails off, still not able to say the words, and clears his throat before he looks up at the ceiling, his head leaning on the back of the couch, knees bouncing. “Something didn’t feel right. We’ve fucked around in these woods and up at the falls our whole lives. There’s no way he fell. And he sure as fuck didn’t kill himself.”
“Even if he wanted to take his life, he wouldn’t do it there,” I point out. “How many times have we all jumped off that cliff? It’s not a deadly fall.” It can be, but it’s far from a sure thing. We’ve jumped off that same cliff since we were twelve. If I were going to take myself out, it would be foolproof.
Shayne nods, her eyes shining with empathy that almost fucking hurts to look at.
“So we start digging into it, right?” Holden says, lifting his head to look at her. “Tried to find the nine-one-one-call. The police report…something. But we don’t get anywhere. Shit’s locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”
Her lips tug into a frown, her eyebrows pinching together. “I thought emergency calls were public record.”
“They’re supposed to be,” I say, impressed that she knew that, but not altogether surprised. “Someone’s going out of their way to make sure it’s sealed.”
“That’s…”
“Suspicious as fuck?” Holden offers.
“Yeah.” She nods her head slowly, seeming slightly dazed by the information. “Is this related to the cops who were looking for you?” she asks, looking over at Holden.
He nods. “We aren’t allowed to get a copy of the police report because it’s supposedly ongoing, but the detective hasn’t done shit. I bashed the fuck out of his car with a baseball bat. Not my finest moment.”
Fucking dumbass.
“Wait, you didn’t have a bat when I picked you up.”
“Dropped it in the woods.”
“Are you kidding? You left a bat behind, probably with your blood on it, after you fled a crime scene. You might as well have left your name and number, Holden. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking I’m very drunk and I miss my fucking brother and want answers. Next time I’ll call a professional,” he says pointedly. “We don’t all have extensive knowledge about serial killers and how to not get caught.”
Shayne rolls her eyes, but her face softens at his words. “But that still doesn’t answer my question. What do I have to do with any of this? Why don’t you trust me?”
Holden hesitates, not knowing how to go about this one, and Christian remains quiet.
“Because we think we know who did it. Danny had an argument with someone the day before,” I say, leaning back onto the entertainment center that spans the length of the wall and cross my arms, watching her closely for her reaction.
“Okay, and?”
“It was Grey.”
Shayne
“It was Grey.”
“What?” I breathe out the word. Needing to sit down, I drop back onto the couch, trying to make sense of everything I’ve learned in the past few minutes. He never mentioned an argument. “No.” I shake my head. “You don’t understand. Grey was wrecked after Danny… He’s still wrecked.” I lock eyes with Thayer, willing him to believe me. “You have no idea how much it messed him up. He barely speaks to me. He won’t even come home.”
The three of them exchange looks, and I can almost hear their unspoken thoughts. They think Grey’s behavior is coming from a place of guilt.
“I know my brother,” I say defensively. “And even if they did argue, so what? They were best friends. Brothers,” I grind out. “Just because we’re not blood…”
“Relax.” Thayer holds up his palms, approaching me as if I’m a wounded animal.
“We don’t have the facts. This is why we’re trying to fill in the blanks here,” Holden adds. “We need to know what else happened.”
“So you thought I was covering for Grey,” I say, still trying to piece things together. That’s why they turned on me. On all of us.
“Would it be that crazy to assume you’d be loyal to your family?” Thayer asks, coming to a stop in front of me.
“You are my family!” I blurt out, frustrated, before realizing my mistake. “Or…were. Back then.”
“We’re still family,” Holden says, looking over at me with those puppy dog eyes.
A bitter laugh leaves my mouth. “You both treated me like shit.” Christian wasn’t ever particularly vocal about how he felt about me. I got the feeling that he stayed out of it, and as long as he wasn’t going out of his way to make me miserable, that was good enough for me, regardless of how he felt about me. Thayer and Holden, on the other hand…they hurt me. Because I cared for both of them in a way I didn’t care about many other people in my life.