The Dead and the Dark(64)

Ashley said nothing.

“Can I come in?” Logan asked.

Ashley glanced back at her room, then reluctantly nodded. Logan climbed in through the window and surveyed the damage. It wasn’t just clothes and photos on the floor. Ashley’s chair was knocked sideways, the contents of her desk swept to the floor, her closet emptied. It was worse than she’d thought.

“What do you want?” Ashley asked.

“I…” Logan pressed a palm to her forehead. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. You weren’t responding to texts or calls. And—”

She paused. She couldn’t get the sound of handcuffs clinking around Alejo’s wrists out of her head. She couldn’t wipe away the police lights on the blinds, the sound of Brandon’s glasses hitting his nightstand, the look on Alejo’s face when he realized what was happening.

“Paris arrested my dad.”

Ashley eyed the clutter on her floor. Slowly, she began picking up her pictures and piling them on her desk. She was unsettlingly calm about the arrest. Her jaw was tight, her movements cold and rigid. A breeze wafted into the room and fanned over Logan’s back and, suddenly, it clicked.

“He said there was a witness.”

Ashley paused.

“I’m going through the list of people who were at the Bates, but it’s pretty small. Gracia and Elexis are family. They wouldn’t throw my dad under the bus.”

Ashley folded her quilt and tossed it on the bed. “The Bates is pretty much apartments. Lots of people live there.”

“Ashley.”

She turned, eyes glassy with impending tears. “I don’t wanna talk to you about this. I wanna be alone.”

Logan’s heart crashed and she wondered if it was breaking. Her pulse was heavy, slow, deep. It labored with the weight of this grief, but she wasn’t angry like she was at Brandon. It was like someone had come up behind her and snatched her world right out of her palms. It left her cold in its wake. Ashley’s expression said everything—it was anger and sadness, but more than that, it was guilt. It was the same look she’d had when she admitted she’d broken up with Tristan.

“You didn’t even see anything. Why’d you—”

“I did.”

Logan paused. “Oh my god, you mean when he was taking out the garbage?”

Ashley looked away.

“You know it wasn’t him,” Logan croaked. “Why’d you say it?”

“He could’ve—”

“He didn’t.” Logan sank to the edge of Ashley’s bed and cupped her hands over her nose and mouth. “Me and Dad weren’t even in Snakebite when Tristan went missing.”

Ashley huffed. “Maybe they worked together. Like a team.”

“Oh my god.” Logan’s voice was too loud for the room. She closed her eyes and exhaled. “I told you it wasn’t him. You prom ised you wouldn’t say anything unless we were sure. Did you not trust me at all?”

“I trust you,” Ashley said. A tear rolled down the curve of her cheek. “I don’t trust them.”

“Oh, don’t start crying.”

“How am I not supposed to…?” Ashley sat down at her desk. She rubbed her swollen eyes with the heels of her hands. “Before all this, nobody died in Snakebite. It was perfect.”

“Careful…” Logan warned.

“You guys showed up and everything fell apart.”

“So, you do think they did it,” Logan scoffed.

“Can you blame me?”

“Yes.”

Ashley’s expression wrinkled in frustration. “What do you want from me? I ignored the obvious because I trusted you, but … I can’t let this keep happening. I’m losing everyone.”

“You haven’t lost me.”

“I lost my home.”

Something snapped in Logan. She stood, red-faced and breathless. “Oh, like Snakebite was so great before.” Anger crept up her throat and threatened to choke her. “I’ve heard lots of stories. It sucked then and it sucks now. You thought it was perfect because this stuff didn’t matter to you, but it’s always sucked for people like me.”

“That is not true.”

“There’s a reason people like my dads have to leave. Alejo said you’d turn on me just like your mom turned on him,” Logan said. “But this fucking sucks.”

Floorboards groaned outside Ashley’s room. Tammy Barton peeked around the bedroom door and surveyed the room. Her gaze landed on Logan and her expression soured. “What is going on in here?”

“I was just leaving, Ms. Barton,” Logan said. She approached the window and opened it. She wanted to spit on both of them. She wanted to let them know that they’d torn her whole world apart. Instead, she laughed. “In case you didn’t hear, my dad’s in jail. Maybe you can go tell all your friends. You can have a party.”

Tammy’s eyes widened, but she said nothing. Under the stern layers of her town matriarch persona, she looked more confused than relieved. “I don’t—”

“Logan,” Ashley snapped.

She didn’t wait to hear more excuses. Ashley was supposed to be her ally, but she was the same as Brandon. Too afraid to do the right thing, too afraid to admit what she’d done wrong. Logan climbed out the window and rushed back to the minivan. She pulled away from Barton Ranch in a blur, because this was it. This was the end. Alejo was gone, Brandon was silent, and Ashley was a traitor. After everything, she was alone.