Beautifully Broken Pieces (Sutter Lake, #1)(86)

With a shaky hand, Ashlee pulled something from her bag. The world slowed. I wished I could blame it on the pain meds or the blow to my head, but no. The world slowed because Ashlee had a gun. A weapon that was now pointed directly at me.





45





Walker





I slowly stepped to my right, effectively blocking any shot Ashlee might have of Taylor. What the hell was happening? Ashlee’s hand shook. Not a good thing when that hand was holding a gun. Tears streamed down her face as her eyes hopped from Taylor to me and back again.

I held out a hand in a placating gesture, while mentally cursing the fact that my weapon had been taken by a crime tech as part of the investigation into Bryce’s death. I knew I’d be cleared, but they just had to take my fucking gun. Now, I had no weapon. No way to defend Taylor. I stalled for time. “What’s going on, Ashlee?”

“She’s not supposed to be here.” Ashlee’s eyes were wide, almost feral, and they were fixed on Taylor with the ferocity of a cornered wild animal. “She’s a liar. Did you know that? She lied to make me think she wasn’t a threat. Lied to hide that she wasn’t after you. But she was! From the first minute she got here.”

“And you!” Her eyes shot to me again, and she shook the gun at me for emphasis. “You killed my brother! The only person who ever really loved me.”

Her voice had a keening quality to it now, her grief right on the surface. “You were supposed to love me. Why, Walker? Why couldn’t you love me? What’s wrong with me?” Ashlee’s tears fell harder, streaming down her cheeks and dripping from the end of her chin.

My mind whirled, trying to put the pieces together. “I had no idea you felt that way. Why didn’t you tell me?” How had a seemingly innocent crush turned into this?

“LIES! You knew!” The gun rattled again.

The beeping of the heart monitor increased in speed, and I knew Taylor was panicking. I had to find a different track. “Ashlee, I didn’t know, I promise. I thought we were friends. We are, aren’t we?” It was a total lie, but I didn’t know what else to do other than plead complete ignorance.

Ashlee cocked her head to one side as if pondering what that might mean. “Friends?”

“Yes. Friends.” I searched for where I should go from here. Where could I take this conversation that would help me understand what the hell had happened and how to get us out of this situation? “And friends are honest with each other, right?”

Ashlee cocked her head to the other side. She wiped her tears away with her free hand, still not dropping the gun. “Yes…” Her voice was quiet now.

Quiet was good. Quiet meant calm. And I needed her to keep from making any sudden movements that could cause the gun to accidentally go off. I pushed on. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“She ruined everything.” Ashlee was back to a keening wail again. Shit.

“What do you mean?”

“You were supposed to be with me. We’re perfect for each other. And I’ve worked so hard for so long to get us together.”

My muscles locked. “How have you worked to get us together?”

She looked at me like I was an imbecile. “I got rid of them, of course.”

My chest tightened along with my fists. “What do you mean you got rid of them?”

Ashlee’s eyes hardened. “Bryce liked killing. He mostly did it away from here to protect me, but when I needed someone to disappear, he would do that.” More tears spilled over her lower lids, but I no longer felt that pull of compassion towards her. “Bryce always took care of me. Did you know that our dad beat us?”

I’d heard rumblings that Mr. Elkins had been a nasty drunk, but there had never been substantiated claims that the police department could act on. Then he just disappeared. Everyone thought he’d just abandoned his family, but maybe that wasn’t the case. I shook my head. “I didn’t know, Ashlee. I’m so sorry.”

“Bryce would always take the beatings for me, whenever he could. They were so bad and always for no reason. Finally, Bryce said we had to stop him.” Ashlee sniffled, wiping at her face with her long sleeve. “He used to chase us into the woods. This time, Bryce said to lead him to a specific area, so I did. Bryce had hidden a shovel out there, and when I ran by, Daddy trailing after, Bryce killed him.”

More of the pieces began to fall into place, and my blood ran cold.

“See, Bryce was good. He protected me. Always. Always. Always. He protected me, and he wanted me to have what I wanted.” Ashlee’s eyes turned in my direction. What she wanted was me.

“I would tell him who I needed to be gone, and he would do it. See, he killed to protect us, but then something broke in him. He liked it.” Her face fell. “Too much. I told him to only kill the bad people, and he said that’s what he did.”

Caitlin and a random hiker counted as bad people? I wanted to ask but didn’t. Taylor? My body vibrated with the rage currently coursing through me.

Ashlee was oblivious, she just kept right on with her tale. “When I heard you were going to propose to Julie after she graduated, I knew I had to stop it.”

My eyes fell closed for the briefest of seconds. I finally had the answer I’d needed for over a decade. The thing that would allow me to put Julie to rest completely. I’d known her killer, and I’d ended his life. And I would bring Ashlee to justice, as well.