“He what?” The words scraped with the affliction, horror, and shock, as I barely caught a glimpse of the carnage.
What did he do?
What did he do?
Mark.
Shea.
I’d claimed to know exactly what Martin Jennings was capable of.
Turns out what I knew didn’t come close.
“Did Chloe Lynn know what’d gone down…what he’d done?”
His entire face winced with the regretful nod. He looked at me, sorrow pulling at the edges of his mouth. “Mark…you knew him, Baz. Better than all of us. As fucked up as he was, he was a good guy. What Donny said got to him. Ate at him. The night he OD’d…I told you before he was acting all sketchy and paranoid. That was the truth. But what I didn’t tell you was he was stumbling around the bus, saying something about going to the cops about Delaney Rhoads. Said he couldn’t keep quiet about an innocent girl being hurt…and it was a secret he wouldn’t keep.”
Austin choked over a sob. “I know Martin was responsible for Mark, Baz. I know it. Donny disappeared, without a trace, and the next thing I know, Mark’s dead.”
Outright fear bled from his pores, my baby brother shaking in my enraged hands.
“I was so fucking scared, Baz. So fucking scared. You immediately forced me into rehab, and I wanted it. I wanted to break out of that life. Run from it. I thought maybe…maybe I was finally going to be free of everything horrible I continually let ruin my life. I’d let Mark down. But for once, I wasn’t going to let you down. I’d promised myself to get clean and everything would be better. Martin would be forgotten and we’d move on with our lives.”
Agitated, his tongue darted out to wet his lips. “But then he came onto the tour bus. Digging. Asking questions about what I knew about Delaney Rhoads. I’d told him nothing. His response was to slide three pills my way. He knew I couldn’t resist. Knew I was weak.”
He knows our weaknesses. Shea’s assertion crashed down around me. Anger pumped furiously, feeding the hostility.
“Next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital. I took it as a warning to keep my mouth shut, and that’s what I’ve been doing all this time.”
“Do you know what Mark was talking about in his journal?” I demanded, my nose pressed up to his like maybe if I got close enough, I could fall inside and find out what he’d been keeping a secret for far too long. “About a girl who was a loose end.”
I shook him. “One he was willing to die for.”
His brows drew deep in question, obviously unaware. It became clear when he came to the same conclusion. His eyes rounded like black, blank buttons of fear.
Like I’d been burned, my hands jerked free, and Austin dropped to his knees on the floor.
Shea.
Head slumping forward, Austin’s words slurred together. “Don’t hate me, Baz. Please, don’t hate me. I was scared. So scared. Please don’t hate me. You’re the only person I’ve got. When I found out Shea was Delaney, I wanted to tell you…I did…but I couldn’t risk it…couldn’t risk you losing it again. I can’t lose you, too.”
A harsh sound tore up my throat, raged with the flash of fury.
“I could never hate you.”
Never.
All I’d given had always been for my family. Standing up for them. Defending them.
I shoved out the door and down the hall to the sound of Austin calling after me. But I couldn’t stop from moving. My feet pounded down the stairs.
A red haze colored my narrowed sight. Blinding hate.
What did he do?
He hurt her.
And Mark. My baby brother.
Dizziness spiraled across my vision, and I gripped my head, trying to stay upright.
Jesus help me.
What was this?
Mark was a threat, so he took him out?
Austin a threat?
Shea…a threat?
I reeled with the magnitude.
I’d always believed him dangerous.
But this?