“Los Angeles?” She told me Oregon. Never mentioned LA.
“Yeah, this story would put her on the map.” He swats a bug on his arm, then flicks its carcass away. “That’s where you come in. Tell me what you know about Sam.”
My jaw locks down tight.
“Oh come on, you knew I’d do my research.”
“I don’t know her. I mean, I don’t know her very well.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “That’s not what I heard. I heard you two had a few very public displays of . . . affection. Then a very public fight at the bar she works at.” His face pinches in thought. “I even heard you went for her throat.”
Who told him that? Shyann wouldn’t. She’d never sell me out . . . unless. Does she know Gage slept with someone else? Would anger drive her to expose me?
“I didn’t hurt anyone.”
“Aah . . .” He shakes a finger at me. “See, that’s where you’re wrong.” Pushing himself to the railing, he leans toward me. “I heard you beat up her boyfriend. You’ve got a jealous streak, huh?”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“You don’t have to say anything. The evidence speaks for itself. All I have to do is connect the dots.” He moseys along down the porch, grinning. “Guy like you . . .”
Like me?
“. . . your record.”
My skin breaks out in a cold sweat.
He tilts his head. “You seem surprised.” His eyes narrow. “I know all about you, Lucas. I know what you did, that you killed your entire family before turning the gun on yourself.”
Black flickers at the edge of my vision.
“But things didn’t turn out for you the way you’d hoped, did they? You didn’t die that day after you killed your family.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I curse the waver in my voice.
He chews the inside of his lip, then smiles. “You’re smart, I’ll give you that. A teenage boy who can pull this off, fool lawyers, a judge, hell a jury . . . it’s impressive.” He takes a few steps toward the river and my feet burn for escape, to hide out until all this goes away. But that’s the old me, turning my back on confrontation. I know I can be a better man, the kind Shy deserves, and I’m determined to start now.
“I’m not surprised you’d be capable of hiding what you did to Sam too.”
“I didn’t—”
“A violent mass murder, a house vandalized, a girl beaten within an inch of her life, you know what all those things have in common?”
I don’t answer.
“You. They all have you in common.” He steps closer.
“You can’t prove anything.”
“Ah-ah-ah . . . I don’t need to. I’m not here to convict you. I just want the story, on record, and I want exclusivity.”
My eyes narrow and my stomach rolls with sickness.
“They’re gonna arrest you eventually anyway, Lucas. Might as well get your story out there. Hell, you may even get book deals while you’re in prison, have a movie made about you. For all I care you can disappear and never be heard or seen again. All I want is for you to tell your story, to me, on the record.”
My hands shake and I fight the black as it demands to take over.
“I can’t. I—”
“Oh, sure you can. Come on, tell me your story and I’ll leave Shy here in Payson rather than drag her to Los Angeles with me. I’ll let her stay here with her family instead of making her my wife.”
My teeth grind together and every muscle in my body tenses.
A slow, knowing grin curls his lips. “That upsets you, doesn’t it? You being separated from Shy, that makes you want blood.” He takes a few steps toward me. “Does it make you want to kill?”
The veil drops, but I hold it back just before complete darkness falls.
“Between us, I’ll have to have a few girls on the side. Not sure if you’ve tasted the little Navajo yet, but she’s not all that good in bed. She can stay home and raise our kids while I become the number one news reporter in LA.” He chuckles. “The thought of her, so strong and fierce, barefoot and pregnant, makes my dick hard, ya know? On second thought”—he pulls his keys out of his pocket—“keep your story. I’ll take Shy.”
I roar, “No!” just as the curtain falls.
THIRTY-SEVEN
SHYANN
“How’re you doing?” My dad drops down next to me on the couch where I’ve been staring at the blank television since Trevor left.
“Been better.” I give him a small, most likely unconvincing, smile. “I need to go talk to Lucas. I just . . .” Don’t want to walk in on him and his date. “I need to warn him Trevor is sniffing around. This is all my fault. If I’d never come back, he’d be living a quiet life.”
“How long’ve you known?”
“Dad . . .” I exhale, trying to hold on to the sliver of calm I’d managed to gain since that asshole left. “Trevor’s a prick. Lucas, he—”
“Never would’ve let you go anywhere alone with the kid if I thought he was dangerous.”