Page 95 of Lethal Weakness

“Everyone was killed.”

“Who? The guards? I know you killed them.”

He shakes his head. “They eliminated all of the other staff. They were dead before we entered the house.”

“What? You mean the house staff? Weren’t they innocent?”

“Probably. But people like the Scotts don’t care about that. They only care about protecting their secrets.”

“How many?” I ask, horrified.

The housekeepers… The cooks… They were the only decent people in that house.

“13 staff members were found executed. All 20 hostages in the basement were also DOA.”

Bile rises in my throat. He was right. I wasn’t ready to hear what happened. 33 innocent people… Murdered.

“This is my fault…”

“No, it isn’t.”

“If I hadn’t seen what was in the basement, they’d all be alive. This happened because of me!” I cry, clutching my stomach. “Oh, God. What did I do?”

“They killed everyone to cover up their secrets. It wasn’t your fault.”

“But it is! I was the one who saw what they were doing!”

“Linden, we already suspected them. We were onto them. It isn’t your fault. They would have done it at the sign of any threat.” He grabs me by the shoulders to hold me steady as I slump against the door frame. “I know how dangerous they are. That’s why we’re going to end this before they can hurt anyone else.” He wipes the tears that escape down my cheeks.

“How? How do you end this?”

“The rest of the guards are dead, but we kept one alive to get intel from.” He stops, but I know there is more.

“Alive… Where?”

He nods over his shoulder towards my house.

“Oh, my God.”

“You’re never going back in there. These houses will be torched when they’re done.”

“Which guard is it?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know his name. Seemed to be a higher rank than the others.”

My spine stiffens. “I want to see.”

“No.”

“Jack, I’m not asking. I need to see who it is.”

He swipes his hand through his hair in frustration before righting his hat. “Fine.”

He keeps his truck running, and I motion to Avery that we’ll be one minute, but she’s preoccupied with a coloring book that Jack must’ve handed her.

“Before we go in, you need to prepare yourself,” he says, helping me hobble along.

“For what?”