Page 288 of Good Boys Don’t Bite

Ronan’s entire body went still. Elliot realized. Fuck. Vance looked at him. Then Ronan. Ronan’s face emptied. There it was. The choice. Again. Elliot could almost see his mind racing. The storage room. The lie. The mask. Police everywhere. Too late. Vance’s voice changed.

“Here.”

Elliot said nothing. Ronan looked at him. One second. Two. Then Ronan spoke.

“He means the replica.”

Elliot stared. Vance looked toward him.

“What replica?”

Ronan didn’t hesitate.

“The one somebody mailed here.”

Elliot felt cold. There was no replica mailed here. The black box had been empty when police removed it. Ronan continued.

“We didn’t tell you because we panicked.”

Vance’s eyes narrowed.

“When?”

“Before the box on the porch.”

Elliot watched him. One little lie. Except it wasn’t little. Ronan was building one. For him. Again. Vance looked toward Elliot.

“Is that true?”

Elliot stared at Ronan. Ronan gave nothing away. Trust me. Maybe. Elliot turned back to Vance.

“Yes.”

The lie came easily. That frightened him more than it should have. Vance stared at both of them. Long enough that Elliot knew she didn’t believe it. Not completely. Then a paramedic entered. The conversation broke. Ronan’s arm was examined. Cleaned. Bandaged. Three stitches recommended. Ronan complained. Elliot told him to shut up. For several minutes, nobody asked about masks. Elliot almost believed they had survived the moment. Then Nathan shouted from downstairs:

“CHECK UNDER THE STAIRS.”

Everything stopped. Elliot’s blood went cold. Ronan looked toward the hallway. Vance did too. Nathan shouted again.

“ASK THE GOOD BOY WHAT’S IN THE BLACK BOX.”

Silence. The entire house seemed to collapse around them. Vance slowly turned toward Elliot. Ronan stood despite the paramedic telling him not to. Elliot looked at him. No more room. No more little lies. Vance stepped into the hallway.

“Where is the storage room?”

Ronan said nothing. Elliot could hear Nathan laughing downstairs. The same laughter. The entire fucking time. He knew. He had always known. Elliot looked at Ronan. Ronan looked back. Then Ronan did something Elliot did not expect. He reached into his pocket. Pulled out his phone. And dropped it. Hard. The screen shattered against the floor. Vance froze.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Ronan stared at the broken phone. Then at Elliot.

“One little lie.”

Elliot’s heart slammed.

“What?”

Ronan looked at Vance. His expression changed. Cold. Calm. Almost like Elliot.