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“Rochelle,” he whispers.
Dr. Bennett moves toward us. “Shut up, Ryan. Shut the hell up right now. You’re under duress. Our lawyers will blame coercion. Shut your mouth, son.”
I laugh. “You think I’m going to the cops? No, I know the system is fucked from the inside out, so no, this won’t go beyond us.” I look at Ryan. “Rochelle, as in your stepsister?”
He nods.
“Where the fuck is she, then?”
He looks at his dad then back at me before shrugging his shoulders.
I swing and connect with Dr. Bennett’s jaw. He stumbles and falls backward onto the pavement of their driveway. I land on top of him and start pounding. The cobra inside me is ready to kill.
“Stop!” Ryan yells like the pussy he is. “The river house! Rochelle stays at the family house when she’s in town, but she’s not expected here this weekend.”
I get off Dr. Bennett and grab Ryan, yanking him over to my car. Pushing him inside, I round the front and climb in.
Dr. Bennett is on the ground, holding his head. I don’t give a shit if he calls the cops. Let them come to the river house. I have a feeling there is a much bigger story for them than my assault and battery charges on the doctor back there.
“Directions,” I bark, and Ryan mumbles off where we need to go.
I peel out of the driveway and don’t bother looking in the rearview mirror.
“Rochelle is sick. She’s mentally ill,” Ryan says, looking out the window.
“You’re right; she is sick. As in sick and twisted. At eighteen, why would she want to fuck her fifteen-year-old stepbrother?” I raise my hand. “Never mind, I don’t want to know. Just shut the fuck up and let me get to Lo.”
“I hope she hasn’t done it again,” he says in a whisper I don’t think he intended for me to hear.
I grab him by the hair and slam his head into the window of my door. “Talk, Bennett. What could she do again?”
“It’s my fault,” he cries out as tears stream down his face.
“Look here, fucker. I don’t care if you piss your pants or cry a fucking river; the only thing that matters is Lo. Now you fucking talk and tell me everything you know.”
“It’s because of me. She killed them all because of me.”
I slam my hand down on my steering wheel as I turn down the secluded road to their river house.
“She wasn’t taking her meds. I told her Heidi was going to break up with me if I didn’t end it with her. I loved Heidi. Rochelle promised no more—she promised. She went to the Boschs’ house. She said it was just to talk to Heidi. Only, when she got home, she was covered in blood, wearing a sick smile.”
I don’t bother listening anymore. I throw the car in park and jump out. The river house is smaller than the Bennetts’ home, but no less elaborate. The lights are all off, and there is no sign of life here. I don’t care. This is the only lead I have, so I have to follow it.
At the front door, I turn the knob to find it locked. At the back door, I find the same, so I bust the glass and reach in with my hand bleeding to get inside.
Immediately, I hear her voice arguing with Rochelle. Following the sounds, I storm into a bedroom, not thinking about what I may find on the other side of the door. Ryan barrels in behind me.
The sight in front of us kills me inside.
Lorraine’s blond hair is a mess around her face. There are streaks of blood down her mouth and across her cheek like she tried to wipe it away. She stands with a gun pointed at Rochelle, but her right wrist is swollen and bruised and at an awkward angle. She isn’t shaking; there is fury in her voice; and she has the gun in a firm grip, given all her injuries.
“Lo,” I say on a whisper, and her eyes come to mine.
“She did it, Jason,” Lo says with venom in her voice. “She killed them.”
“She’s sick,” Ryan tries to defend.
I look over my shoulder at him and glare.
For the first time in my life, I am fighting the demons inside me to handle this. I want nothing more than to have Rochelle die by my hands, but there are guiltier parties than just her. Ryan and Dr. Bennett know what she is capable of, yet they still put Lo in danger.
“I’m sick and twisted,” Rochelle cackles at Lorraine before spitting at her feet.
Reaching out, I put her in a sleeper hold.
Ryan steps toward me, and Lo moves the gun to him. “Don’t, Ryan. I don’t want to hurt you.”
When Rochelle passes out, I drop her to the floor before grabbing the asshole beside me.
