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Mr. Blythe nodded. “We’ll stage it to look like a suicide, of course, and we’ll leave a little note where you confess to the murder. To the police and everyone else in the world, it’ll look like your guilty conscience finally got the better of you. You simply couldn’t take it any longer,” he said. “After that, the case will be closed. You—the confessed murderer—will be dead, so there’ll be nothing left to investigate. There obviously won’t need to be a trial either, because you can’t take a dead girl to court.”
“You’re insane,” I said, slowly shaking my head. “You won’t get away with any of this.”
“I think we will. We’ve gotten away with everything else so far,” he said. Before I could reply, he lifted a palm. “Me and my acquaintances, that is.”
“Who are your acquaintances?” I asked, voice rising. “Why did they kill Cerina? And why did they frame me for it? You’ve barely told me anything so far!”
Mr. Blythe glanced at his watch again. “Sorry, we’re out of time,” he said. “I need to get home and get some sleep. I have eight back-to-back classes tomorrow.”
“No!” I stood and tugged at his shirt as he headed for the door, trying to pull him back toward me. “You can’t leave! Tell me what’s going on!Now!”
He yanked my hand off his shirt and pushed me backward. “Stop,” he said sharply. “You’ll get your answers after I get some sleep.”
“No. I want to know right now!” I shouted. “Tell me the truth!”
Mr. Blythe rolled his eyes. “I said no, Kinsey.”
“Please,” I said, dropping to my knees and clasping my hands like I was praying. “Please. You can’t just leave me here like this. I deserve to know the truth!”
“You will know it. Later.”
With that, Mr. Blythe turned on his heel and stalked through the door, slamming it shut behind him. I heard him twist the key in the lock on the other side. Then he was gone, footsteps echoing in the hall, and I was alone, shivering on the cold dirt floor.
3
Jax
I stared at my father,thunderstruck. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
He lifted his brows and took a step closer, swirling a glass of whiskey in his left hand. “It’s my house,” he said. “I live here.”
“You know what I mean.” I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms. “You’re meant to be in prison. So why the hell are you here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” he replied, smug smile tugging the corners of his lips upward. “They let me out.”
“Why the fuck would they do that?”
“Kinsey’s credibility has been completely shattered by the allegations made against her. Not to mention the charges.” His smile widened, and he lifted his glass to his mouth to take a small sip of the amber liquid. “My lawyers managed to schedule another bail hearing for me, and the new judge was far more sympathetic to my situation than the last one.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am.” Dad swept his free arm around the foyer. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“We both know your case doesn’t boil down to Kinsey’s word against yours,” I said, nostrils flaring with revulsion. “I’m the one who first noticed what you were doing, and I’m the one who got that video of you in her bedroom.”
“My lawyers are still trying to determine whether that recording can actually be used against me in court. It could be thrown out due to state privacy laws.”
“Bullshit,” Erin interjected. “They can’t do that!”
“They can try. You really aren’t supposed to record people without their knowledge, you know.” Dad paused to take another sip of his drink. “Not that it matters. The video was a colossal misunderstanding. You had absolutely no idea what you were looking at.”
“I know exactly what I saw and heard,” I said, voice dripping with fury. “And Kinsey’s case against you isn’t the only one. Her lawyers are working on reopening that case from the 90s, remember? That poor little girl from the hotel.”
“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Dad’s brows rose again. “So far, they haven’t been able to find anyone connected to that old case. The girl—who is now thirty-five years old—moved to another state with her family years ago, and it’s been impossible to track any of them down. Seems they changed their surname. I’m guessing it’s because they didn’t want to be associated with all the drama and disgusting lies manufactured by James Holland.”
A chill struck at my core. “What does that mean for the trial?”
“They probably won’t reopen that old case, which means the only charges I’ll be facing are the ones related to Kinsey,” he replied. “And like I said a moment ago, with her status as an alleged murderer, her word is dirt. The charges against me might be dropped entirely, so there might never be a trial at all.”
