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“You never told me any of this before.”
“How do I start that conversation, Jared?Your beloved brother is a pedophile, but watch out, because he’ll deny it?I just found out and had my life turned upside down. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
Tobias reached out and touched her leg. “Lila.”
Their sign to rein it in. She ignored it this time.
The explanation—the only one she could see—spilled out of her. “The likely answer is that he knew Karen was in that cabin. That he put her in that cabin. I don’t know why he needed the GPS help to get back there, but he went on purpose.”
Jared slowly stood up and faced her across the coffee table. “What the hell is wrong with you? He’s your husband and you’re willing to believe the worst about him.”
This was his family. His brother. His gene pool. He’d been hit with so many shocks today, but he had to believe more were coming. “You know I’m not lying about what I saw and heard on those videos. So is it really such a big jump to go from him abusing young girls to killing women?”
“In your family? No,” Jared shot back.
Tobias stood up this time. “Hey. That’s too much.”
The shot rammed right into her. Because that was the point. She’d married the one man she vowed never to getinvolved with—a man like her father, with his fetishes and weakness.
She tried to drop her voice from a yell. To keep it soothing even as the vicious words snapped and stung. “Knowing what I know and how Aaron lied to me and to all of us about who he really was and what he was capable of, it’s not hard for me to imagine he killed Karen Blue. I don’t know why he escalated, but no other explanation makes sense.”
Jared looked horrified... by her. “I get that your upbringing sucked and your dad—”
“Don’t switch the subject,” Tobias said, breaking into Jared’s sentence right as he was warming up for the big hit.
Lila felt it coming. A part of her welcomed it. In a way she’d brought them to this point. She’d forced the issue with Aaron. She’d hunted him. Planned and suffocated him. She’d just failed to finish the job. She had to wonder if Karen Blue would be alive if she’d moved faster. Been more thorough. “No, say it.”
“Everyone has been telling me you did something to my brother. I’ve defended you. Insisted you wouldn’t hurt Aaron.” He pointed at her across the table. “All I’m asking is that you do the same honor for the man you married.”
Her heartbeat thumped so loudly in her ears. She could almost hear the blood whoosh through her. “I can’t.”
He walked away from her then. Dodged the chair, taking the widest berth around her, and headed for the doorway. He stopped at the last minute and looked at her. “I don’t know who or what you are.”
A heavy, unseen weight pulled her arms down and pressed against her back. She’d never felt this tired. “That’s exactly how I feel about Aaron.”
“Keep it to yourself.” When she didn’t say anything, he continued with his voice growing deeper, more full of fury, with every word. “You hear me. Whatever sick shit is going through your head as you confuse Aaron with your father, do not say it out loud or to the press.”
He marched down the hall toward the front door.
“Where are you going?” She had to stop him. He wasn’t fit to drive.
The door slammed. Lila felt it vibrate through every inch of her. For the first time since battle lines were drawn, she and Jared stood on opposite sides.
She mourned that loss more than she mourned Aaron.
Chapter Forty-Seven
THE NEXT DAY PLAYED OUT LIKE A NIGHTMARE. PEOPLE VISITEDand more of the press gathered. Lila insisted to Cassie and Christina, even to Tobias, that she felt fine when she felt anything but. She threw up the coffee she’d used as a replacement breakfast. Counting back, it had been more than a day since she’d eaten anything. She couldn’t imagine that would change anytime soon.
Jared ignored her calls. Ginny put her off, saying they were collecting information and forensics and she’d get back in touch.
When Ryan’s name showed up on a text on her phone’s screen, she answered without thinking. Ginny likely still tracked her calls and texts. Right now, lost in this haze of confusion and frustration, she didn’t care.
Ryan: You ok?
Lila: no
Ryan: I heard about Karen Blue and the cabin. Do u think Aaron was involved?
