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The four of us file back inside and Cam is clearly pissed, but he’s not going to be the only one if I don’t get some answers soon.
“One of you better start talking right now,” I demand.
Cam looks over at Hayes. “You have to tell her.”
“Why? What’s the point? It’s done.”
“Because she deserves to know!” he yells at him.
It’s obvious that Hayes isn’t going to tell me, so Cam throws his hands in the air—dropping a bombshell I never saw coming.
“Hayes didn’t shoot Monty that night,” he starts.
“Cam, don’t!” Hayes tries to stop him, but Cam blurts out the confession before he even gets the chance.
“I did.”
My jaw is practicallyon the floor as I stare at my brother. In the back of my mind, all the times I wondered if Hayes shot Monty on purpose play on a loop, but he couldn’t have. He didn’t even shoot him at all.
“What the hell do you meanyou did?”
His eyes fall closed for a second and he winces, as if he’s remembering the moment the gun went off. “It was an accident. After we got proof of the videos he took of you and Mali, we were trying to hold them over his head to get him to leave town. And at first, he acted like he was going to take the loss gracefully, but then he pulled out a gun.
“He had it pointed at Hayes first. He was rambling about how he doesn’t deserve you and how you should be with someone like him. But something bit his foot, and it distracted him long enough for Hayes to wrestle the gun away from him.”
Hayes goes back over to sit on the couch, resting his head in his hands, but I need to hear this.
Allof this.
“As soon as he got it away from him, he tossed it to me, and I pointed it at Monty. Hayes was telling him that it was over, and that if he didn’t leave you and Mali alone, that we were going to show you the videos and you’d never want anything to do with him then anyway. But then I heard Mali scream, and it scared me.”
“And that made you pull the trigger,” I finish for him.
Fucking hell.It makes so much sense. There was no reason for Hayes to be beating himself up over Monty’s death, because he wasn’t the one that did it. He just helped clean up the crime scene.
Turning to Hayes, he lifts his eyes to meet mine. “I don’t get it. Why did you say you shot him?”
“He was still on probation, Laiken. And his criminal record wasn’t exactly sparkly clean,” he explains. “If something had gone wrong and we got caught, he didn’t stand a fucking chance.”
“But you lied to me!” I bellow, feeling my rage growing by the minute. “You let me believe that it wasyou!”
“I had to.”
“Bullshit! You could’ve told me!”
“No, I couldn’t have!” he roars back. “Because if shit hit the fan and we went down for it, you would’ve had to choose between me and your brother! I wasn’t going to put you through that!”
I scoff. “So, letting me think you might have murdered someone was a better option to you?”
A dry laugh bubbles out of him. “That one wasallyou. It’s not my fault you had absolutely zero fucking faith in me.”
“Oh, fuck off! I knew you didn’t actually shoot him on purpose! You can be an asshole, but you’re not homicidal.” I stop, shaking my head. “But you lied to me.”
He stands up, pacing across the living room floor. “Don’t give me that shit. You lied, too! You didn’t tell me about the text messages, or the threats, or that you were about to walk right the fuck out of my life!”
“That was different!” My blood feels boiling hot. “If I had known you didn’t actually pull the fucking trigger, I might not have left at all!”
“You think I don’t fucking know that? That I haven’t already thought of that?” he yells. “That tortured me for the first three months you were gone! But even if I could go back, I still wouldn’t tell you! We’re married, which means they legally can’t force you to testify against me. The same isn’t true for Cam, though. That law doesn’t apply to siblings. Hate me for it all you want, but I was protecting Cam and I was protecting you!”
