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“Neo,” I whispered out his name, “can you… please, sit me up?” I felt like going to sleep again, but I fought the way my body ached, how my head was alight with a plan and weariness. This was going to be a challenge, but seeing my current options, I didn’t really have a choice.
He stared at me, his jaw setting. I could tell he didn’t want to sit me up. He liked being in a position of power over me, because I was the newest Montgomery. To him, I was Brianna Montgomery, not Brianna Dent. Gareth’s stepsister, Alistair’s stepdaughter, and he hated me by association.
Neo pulled out something from the front pocket of his jeans: a small knife. It reminded me of the switchblade Gareth had stuck inside me, the one he’d wanted to kill Rick with, though it was smaller in design. He opened the blade to show me he meant business, growling out, “Don’t you try anything. I want to make this last, but if I have to, I’ll make it quick.”
If I could’ve rolled my eyes at him, I would have. Right now, eye-rolling seemed like way too much work.
With the switchblade in one hand, he leaned over me, wrapped his other arm around me, and pulled me up into a sitting position. My head had to lean back against the cushion of the sofa since it couldn’t stay up on its own. He moved my legs to drape over the side of the sofa, his grip tight on that switchblade all the while.
“Thank you,” I whispered out, and all he did was glare.
“I wasn’t sure taking you would amount to anything other than pointing fingers at the Montgomerys… until that basketball game,” he told me, still holding onto that blade like he wanted to use it to cut me up. “When I saw how he looked at you, I knew. You’re not just a sister to him. I don’t know how no one else has sensed it. The way he looked at you, how he talked about you—it’s like he owns you. It’s like a little bonus. I get to hurt Gareth even more.”
In a weird, roundabout way, he was right. About everything. I couldn’t fault him for the reason he hated Gareth, nor could I blame him for hating me by association. And yet, I wasn’t the only one who’d gotten caught in the crosshairs of this.
“Erin and her family,” I had to pause to gather a deep breath, “were innocent. You could’ve just taken me instead.”
Neo pointed the switchblade at me, saying, “Sure, but things tend to happen on a national scale when more than one person goes missing. I want the fucking FBI here. If they think Eastcreek has a serial killer, they’ll come.”
“How would they know about a serial killer if there aren’t any bodies?” The longer I got him talking, the more I fought to regain control of myself. I could move my fingers and my hands, but the rest of me was still like stone.
“Well, I have to make sure the plan’s set before I go staging bodies for the world to find,” he told me. “And I have to make sure all fingers point to the Montgomerys. It’s not going to be easy taking down a family with that much money.”
I closed my eyes, whispering, “I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t. No one does. I learned many years ago that you gotta fake it till you make it.” Neo thought I was talking about him—but I wasn’t.
Opening my eyes, I stared at him. He stood right before the couch, a foot in front of me, still clutching that switchblade like he wanted to use it on me. Maybe he did. Maybe he was imagining cutting me up everywhere, making my face a little less pretty. Apparently I didn’t know what he was capable of… but that ignorance went both ways.
“No,” I muttered. I fought to lift my head off the couch, and once I managed to lift it, I struggled with myself to keep it up and not fall straight back. My head felt like a hundred pounds, no joke. “I didn’t know the sheriff was dirty until I called in to report a body.”
That wasn’t what he expected me to say. The fury on Neo’s face lessened, confusion taking its place. “What?”
It was now or never. Had to make my last swing count. One for the books.
“Gareth has been obsessed with me since I first walked into that house,” I told him. After laboring to take a breath, I said, “He wouldn’t leave me alone, and no matter how much I tried to stop him, no matter how much I denied him… it didn’t matter.” My eyes closed again, and this time, when I took a breath, I sounded like a scared little girl. “So I started to get closer to Erin. I had her drive me to school and take me home. One day, I ignored Gareth’s messages… for hours. I was at her house. We were just hanging out.”
I had to fight to keep the anger out of my tone; I couldn’t linger on the fact that the person responsible for her and her family’s deaths was right in front of me.
“When I got home, the kitchen smelled like bleach. Alistair and my mom were away on their honeymoon, so it was just him—and the cook. I found bloody paper towels in the trash,” I whispered, well aware Neo watched me with interest. If I gave even the slightest hint, I’d be a goner. “When I asked him about it, he got angry. He told me he didn’t like being ignored. He… he dragged me through the house, to where he was keeping it. The body.”
Neo’s gaze had narrowed; I couldn’t tell if he was believing me or not. But the more I spoke, the stronger I felt, so I kept going, “It was the chef Alistair had hired to feed us while they were gone. She was strung up by her ankles like an animal. He was bleeding her out.”
He scoffed. “And he just showed this to you?” It was obvious he didn’t believe me.
“He was trying to tell me I’m just like him. When he let me go, I called the police. I had no idea the sheriff would come… I overheard him call me a rat. He told Gareth he needs to get better control of me,” I whispered, and when I shut my eyes this time, I willed tears to the surface. I didn’t cry often. Or, like, ever. It just wasn’t my thing. Calling forth tears was an art that involved bringing all of my confused emotions to the surface.
I thought back to how alone I’d felt my whole life. I thought back to my dad and his new, young girlfriend, how he’d watched us leave that house all those years ago, and he not once tried to contact me to see how I was doing after. I thought of Erin and her family, how scared they must’ve been, and how stupid it all was that they’d gotten caught up in this… because of me.
It was enough, because when I opened my eyes and looked up at Neo, my vision had blurred. “When the sheriff left, Gareth took me and dragged me back into that room. He locked me in there for a whole day, with the body.” The first tear fell down my cheek, moving slowly as it cascaded down along the curve of my face.
Neo noticed it, and the menacing expression he wore lessened, though it didn’t go away entirely.
“When Alistair and my mom got back, he pulled me aside and threatened me. He told me that if I tried to call the cops again, he’d make me regret it. He threatened everyone in Eastcreek, said he’d kill my mom, and he told me if I ran… he’d find me. He’d blacklist my name so I’d never be able to make a life for myself.” Another tear fell down my face, this one from the opposite eye.
“So,” I told him, “trust me. I get why you hate them. I understand. If I was in your shoes, I’d do everything I could to take them down, too.” I bit my bottom lip, acting both sad and accepting of my current fate. “I wish my mom never met Alistair Montgomery. Our lives were so much better before, but she… she’s always wanted a life like that. Surrounded by the wealthy elite.”
Neo had been quiet during my story, and I wished I could take a peek into his head and hear his thoughts. He broke his silence for the first time, asking, “What about you? What do you want?” He still held onto the switchblade, but with much less resolution than before. I hoped that meant I was getting to him.
