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Kansas pushed me away. “She was more important!”
I shook my head. “No, she wasn’t. No bitch is more important than my brothers.”
And that was when Kansas hauled off and punched me.
The night everything changed between us.
The night I lost my brothers. After the accident, we spent three days in the hospital. That’s when I learned Amy didn’t technically die.
Well, technically she did die twice, but now she was on a ventilator. She wasn’t wearing a seat belt when we hit the water, and the force of the motion shoved her forward into the windshield, knocking her unconscious. Dad told me the water was so damn cold, it caused her body to shut down immediately. So, when I checked for a pulse, it would’ve been hard to find. However, because she was in the water longer than the rest of us, and coupled with the trauma to her head, dad told me the doctors weren’t sure she would ever wake up.
She was technically alive, but not.
When Dad told me the news, I begged him not to tell Kansas. After explaining, he agreed. As far as Kansas was concerned, Amy died in the accident. I wasn’t going to have my baby brother pine over a bitch who spread her legs for everyone. Dad later learned she was never pregnant, which made me feel better about keeping the truth from Kansas. My brother had his whole life ahead of him. Wasn’t going to that bitch ruin his life, too.
“She’s alive!” Kansas roared, jumping to his feet.
“Technically yes,” I stated. “After the dust settled, they charged me with reckless driving, and driving under the influence because the cops found the alcohol in the car Arizona snagged. Dad finagled a deal with the Lansings and the DA, who agreed to drop the manslaughter charge on one condition.”
Kansas sneered. “What was what?”
“That dad sells twenty percent of Stone Industry to Mr. Lansing and once a month, I hand deliver twenty thousand in cash before visiting with Amy for one hour, as I retell what happened.”
Kansas stared in disbelief as he sat back down. “You mean every fucking month, you visit her and tell the same story, over and over.”
“Yes.”
“Jesus fuck, Montana. It’s been twenty years.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was the one driving. I didn’t want you burdened with the aftermath. You were already grieving. Dad and I knew if we told you, you’d never leave her side. You deserved happiness, Kansas. You were young and had your whole life ahead of you. I didn’t want my mistake to interfere with that.”
“You didn’t cause the accident, Montana. It was an accident. A shit day.”
“I was driving, brother. The blame falls on me.”
“I still don’t understand how something that happened twenty years ago applies to your current situation.”
“I didn’t think it did until the envelope arrived this morning. When I saw it, it got me thinking and after a lot of contemplating, it’s the only thing that makes sense. The woman Tessa saw in my room was older. She was older, with black hair. Tessa said as much. Storm scoured the video archives and confirmed what Tessa said.”
“But Amy is a blonde.”
I nodded. “Yes, she is, but she’s the only woman from my past that makes sense. The only one who has a reason to want to destroy me.”
“You had to miss someone. You said Amy is in a vegetive state. She’s still on the ventilators.”
“And her brother August is her doctor,” I said clearly, as I watched Kansas put the pieces together. “August never forgave me for leaving Amy. He blames me for his sister’s predicament.”
“August was always a fucking bitch. Never liked the weasel.”
“He’s also on the board at St. John’s Presbyterian Hospital.”
