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Paxton lifted a palm. “Let’s go through the rest of the shit you think I did. If I actually did it, I’ll own up to it. If I didn’t, we’ll try to figure out if Tate could’ve done it.”
“Okay.”
I started listing off everything I could remember from the last couple of months. When I got to the leaked story about me in the hospital, Paxton cut me off. “I didn’t do that one.”
My forehead wrinkled. “You didn’t contact the media?”
“Nope. I stole your key, spiked your water with something, and went into your dorm that night. But someone else leaked the story about the aftermath.”
“So I guess Tate could’ve done that too.” I frowned and tilted my head. “Wait… I just thought of something.”
“What?”
“If Tate was the killer back then, and he totally got away with it… why would he be doing all of this stuff to mess with me now? Why would he want me to get kicked out of college?”
“Maybe he thinks you know something about him. Something that could incriminate him.”
“But I don’t know anything. He knows full well that I always thought you were the killer.”
“Okay, so maybe it’s not that.” Paxton’s brows furrowed again. “Maybe it’s because all of us are here at Worthington now. You, me, Justin, Michaela. The survivors. Maybe Tate is worried that we’ll all get together and start talking to each other about what happened back then. Then we might start putting stuff together and figure out that it was him.”
I gnawed at the inside of my cheek as he spoke. “That could be it. But if it is… then why is he only trying to get rid of me?” I asked. “Why isn’t he targeting you or Justin? Or Michaela?”
“Maybe you’re just the easiest target. Or—” He stopped abruptly, lips tightening into a grim slash.
I stared at him with wide eyes. “What is it?”
Paxton was silent for a moment. “We thought the killer wanted all of us dead at the lake house. But what if you were the main target all along and everyone else was just collateral damage?” he finally said. “What if it’s always been you?”
Sienna
I stared at Paxton, forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…” He trailed off for a second, lips tightening. “I don’t know if you ever noticed this, because you were so innocent back then. Naïve, I guess. But Tate was completely in love with you back in the day.”
“He had a small crush on me when we were teenagers. I know that,” I said, face flushing. “He admitted it years ago, and then he got over it.”
Paxton shook his head. “I don’t think it was a small crush. We all saw it. He was always staring at you, and Dane told me he was always buying you gifts, too. Expensive jewelry and other stuff like that. And he absolutely hated me once you started seeing me. I used to catch him glaring at me all the time.”
“He bought jewelry for Michaela, too. He was just a very sweet and generous friend.”
“Sienna… the dude was totally in love with you. His feelings for Michaela might’ve been friendship-based, but with you it was something different. I could tell.”
“If that’s what you thought back then, why didn’t you ever say anything?” I asked.
“I didn’t want to come across as a jealous asshole. Also, I wasn’t worried. I knew you only had feelings for me and just saw Tate as a friend.”
“Oh.”
“Anyway, my point is… love can make people do terrible things. It can make them completely snap,” Paxton went on.
“So that’s what you think happened?”
“Yeah. Maybe seeing you with me that night finally made Tate snap after all those years of being obsessed with you. So then he planned to get rid of everyone that night. Make it look like a random massacre that he just happened to survive. But then he was interrupted by the police arriving before he could finish the job. Or maybe he assumed I was actually dead when he saw me on the stairs, and he also assumed you, Justin, and Michaela were dead too, considering how many times you were all stabbed. Plus you passed out when the killer started smothering you. So it makes sense that he assumed you were dead.”
“It works as a theory, but I just can’t picture Tate doing any of that,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t see him planning out something so terrible, let alone doing it. He’s such a nice guy. He’s always been nice. And I’ve never seen it as an insidious kind of niceness.”
“Well, if you don’t think it’s him, then that leaves Michaela.”
