Page 71 of Behind These Four Walls

James edged closer. “Hey!”

“Get it the fuck together. This was a stupid game gone wrong. An accident. They’ll say it was bad driving for the road conditions or whatever excuse they give for stuff like this. I don’t know, but we’re not calling the police until we call our people first.”

Edie looked like she was about to be ill. Exactly how James was feeling. “You’re disgusting,” she said to her brother.

Bennett turned, eyeing each of them until he landed on James. “If anyone says anything other than we were driving, saw them go over, and stopped to see if we could help them, you’re dead. Understand? This secret goes to our grave.”

Roger and Danny readily agreed. They didn’t have the pull like Bennett and Edie. Their dads had business with the Corrigans. They had college and wives and careers to have. Reputations to uphold. No one had to know about this. No one.

“Swear it,” Bennett said, his eyes boring into James, making him feel like he was shrinking where he stood.

James nodded, feeling ashamed. His dad’s law firm. Edie. Their lives would be ruined.

Edie shook her head emphatically. “No, I won’t. We can’t.”

Bennett leaned in close to her, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “You will, because if you ever mention this again, dear little sis, I’ll make sure your life is a living hell. I hope you believe me.” Then he flipped, a disarming smile spreading over his face. His voice softened. “It will be all right, okay? They will be all right if you call the ambulance fast enough. You can save them.” He picked up the phone and held it out to her.

She recoiled, looked over the ledge at the van, with its wheels still spinning halfway below, and silently took the phone to call 911.

At the same time, Bennett called their father, who came to the scene with Jackson.

What kind of brother—no, human—did that? James asked himself that nearly every day after that night, the guilt eating away at him so that he could barely function. But he was still always too chickenshit to stand up to Bennett and stand up for Edie.

James wanted Edie to never change, like Johnny Cade with Ponyboy in S. E. Hinton’sThe Outsiders—wanted her to stay gold and always remain the sweet, lovable, dreamy Edie she was supposed to be. The princess in the castle that was the Corrigans’. But that night changed him and Edie forever. Neither of them would ever be the same again.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Isla

Present Day

Isla woke to the sound of beeping machines, a throbbing head, a sore neck, and Myles looming over her, watching her with concern. He gently held her back when she tried to sit up, disoriented and afraid. The doctors said she was lucky. That the driver’s side had taken the brunt of the impact and she’d only suffered minor injuries. She’d be sore for a few days and needed to take it easy but could be released shortly.

Myles tried to distract her when she heard about the driver’s side, but her memory came at her in a rush, like the other car barreling at them. Myles finally told her. James hadn’t been as lucky. He was unconscious, his condition critical.

“You were lucky,” Myles told her, helping her to a seated position. “What were you doing with James? How do you even know him?”

She didn’t answer. Brooke and Jackson had her attention as she watched them through the window of her room. They were in the hallway, just outside her door. When they thought no one was watching, Jackson touched Brooke, his finger lightly trailing the back of her armin an intimate gesture. But Brooke barely acknowledged him. They realized Isla was awake and entered. Brooke wore a smug expression and sauntered to Isla’s bedside. Her tone dripped with mockery and fake concern.

“Isla dear, you are either accident-prone or a bad luck charm. First the mishap at the hunt, now this ...” She tsked. “When did you and James become an item? This is how you normally conduct interviews?”

“Brooke,” Myles warned, tensing. Isla coughed a little, signifying it was fine.

Brooke suddenly perked up like she’d been hit with a bright idea. “Now that things have come to this, I think continuing this article of yours is in bad taste. I’m sure my husband will agree. Don’t you agree, Jackson? Liabilities and everything?”

Jackson cleared his throat, glancing at Isla and Myles uncomfortably before taking Brooke by the shoulders and whispering something in her ear that ended her victory lap.

“We came to make sure you were okay,” Jackson said softly, placing a guiding hand on the small of Brooke’s back. “We’ll see you both back at the estate and can discuss later.”

“What about the other car?” Isla asked when she and Myles were finally alone. “The person who followed us and tried to burn us in the barn?”

Myles hesitated so long she had to repeat herself.

“Danny?” Myles said.

Danny was dead.

Chapter Fifty-Five