Page 45 of Darkwater Lane

13

GWEN

We stop by a convenience store to pick up a few essentials, then find a relatively cheap but safe motel. The minute the door closes behind us, and I’ve thrown the lock, I turn to face Sam.

He stands waiting, knowing what’s coming. “I’m sorry,” he tells me, preempting my attack.

While I appreciate the apology, it’s not enough. “How could you arrange to meet up with Leo without telling me?”

“I had to, Gwen. It was the only way I was going to be able to clear my name. I needed proof that he was alive. Something I could take to the cops in Norton.”

“We swore we’d tell each other everything,” I remind him, struggling to keep my voice low and calm when what I really want to do is shout and rail. “Remember Salah Point?” I’d taken off with Kez to hunt down a killer without telling Sam. Eventually, he figured out where we were going and came after us, but he was too late. By the time he reached us, I’d already suffered serious injuries and nearly died.

After that, we promised we wouldn’t try to face challenges like that on our own.

At least Sam has the decency to act chastened. “I was afraid you’d try to talk me out of meeting with him if I told you.”

I shake my head. “I wouldn’t have.”

“Then you’d have demanded to go with me.”

“Damn straight I would have!” I realize my voice has grown too loud, so I lower it to a hiss. “And I would have been right. What if he tried to kill you? What if it was a setup? Jesus, Sam, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

“I didn’t trust Varrus, and I didn’t want to put you at risk.” His expression is earnest, and I know he’s telling the truth. But that doesn’t matter.

I jab a finger against his chest. “You don’t get to make that decision for me. Or for this family.”

“You’re right,” he says simply. “I’m sorry.”

His apology takes some of the wind out of my sails. It’s difficult to be mad at someone who agrees with you. Plus, anger won’t solve the very real-world problems we’re facing.

I sink onto the bed. There are so many questions spinning through my head that it’s difficult to know where to begin. “I want to know everything you haven’t told me. No holding anything back this time.”

He leans a hip against the desk on the wall opposite the bed. “Leo texted me earlier today. He said he wanted to meet but it had to just be the two of us. No one else could know.”

Another wave of anger surges through me at the risk Sam had been willing to take.

“I agreed and told him to name the time and place. He suggested our house. That’s when I told him that if he came near my home or my family, I would gut him. He sent back a laughing emoji. Then we agreed to meet at a park about half a mile away. He told me exactly where he’d be waiting. When I got there, he wasn’t there. I waited, but he never showed.”

“That’s it?” I ask.

He nods. “That’s it.”

The detective said the last text on Leo’s phone was the one of you threatening to gut him.”

“Cops lie, Gwen. It’s a common tactic to get people to confess.”

I grind my teeth at how unfair it is that the police can try to trap people by lying to them. But now isn’t the time for that discussion.

“What about the alarm?” I ask. “I took a closer look after you were arrested. Any recordings from after I left and the kids got home have been completely and permanently scrubbed. I sent the log to Taylor, hoping she can maybe pull something, but I’m not optimistic. It shows you were the one to shut off the system and then turn it back on.”

“It wasn’t me. I never turned the system off. Someone must have discovered my code.”

It’s the obvious answer. Except it doesn’t make sense. “But how?” I demand. “Unless you shared it with someone.” Which we both know didn’t happen. He would never compromise our personal safety that way.

“I don’t know, Gwen.” He sounds equally exasperated. “All I know is that I didn’t do this despite the evidence against me.” He lets his head fall back against the wall. “It’s fucking Stillhouse Lake all over again.” I can hear the exhaustion in his voice.

Being falsely accused was hard on him. There was a constant threat hanging over his head.