Page 59 of The Sinner's Son
“Dane?” Katie asked.
“Yes. I just couldn’t find the courage to kill him.”
“According to your browser history, you searched the least painful way to kill someone this morning. Is that why you’d gone home for lunch? Were you going to kill Dane?”
“Whore no more,” he singsonged.
Royce and Sawyer exchanged stunned glances. They’d avoided a tragedy by the skin of their teeth.
Alec covered his mouth and staggered back from the glass. Was he going to be sick? Sawyer stepped into his line of sight to get his attention, and Alec gestured he was okay.
“So, that’s a yes?” Katie pushed. “You had planned to kill Dane Sutton.”
Cory cocked a brow. “Isn’t that what I said?”
“No, you sang a little ditty,” Katie told him. “And it was out of tune. For the record, and I need a simple yes or no here, did you plan to kill Dane Sutton?”
“Yes. Alec apologized for the shitty way he treated me. I needed to get Dane out of my way and clean his messes so I could bring Alec back to my house. I planned to fix him a nice dinner before teaching him what he really needed from a man.”
“Fuck,” Alec hissed. “I can’t be in here.”
Sawyer followed him out into the hallway to make sure he didn’t push inside the interview room and attack Cody. He couldn’t fault the urge, but he wouldn’t condone the action. Luckily, Alec kept walking, muttering something under his breath Sawyer couldn’t make out. They took the stairs down to the basement instead of the elevator, and Alec headed straight for the conference room, where he started to pack equipment.
“I won’t be much longer,” Alec said.
“No rush on my part. I’ll be here a few more hours.”
Alec snapped his head up. “No. I mean, yes, I’m leaving for the day. But I meant my stay in Savannah. I want to shoot some more background footage and wrap up a few things, but it shouldn’t take more than a day. Two max.”
“You don’t need to rush out of here like the village elders are running you out of town,” Sawyer teased, though he’d have led the charge barely forty-eight hours ago. “The FBI will make a confirmation on Monica’s necklace, and I want you to be there when we call Talia with the news. The department will hold a press conference. Stay and be a part of that because it wouldn’t have happened without your help.”
Alec shook his head. “No, I need to take a different approach. I’m drawing too much attention to myself.”
“Because of Cory Sands?”
“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t feel the same way.” Alec shivered so hard he dropped a piece of equipment on the table. “Yeah, building the profiles of my likes and dislikes is creepy enough, but he broke into my house and did unspeakable things there.” Alec trembled all over, then shook his head as if he could banish Cory’s words from his head. “As awful as that is, I can’t get past knowing he watched me have sex with Dane. Yeah, I should’ve considered someone could stroll on the beach in the middle of the night, but I was too consumed by Dane to care. And he was so wrong about the lack of passion and genuine emotion. I’ve had tons of meaningless hookups, and what I shared with Dane was special. I will not let Cory take that from me.” He dropped into a chair and put his head in his hands. “I feel so violated. I can’t possibly stay?”
“I think that feeling will follow you everywhere unless you tackle it head-on.”
Alec slowly lifted his head. “What do you mean?”
“Have you ever sought treatment for your past trauma?”
Shaking his head, Alec said, “I chose action over reflection. I just don’t see how talking about my problems will fix them. What can a therapist say to help me stop feeling like someone is watching me?”
“You won’t know unless you try,” Sawyer told him. “Don’t let Cory take anything else from you.”
Alec sighed heavily. “I’ll consider it. I do really love it here.” He met Sawyer’s gaze. “And I want to make sure Dane is really okay before I go. He has a lot going on right now, but I’d like to be his friend if he’d let me.” He smiled a little and added, “And maybe it could turn into something more later.”
“You never know. I sure as hell never would’ve predicted marriage and fatherhood with Royce Locke.”
Alec perked up. “Fatherhood?”
Oops.“I wasn’t supposed to say anything yet.” He’d given Royce a rough time for blurting out their secret, and there he went and did it with someone he hardly knew.
“I won’t tell anyone,” Alec promised.
Sawyer couldn’t help imagining a role reversal of the punishment he’d given Royce. Oh, how he’d love to get on his knees for his husband. Sawyer believed Alec would keep his secret, so he aimed for a different tactic. “Hey, how do you feel about coming to our house for dinner tonight?”