Page 150 of This is Why We Lied

She asked, “What was Gabbie’s full name?”

“Gabriella,” he whispered. “Gabriella Maria Ponticello.”

19

Will’s brain was vibrating with self-recriminations. Paul had been right in front of him the entire time. Will should’ve pushed the man about checking in under an alias. He should’ve done a deeper dive into Paul’s past. Delilah had told Will about Gabbie less than an hour after Mercy’s death. Will had a sick feeling that he knew exactly what the tattoo on Paul’s chest said. You didn’t have a word permanently imprinted over your heart unless that word was important to you.

Will had looked right at it and hadn’t been able to read it.

Faith had needed less than a minute on her phone to confirm Paul’s connection to Gabbie. She’d found an obituary in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution archives. Gabriella Maria Ponticello had been survived by her parents Carlos and Sylvia, and her younger brother Paul.

“Kevin,” Faith said. “Circle around to the other side. I want you to take Gordon to cottage four. Listen to whatever story he spins, then we’ll compare notes with whatever we get out of Paul.”

Kevin looked surprised, but he gave her a salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

Will felt his teeth start to ache from clenching his jaw. Faith was giving the interview to Kevin because she felt the need to babysit Will.

He couldn’t blame her. He had fucked up so much of this already.

The door to the main house opened. Delilah came out first. She bounded down the stairs. Bitty pushed Cecil out onto the porch. Dave was behind them. He lit a cigarette, then blew out a stream of smoke as he followed them to the wheelchair ramp off the back of the house.

Faith tugged at Will’s sleeve, pulling him into the forest. They were waiting for the compound to clear out. Christopher was zip tied to a paddle wheel inside the boathouse. Sara was with Jon. Cocktails had started five minutes ago. Monica and Frank had been the first to leave. Then Drew and Keisha. With the rest of the family heading down, that left Gordon and Paul. The lights were on in cottage five, but the men hadn’t come out. And why would they? Thanks to Will, Paul was confident that he’d gotten away with murder.

Will couldn’t hold it in any longer. He told Faith, “I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

Faith said, “Tell me how you fucked up.”

“Paul has a tattoo on his chest. I know it says Gabbie. I saw it, but I couldn’t read it fast enough. He covered it with a towel.”

Faith was silent a beat too long. “You don’t know that.”

“I know it. You know it. Amanda will know it. Sara will—” He felt like his stomach had filled with diesel fuel. “Keisha told me that Paul and Gordon were late to breakfast. That’s when Paul hid the broken knife handle in their toilet tank. I scared the shit out of her and Drew for nothing. They were terrified of being shot. And Chuck would probably still be alive. Christopher was supposed to be guiding guests this morning. Chuck would’ve been asleep in his bed.”

“Wrong,” Faith said. “The activities were cancelled because of Mercy.”

Will shook his head. None of it mattered.

“Penny told me about the car accident,” Faith said. “I could’ve followed up on it hours ago. I had Gabbie’s first name. I could’ve cross-referenced it with all the other names, including Paul’s. That’s how I found the obituary.”

Will knew she was clutching at straws. “We’ve got to get a confession out of Paul. I can’t let him get away with this because of my mistake.”

“He won’t get away with it,” Faith said. “Look at me.”

Will couldn’t look at her.

“Christopher’s going to do serious time. We’ll use his testimony to get Cecil for murdering Gabbie. We’ll arrest Paul for killing Mercy. God knows how many strip clubs in Atlanta were buying moonshine off Chuck. They almost killed Monica with that shit. None of this would’ve happened if you weren’t up here. Do you think Biscuits would’ve investigated Mercy’s murder? You’re the only reason Paul is going to get caught. And Christopher. And Cecil.”

“Faith, I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but every word out of your mouth sounds like pity.”

The door to cottage five opened. Gordon came out first, then Paul. They were laughing about something because they had no idea that hell was about to rain down on them both.

Will said, “Let’s go.”

He jogged across the compound. Kevin came from the other side. He grabbed Gordon by the arm.

“Excuse me?” Gordon said, but Kevin was already pulling him away.

“Hey!” Paul tried to go after him. Will put a firm hand on the man’s chest.