Page 158 of This is Why We Lied

Sara felt it all clicking together. “Mercy was trying to block the sale. With her out of the way, Dave would control Jon’s vote. He’s got a money motive.”

“He’s got more than that,” Will said. “He’s helped Cecil clean up his messes before.”

Faith took over. “Dave knew that Cecil staged the car accident. He told Paul last year in exchange for some cash. Look—”

Sara watched Faith swipe her finger across her phone to pull up a county map.

“Devil’s Bend is near the quarry on the outside of town, about a forty-five-minute drive from the lodge. Christopher said three hours elapsed between the time Cecil drove away with Gabbie and Mercy in the car and the time the sheriff came to notify them about the accident. There’s no way Cecil could’ve hiked home in three hours. There’s an entire mountain between the two locations. Someone had to drive him.”

Sara said, “Dave.”

“Fourteen years ago, Dave helped Cecil cover up Gabbie’s murder,” Faith said. “And last night, Dave helped Cecil kill Mercy to cover up for him again.”

Sara was convinced. “What are you doing? What’s the plan?”

Will said, “I want you to find a way to get Jon out of there. I’m going to stir up Dave.”

“Stir up Dave?” Sara didn’t like how that sounded. “How are you going to stir him up?”

Will told Faith, “Give us a minute.”

Sara felt every hair on the back of her neck stand on end when Faith walked down the trail. She told Will, “You need Dave to turn on Cecil.”

“Yes.”

“So you’re going to goad Dave into saying something stupid.”

“Yes.”

“And he’s probably going to try to hurt you.”

“Yes.”

“And he probably has another knife.”

“Yes.”

“And Kevin and Faith are going to let it happen.”

“Yes.”

Sara looked at his right hand, which he was still holding against his chest. The bandage was frayed and almost black from dirt and sweat and God only knew what else. She let her eyes travel down. He wasn’t wearing the revolver Amanda had given him. His left hand was at his side. She could see the wedding ring on his finger.

Will’s first marriage proposal to Sara had not actually been a proposal. She hadn’t answered the question because he had not actually asked her the question. The fact of this should not have been surprising. He was a remarkably awkward man. He was given to grunting and long silences. He preferred the company of dogs to most people. He liked to fix things. He preferred not to discuss how they’d been broken.

But he also listened to Sara. He respected her opinion. He valued her input. He made her feel safe. He was a lot like her father. Which got to the heart of why Sara was so profoundly, irrevocably in love with him. Will was always going to stand up when everyone else stayed seated.

She said, “Beat the hell out of him.”

“All right.”

Sara felt shaky as she walked toward the dining hall. She twisted her wedding ring around her finger. She thought about Jon, because that was the one person she wanted to protect. The last twenty-four hours had been crushingly traumatic for the young man. He’d gotten blind drunk. He’d argued with his mother. He’d thrown up in his own front yard in front of a stranger. He’d been surrounded by more strangers when he’d learned that his mother had been murdered. Then his father had been arrested, then his father was put in the clear, and now Will was about to goad Dave into bragging about the fact that he had murdered the mother of his child.

Sara had to get Jon out of there before it happened.

Faith was waiting on the viewing deck again. Kevin had joined her.

He said, “I got the kitchen staff out of the way. They’re up in cottage four until this blows over. What about the guests?”