Page 3 of Twisted Truths

Credit where credit’s due, though. Thanks to Dalton’s almost military-style regime towards my training, I was good. Better than good. I was one of the best basketball stars the town had boasted in twenty years. Much to my delight, I surpassed Levi, and by the time we reached high school, I’d taken over the captaincy. It drew an even bigger divide between the two of us, and our coach was hard-pressed to control our sibling rivalry both on and off the court.

My buddy Tom and I tried everything to get Levi to quit the team. We phased him out of games, stole his clothes out of his locker while he was showering, put itching powder in his underwear, and when we were fifteen, we ambushed him after a game and left him tied to the basketball post overnight.

I almost got into deep shit over that, especially when Katerina and Kaleb called in the chief of police. Fortunately for me, John Cooper and Dalton went way back, and Dalton paid him off to sweep it under the rug. I was under strict instructions to lay off Levi after that.

Not that it mattered. Two months later, a mining explosion rocked our little town. Thirty men died, including Uncle Kaleb. Driven by grief, Levi quit the team. Funnily enough, once he was off the team and the competition between us dissipated, we actually got along better. I wouldn’t ever call us best friends, but there was less animosity.

“The arsehole never cared about Ziggy,” I mutter under my breath. “But I can’t believe he’d let the town believe she’d be capable of…” My breath hitches, and I can’t complete the sentence.

Murder-suicide.

Parricide.

Fratricide.

There’s no fucking way. I refuse to believe it.

“Have they questioned Ignatius Solomon or Gabriel or anyone from the Sunfire Circle?” I demand, my anger building.

Levi remains quiet, giving me my answer—the bastards who brainwashed our sister are untouchable.

“They won’t get away with this.”

“We have to be careful, Nash,” Levi cautions. “We don’t know how deep their connections run.”

“This is bullshit.”

“I know,” he agrees. “But I need you to promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

He arches his brow in response to the death glare I shoot him, and my shoulders deflate. Yeah, okay. I’m definitely the hot-headed one out of the two of us, but to be fair, Zara wasmy full flesh and blood, and I will not let this heinous act tarnish her good name.

I’ll never stop blaming myself for leaving her to fall into the clutches of Gabriel Solomon, the son of the Sunfire Circle cult leader.

“It took me six months to get her out of there, Nash. Six months. You can’t come back and go throwing your weight around. They’re dangerous people, and I don’t want…” He trails off.

“You don’t want what?” I challenge him. “You don’t want them hurting me? My family is dead, Levi. It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?”

A wave of nausea rolls over me as I think about what happened to my mum, to Zara, to my stepdad, and to my twelve-year-old half-brother, Rylan. There’s not much worse anyone can do to me at this point.

“I’ve got Paige and Sawyer to think about,” Levi says quietly. “I can’t risk something happening to them.”

I expel a deep breath, my concern growing for my sister-in-law and eight-month-old niece. There’s no way I would forgive myself if something happened to them because Levi was helping me bring down the Sunfire Circle. “Where are they?”

“At my father-in-law’s.”

“Good,” I say with a nod. Martin Shaw’s family has worked the land in Barrenridge as cattle farmers for three generations. He wouldn’t hesitate to use his shotgun on anyone who stepped onto his property unwelcome.

Levi clears his throat. “Have you spoken to Dalton?”

I shake my head. “He called once a week while I was attending Duke, but I got sick of listening to him dissect every element of my game. I stopped answering his calls after I signed with the G League on the advice of my agent and teammanager. The pressure was too much. It was affecting my game.”

“You haven’t spoken to him in almost four years?” Levi fails to hide the surprise in his tone.

“Nope.”

“So, he doesn’t know you’re back in town?”

“You didn’t tell him?” I arch a brow.