Page 4 of Twisted Truths (The Sunburnt Hearts #4)

Chapter Three

NASH

T he sun has barely risen when I climb out of bed and dress in my running gear, earlier than is reasonable after tossing and turning all night in the spare room at Levi’s place.

The house is quiet, so I close the door softly as I let myself outside, not wanting to wake my sister-in-law or my niece, who I heard fussing a couple of times during the night.

After stretching on the front lawn, I take off down the street in a slow jog.

When I hit the main road, I settle into a comfortable cadence.

There’s no traffic, with the entire town still fast asleep.

I have no path in mind, but I’m not surprised when I turn down the dead-end road that leads to the Sunfire Circle commune.

Despite being the end of winter, sweat drips down my body as my feet propel me down the long stretch of road, the commune’s orchards growing on either side throwing shadows over the gravel. What they don’t keep for themselves, they sell in town at the market held on the last Sunday of the month.

My hands fist at my sides, but I tamp down my anger, knowing it won’t do me any good to go off half-cocked.

My footsteps slow as I reach the edge of the commune where tea trees and silver oaks surround the property.

When I come to a stop at the fence, I can just make out some cabins.

People are moving about, but none dare to speak.

I grit my teeth at the idea of Ziggy following along with these mindless sheep. What the hell was she thinking? My sister may not have been academic, but she was still whip-smart and knew how to think for herself. How the hell did she get caught up with these people?

Safe on this side of the fence, I hide behind the foliage and watch as Solomon’s herd go about their morning. There are more women than men. In fact, in the few minutes I’ve been standing here, I’ve only seen about eight men and at least twenty women. No children.

The door to the cabin closest to me opens, and I shrink down as a young, auburn-haired woman dressed in a loose white shirt and tan linen pants steps out. My breath hitches at her understated, effortless beauty. She pauses, her head turning in my direction.

I inhale sharply, waiting for her shout to alert someone that she saw me. When it doesn’t come, I risk another peek, only to see her shake her head slightly before someone else appears behind her.

The brunette says something, but they’re too far away for me to hear anything but a low murmur of voices as the auburn-haired woman shakes her head again. They head farther into the commune, another brunette and a blonde trailing behind them.

My heart races at the thought of nearly getting caught.

Something tells me that sick fuck Ignatius Solomon wouldn’t take too kindly to finding me hanging around outside his fences, and I’m really not in the mood to be hauled in by the chief of police either.

Not if I want him to hear me when I plead Zara’s case.

When the coast is clear, I straighten and roll my shoulders to ease the tension. With one last glance through the trees, I turn and run back down the road towards town, constantly checking over my shoulder, unable to shake the creepy feeling of being watched.

The house is still quiet when I let myself in through the front door, and I forego the noisy coffee machine sitting on the counter, quietly searching the cupboards until I find the mugs and some horrible instant crap that will surely taste like mud compared to the caramel macchiato’s I’m used to from the Brew Crew, a hip café down the street from my apartment in Boston.

I stare out the window as I wait for the kettle to boil.

Levi and Paige’s modest three-bedroom home overlooks Barrenridge Park, and my memories drift to all the times Zara and I took our little brother, Rylan, there to play when he was younger.

My chest aches when I realise it’s his birthday next month.

He would have turned thirteen. A teenager.

When the hell did that happen? I spoke to him a month ago, and he told me how he had a crush on a girl from school.

Did he ever ask her out? I guess I’ll never know now.

My eyes fall on the hedge maze in the corner of the park, where I had my first kiss with Macey Parker in year eight.

Nerves got the better of me, and my hands were sweaty as I pulled her through the maze until we reached the wooden platform in the middle.

We made out for ages until her brother came searching for her and gave me a bloody nose for touching his sister.

Levi clears his voice behind me. “Morning. Been for a run?”

I nod, still lost in my memories .

He busies himself making his own coffee, and I move over to sit at the dining table. We need a plan of attack, because if I’m idle for too long, I’m going to fucking lose it. I’m barely hanging on as it is. Someone has to pay for what happened to my family. I won’t let them pin this on Zara.

“Why do you think Ziggy did it?” I ask Levi when he sits down across from me, my voice gravelly.

Levi’s brows nearly shoot off his forehead, and if the topic wasn’t so painful, I might’ve fucking laughed.

“Joined the Sunfire Circle,” I clarify. “Why’d she do it?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t know. Maybe it had something to do with that shithead ex-boyfriend of hers?”

“Tanner Crawley?” I ask.

Levi nods. “Something about him was off. I don’t know.” He lets out an exasperated sigh. “I got this feeling he wasn’t treating her right. She was jumpy all the time, and she was always wearing oversized clothes.”

“You think he was hurting her?” Bile rises up the back of my throat at the thought.

Why was I so in the dark about all of this?

Every time I spoke to my sister, she seemed upbeat and happy.

I had no idea anything was wrong until just over six months ago, when her phone was disconnected.

When I called Mum to see what was going on, she told me Zara had broken up with Tanner and moved out to the Sunfire Circle farm for a little while to seek clarity and try to find herself after the breakup.

Mum and Paul weren’t happy about it, but she was almost twenty-three years old.

What could they do about it? They couldn’t lock her up, and while everyone in town knows Ignatius Solomon is a shady fucker, apparently there’s no evidence that his so-called spiritual commune is doing anything illegal .

I called Levi and begged him to get her out of there. It took him six months to convince her to come home. Less than ten hours later, my family was dead.

“What time did you tell Shane we’d be at the station?” My hand shakes as I bring my mug to my lips, swallowing down the sludge my half-brother is trying to pass off as coffee.

Levi checks his watch. “We’re meeting him at seven-thirty.”

It’s only six-thirty.

“I need to go past the house.”

“It’s still a crime scene.”

I slam my fist down on the table. “I need to see the house, goddammit!”

A few seconds later, Sawyer cries. Levi runs a hand over his tired face as he gets to his feet. “Go shower while I settle her.”

It’s seven by the time we pull over outside the gate to Mum and Paul’s small farm, about ten kilometres out of the main township of Barrenridge. The sight of the bright yellow crime scene tape is like something out of a movie.

This is not my real life.

It can’t be.

We leave Levi’s car parked on the side of the road, and climb the fence, walking in silence up the long driveway towards the property.

My heart races faster the closer we get to the house. The murders occurred three days ago—I don’t know what I’m walking into.

More police tape covers the front door, but I don’t look at it; I can’t pull my eyes away from the massive blood stain on the front porch. I stumble, Levi’s arms shooting out to catch me, righting me before I can fall to my knees. Paul bled out right there.

“You don’t have to do this,” Levi croaks out. I don’t miss the waver in his voice.

Shoving him off, I circle the house to the backdoor. The back step creaks beneath my weight, and I draw in a deep breath as I turn the handle, slowly pushing open the door.

I’m not sure what I expect; Mum to be bustling about in the kitchen, or Rylan racing out of his room begging me to play ball with him, but the house is eerily silent.

There’s no sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies or muffins.

Instead, there’s a cloying coppery odour.

My stomach churns knowing it’s their blood.

I scan the kitchen—it’s too clean, but nothing appears out of place—before proceeding to the dark corridor that leads to the bedrooms. A wave of nausea hits me, knowing Levi found Zara in her childhood bedroom.

A note saying, ‘ Forgive me ’, had been scribbled in an open notebook on her desk, but I refuse to believe she didn’t write it under duress. There’s no way she did this.

Unable to face entering her room just yet, I head to the front of the house, to the living room. The moment I step inside, I wish I hadn’t. My eyes go straight to the two large stains on the carpet next to each other. Mum and Rylan.

This time, my legs give way, unable to hold my body any longer. My shoulders shake as I fall apart. This isn’t fair. Why them? Tears blur my vision, the weight of my grief crushing me. Everything about this is wrong, so impossibly wrong.

Rylan’s laughter echoes through my head, and I feel the tug of his small hands on my shirt as he tries to get my attention, his bright eyes full of life.

Now all that’s left is the haunting image of his blood staining the carpet, and I can’t …

I can’t escape it. A strangled sob rips from me, the sound so raw and guttural in the cold, suffocating silence.

Levi’s muttered curse barely registers as he appears in the doorway behind me. He crosses the room and tries to pull me to my feet, but I shove him away.