Page 52 of Twisted Truths (The Sunburnt Hearts #4)

Chapter Forty

NASH

B lood rings in my ears.

Somewhere in the recess of my mind, I can hear Gabriel yelling at his brother, but I can’t focus on what they’re saying.

Levi lied to me.

Levi lied.

Levi.

Lied.

Those words keep repeating in my head. Why the hell would he lie to me?

I didn’t do anything to Zara. She had her own shadows closer to home.

Sierra’s words mix with my mantra about Levi.

Levi lied.

Zara had her own shadows closer to home.

The compass.

All of a sudden, I remember where I saw it.

“It was Levi,” I whisper.

“Nash,” Hadley’s voice sounds like it’s underwater. “What’s going on?”

“It was Levi,” I say, louder this time. “Levi killed them.”

The car falls silent, the only sound the rush of tyres on cracked bitumen.

“Why would he do that?” Hadley finally asks.

I look down at my sister’s son safely cradled in my arms and tears blur my vision. “I don’t know, but the compass belonged to my uncle. Levi was there. He killed them.”

“Fuck!” Gabriel shouts, slamming his fist on the steering wheel.

The sudden outburst startles Franklin, he flinches in my arms but doesn’t wake.

“Just call the cops,” Isaac says with a shrug. “Let them deal with it.”

“No,” I growl, rage building inside me. “He’s going to look me in the eye and tell me why.”

“Nash,” Hadley starts, squeezing my hand in hers. For once, it has the opposite effect. It doesn’t comfort me, it only makes me feel trapped.

I pull away from her.

“Take the next left,” I tell Gabriel.

“What?” Isaac says. “No. We’ve got to get as far away from Barrenridge as we can.”

“Take the next left.” My tone demands compliance.

Muttering a curse under his breath, Gabriel does as I ask, heading towards the middle of town. The only words I utter are the directions to Levi and Paige’s house, and no one else says a thing until we pull up out the front.

“This is bullshit,” Isaac says, checking over his shoulder as if he thinks someone is following us.

“He murdered his family,” Gabriel says quietly, and I know he gets it.

With another glance at my nephew, I press my lips to his warm head before passing him to Hadley. Her eyes shine with unshed tears, and her hands shake as she takes him from me.

“Take them to the safe house in Sydney,” I instruct Gabriel. “I’ll meet you when I can.”

He offers a clipped nod.

Hadley lets out a sob, reaching for me.

“No, Nash. Please. Don’t do this. Isaac’s right, we’ll go to the cops.”

The tortured look in her eyes almost makes me change my mind. Almost.

With a final, lingering stare, I push open the car door and climb out, closing it firmly behind me. I’m barely holding it together, and my fists clench by my sides as my gaze moves from the car to my half-brother’s house. He betrayed me in the worst possible way.

Gabriel drives off, and I exhale deeply before walking up the path to the front door. Pulling out my phone, I send a text then tap the screen a couple of times before sliding it back into my pocket.

I don’t bother knocking, and step straight into the front entrance. At the sound of the front door closing, Levi appears from the living room. His eyes are bloodshot, his hair a mess like he’s been tugging on it for hours. A half-empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s hangs from his fingers.

His shoulders slump when he sees me.

“Nash,” he chokes out. “I have to get her back. I can’t lose her.”

I remain rooted to the spot, staring at him.

How can he stand there in front of me, knowing what he did?

“You have to convince her that I did it for us,” he says, his voice rising. “To give us a better life.”

I say nothing .

He starts pacing, dragging a hand through his hair again.

“I didn’t think it would blow up like this.

It was supposed to be a way out of this pathetic town, a means to an end.

At the end of the season, I would quit, and we’d start over somewhere with more opportunities for Sawyer.

It was never supposed to go this far. She was never supposed to find out. ”

My anger rushes to the surface, and I clench my jaw, using everything I have to contain it. I need to be patient.

“No one was supposed to find out,” he mutters, now talking to himself. “If Theo would have kept his nose clean, then no one would have been any wiser. I tried to get him off the hook for the fight, a fight that wouldn’t have happened in the first place if it weren’t for our damn sister.”

My eyes widen at this new piece of information.

“I don’t know why he couldn’t let it go.” Levi shakes his head. “It was only boys being boys.”

“What was only boys being boys?” I grit out, unable to keep quiet any longer.

“Locker room talk.” His eyes come up to meet mine, and a bitter smile plays on his lips. “You remember that, don’t you, Nash? The crude remarks players make about their teammate’s sisters… or mums.”

My stomach twists with deep shame at the memory of the sexual innuendos me, Tom, and Gav used to make about his mum to drive Levi away from the game. This was before I knew Katerina. Not that it excuses the behaviour. It was disgusting, and I’ve always regretted it.

“A few of the boys saw Zara with Tanner and made some remarks. Theo was trying to shut them up.”

My mind races as I try to keep up with what Levi’s saying.

Zara was the reason for Theo’s fight at school, and subsequently, the reason he was suspended for a game. The same game she and Tanner saw Levi getting jumped after. Is that his reason for murdering my entire family?

“She ruined everything,” he continues. “If he hadn’t been suspended, no one would have found out about the betting ring. I’m not losing my family because of it. They’re not sending me to jail over this.”

I swallow down my scoff. He won’t be going to jail over some illegal betting ring. He’ll be spending the rest of his life behind bars for murder.

“What was the plan?” I ask, my voice low as I take a slow and measured step towards him. “Shut her up so she would keep quiet? What about Paul? Were they simply loose ends you needed to tie up so you wouldn’t get caught?”

Panic flashes in his eyes, but I keep going.

“Is that what really drove her to the cult, Lev? Was she trying to hide from Tanner… Or you?”

I know Tanner assaulted my sister, or there would be no reason for her to keep her child hidden, but I’m not going to tell Levi that. As far as I’m concerned, Tanner and Levi are as bad as each other.

“Or were you in on it together?” I ask, realisation dawning on me.

“Tanner wanted his cut, too, so you brought him in. Zara found out it wasn’t over after Paul paid your debt and threatened to expose the two of you.

He beat her up and threatened to kill her.

She was so desperate to hide from the two of you, she gave herself over to a cult instead. ”

Levi’s brow narrows, and I realise I’ve hit the nail on the head.

“What did you do, Levi?”

He stares at me, his chest rising and falling in shallow bursts. For a second, I think he’s going to lie. I see it in his calculating eyes. But then he exhales, bitter and hollow.

“You really don’t get it, do you? ”

I stay silent.

“You were always the favourite,” he sneers. “From the second your mum married Dalton, it was like I stopped existing. I was good at basketball, but you were better. Or at least, that’s what he told everyone. I was Dalton’s mistake. You were his legacy.”

He laughs, but it’s sharp and joyless.

“Then you showed up in Barrenridge, like the prodigal son returning home. You were so arrogant, acting like you owned the place.”

My throat tightens. I was an arsehole to him. But that doesn’t excuse what he did.

“So you killed my family because you were jealous ?”

His lips twist up into a demented smile. “Who said I killed anyone?”

Clenching my jaw, I grit out. “I found Uncle Kaleb’s compass. It was under Zara’s bed, covered in blood. I bet when the police inspect it, they’ll find your fingerprints, won’t they, Levi? Because you murdered her over your silly little betting ring.”

Instead of panicking like I thought he would, Levi simply shakes his head, letting out a low chuckle. “You think you know everything, but you’re wrong.”

“No!” I shout, losing my temper. “You murdered them so you could keep your illegal betting ring a secret. What I want to know is, why did you lie to me, Lev? Why did you tell me you got her out of the cult? Huh? How did that play into your little end game?”

“I tried,” he spits back at me. “Believe me, I tried to fucking get to her in that place. But it was impossible to get in there. You thought you were sending me in to save her, but I wasn’t going there to rescue anyone.

I was going to take back control. I couldn’t let her threaten us and get away with it. ”

Levi paces again, his eyes lit with the sick energy of his confession.

“If we got to her, we were going to make it look like they’d done something to her, but we couldn’t get near her.

She’d been locked up tight. So, we waited.

Then, one day, Tanner spotted her leaving Dalton’s.

She was crying. Probably thought Daddy Dearest would save her. We followed her home.”

I suck in a deep breath, knowing what’s coming.

“She was halfway up the steps when I grabbed her, covering her mouth with my gloved hand. Paul saw me from the window, but he didn’t see Tanner.

When he opened the door, Tanner slit his throat.

” He laughs and the sound makes me sick to my stomach.

I swallow down bile as he continues. “I didn’t even know he’d stolen the machete from his drug dealer. ”

“Snake,” I mutter.

“Snake,” he confirms. “We shoved her inside the house, covered in your stepfather’s blood.

We didn’t count on Daniela and Rylan being home, but it was too late.

Tanner told them he’d slit Zara’s throat if they didn’t do what we said.

It was his idea to frame your sister. She was already covered in Paul’s blood, and it was well known around town she’d been involved with the Circle.

A murder-suicide wasn’t too farfetched.”

My legs threaten to give way, and I lean against the wall to steady myself.

Listening to him be so cold and heartless about what happened to my family sends shivers down my spine.

How did I not see through his mask when I returned to Barrenridge?

He watched me search for the truth and grieved with me at their funeral knowing exactly what he’d done.

He’s a fucking psychopath.

“Zara begged for her life,” he says with a sick grin. “She tried to play Tanner, saying something about his kid, thinking she could guilt him into sparing her. But we both knew she was lying.”

My body goes rigid. Every nerve, every muscle pulls tight like a live wire.

Even after she watched our family die, she still fought for her son.

“He made her write the note, said to keep it short. We didn’t want to give her a chance to incriminate us.”

The way he says it so casually causes my anger to boil over.

“Let me guess, you beat Tanner up so he couldn’t turn on you? You won’t get away with this, Levi.”

He snorts, taking a step towards me. “You think I’m going to let you bring me down? You’re not leaving here, Nash.”

I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone. Turning the screen, I show him the red recording dot as I press stop.

His expression cracks.

I hit send.

“It’s over. Shane’s already on his way.”

Levi’s face contorts, and he lunges before I can brace for it.

We crash into the wall with a bone-rattling thud, and my phone hits the floor and skids out of reach. His fist connects with my jaw, then my ribs, but he’s drunk, and I’m able to shove him off me.

Within a beat, I run at him, the momentum of our bodies throwing him into an end table, sending a vase crashing to the ground. I land blow after blow as he brings his arms up to cover his head.

Heavy boots sound outside before the front door bursts open.

Shane’s voice cuts through the chaos. “Nash!”

I’m yanked backwards, and I hold my hands up in the air.

Shane stands between us, angling his body to keep us from killing each other .

“Levi and Tanner killed my family,” I grunt out. “I sent you his confession.”

Reaching into my jacket pocket, I pull out the plastic bag that holds the compass and toss it to Shane who catches it, a look of complete shock on his face.

“I found this under Zara’s bed. It belonged to our Uncle Kaleb, but he left it to Levi. You’ll find his prints on it, along with Zara’s blood.”

Shaking his head, Shane pockets the compass before bending to pull Levi to his feet. He doesn’t resist.

After Shane reads Levi his rights, I follow them out of the house, lowering my head when I notice the neighbours standing in their doorways, watching as Shane helps my half-brother into the back of the patrol car.

It’s over.

Hadley and Franklin are free from the Circle’s clutches.

Gabriel and Isaac have all the information they require to shut down their parents’ cult.

And I found justice for my sister.

Ziggy, Mum, Paul, and Rylan can finally rest.