Page 53 of The Keeper

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” The question sounded like an angry snarl from a wounded animal, and Seth knew Reggie’s pain came from someplace deeper than the injuries Rueben had inflicted on him.

“Sheriff Burke has recused himself from this investigation and any others connected to Salvation Anew,” Agent Johansen reminded him.

Reggie slowly turned his head and fixed the FBI agent with an icy glare. “I will answer your questions, but I want Burke present to hear them.” He returned his dead eyes to Seth. “Your family put mine through hell, so the least you can do is sit there and listen to what you did to us.”

Seth wanted to remind Reggie that he’d been a thirteen-year-old kid, and he hadn’t lied or exaggerated his story. Seth had not engaged in a private or public war against the Ulrichs. But had the Harts used their founding family status to pressure the citizens of Hart’s Creek and Last Chance Creek to turn on Reggie’s family? And what about him? Reggie’s accusation hadn’t been wrong. He’d made no effort to solve Natalie’s case during his tenure as sheriff. The excuses he’d given to Assistant Director Amanda Hines from the CBI were true, but he should’ve reached out to them to ask for help.

He sat back down and gestured for Reggie to continue. The man started talking with little prompting, so none of the investigators interrupted him. Seth knew they were recording the confession and taking copious notes to double back once Reggie wound down. The injured man detailed the humiliation and shame heaped upon the single mom and her two kids. Their father, a deadbeat alcoholic, according to Reggie, had died and left them nearly penniless. The only thing he’d left behind was the damn truck Ryan loved to drive so much. Rhonda, his mother, worked full-time at the grocery store and cleaned houses on the side to make ends meet.

“Mom lost all her cleaning jobs once Ryan’s name got floated out there as Natalie’s killer. No one wanted her in their homes because what kind of person raised a monster?” Reggie snarled. “I got bullied and beaten up on the playground at school. Taunted mercilessly until I tried to take my life to escape the pain. That’s when my mom decided we had to leave. We fled in the middle of the night and didn’t look back. We drove as far as the tank of gas would get us and tried our best to reestablish ourselves.” Reggie’s voice broke, and Seth sympathized for the hell he’d lived through. He would not forgive Reggie for the atrocities he committed, but Seth at least understood how someone could get pushed too far. “And the move worked until Ryan died of an overdose. Rumors and speculation started, and all it took was for one journalist to connect some dots and ruin the home we’d made.”

And they’d run again, settling down and building a life until someone else investigated Natalie’s death. “About every five years, someone came along and poked the hornet’s nest,” Reggie said. “Resentment bubbled beneath the surface, but I thought I had a good handle on it until….” His voice trailed off, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Do you need something?” Lyndhurst asked. “Water?”

“Shut the fuck up!” Reggie’s roar triggered a coughing fit and set off some monitors, but he calmed the beeping and his coughing down after a few moments. “Resentment became bone-deep hatred after my mama had the massive stroke four years ago. I had to put her in a state-run nursing facility because I couldn’t afford better. She doesn’t get to plant flowers and grow vegetables anymore. Mama can’t talk right or communicate very well. She can’t even wipe her own ass. The woman has worked her ass off for her entire life and loved her sons with everything she had. What thanks does my mama get? She’s imprisoned by her own mind and body. I couldn’t turn back the clock and fix anything for her, but I could get even for the humiliation, shame, and misery we suffered all because your family decided Ryan killed their little princess.”

Reggie’s snide tone set Seth on edge. Every muscle in his body tensed, and he clenched his fists and jaw to keep from striking an injured man or saying something that would risk the confession.

“Don’t like that, do you?” Reggie asked. “Well, too fucking bad. You’re going to sit there and hear me out.”

And he did just that as Reggie detailed stumbling across one of Mick Carson’s interviews during an internet search two years ago. He wanted to find out what was going on in Last Chance Creek and see if there were any updates on Natalie’s case. Something about Carson’s impassioned speech triggered a deep recognition and made Reggie feel seen for the first time in maybe his entire life.

“The fact that we both hated your guts was just a bonus,” Reggie said.

His eyes glazed over as he talked about joining Salvation Anew and finding a deeper purpose. There were things Mick made him do that turned Seth’s stomach and made him want to puke as Reggie went into grotesque detail. Reggie and Quinton carried out Mick’s orders, and Odell was the enforcer when it didn’t happen. Keegan had been their favorite target for abuse and punishment, and Seth marveled again at how far the younger man’s recovery had come. At least with this confession, Keegan wouldn’t have to identify Reggie as a member of the cult.

Reggie and Odell had escaped the compound with enough cash to tide them over for a while, but they ended up bunking with Odell’s mom. He was adamant the older woman didn’t know what they’d been up to and extracted a promise from the lawmen that she would escape any type of prosecution. Reggie also wanted assurances she would escape public persecution, and Seth believed they’d do their best to shelter the woman as much as they could.

“We knew Mick would betray Quinton,” Reggie said. “That’s what weak people like him do. They never accept responsibility for their actions. Odell and I decided the son of a bitch wouldn’t get away with it, so we hatched a plan and played the long game. Odell got a job at the jail because it was only a matter of time before the Carsons came back here for court. He tampered with Lawson’s tire a few times so it wouldn’t be so obvious when I shoved a nail in it and made him late for his shift. I knew all about Mick’s peanut allergy, so Odell ground the nuts into a fine powder and slipped it into his food without tipping off the kitchen staff.” They didn’t have security cameras in the kitchen area because it was off-limits to the inmates. Their feed only covered the common areas and hallways. “Odell took home one of the walkie-talkies so he could listen in on the activity at the jail. We knew when the Marshals arrived and when they left. I think you know the rest.”

“Why don’t you tell us just to make sure,” Johansen said.

“Odell and I cut down a tree to block the road and ambushed the transport vehicle. We didn’t intend to kill the marshals, but they opened fire on us first. I wanted to take Quinton to the hospital for treatment, but he said prison was just a different kind of death and begged me for a gun. I didn’t shoot him,” Reggie stated firmly. “I’ll go down for the other things, but I did not kill my friend.”

“We believe you,” Johansen said, “and I’m sure forensics will prove it.”

Reggie closed his eyes and said, “I heard him pull the trigger before I got too far from the cabin.” He took a deep breath and met Seth’s gaze. “With my friends dead, there was nothing left to do than complete my revenge.”

“How’d you know about my cabin, and how did you know to find Rueben there?”

The visible part of Reggie’s mouth stretched into an evil grin. “The cabin is a matter of public record, and I saw you with your boy toy earlier that day when I drove up to our hideout.”

Seth recalled the sound of an approaching vehicle when they’d been on the porch. They’d gone inside before someone drove past, but Reggie would’ve recognized their vehicles if he’d done a minimum amount of research. But it was over. Reggie would get transferred to the state prison’s infirmary to await his hearing and sentencing, and the only thing Seth had to worry about was making his own confession to his constituents. He stood up and looked into Reggie’s cold eyes.

“I am sorry for what happened to you and your mother, and I will keep an open mind about your brother until the evidence says otherwise.” And he meant it. Seth had let his hatred of Ryan Ulrich fester for so long, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d be in a similar position as Reggie if Seth’s circumstance and family dynamics had been different. “I will keep my word about the investigation. If I can clear Ryan’s name and bring your mother peace, I’ll do it.”

Reggie held his regard for several long moments before he nodded. With that, Seth turned and left the room. Lyndhurst, Beckett, and Johansen would hold a press conference later to assure the public of their safety. Seth doubted they’d go into great detail until they could corroborate as many of the things Reggie said as possible. Seth expected them to hold a lengthier press conference soon, but he would not stand at the podium for any of them since he recused himself from the case. His absence would get noted, commented on, and speculated about, but he couldn’t help that. Seth would hold his own press conference once he decided what to say and when to say it.

The sun was shining when he walked out of the hospital, something he took as a good sign. Seth wasn’t foolish enough to believe his personal rainstorms and thunderclouds had taken a permanent hiatus, but he anticipated more sunnier days than darker ones ahead. The clock on his dash said it was nearly one o’clock, and he couldn’t believe he’d been in Reggie’s hospital room for so long. Seth thought about the staples in his refrigerator and pantry, then worried Rueben had starved to death. He’d left his guy at his house without transportation or even a cell phone since they left his belongings at the cabin until the scene was cleared.

Seth shifted into Drive and headed home. They’d figure out what to eat once he got there, and maybe finish what they’d started in the great room when Rueben came to him wearing nothing but Seth’s shirt. He let those images multiply until they became a mixture of reality and fantasy. Seth was primed and ready to act each of them out until he got within view shot of his home and saw the number of vehicles in the driveway. Rueben’s truck was among them, so someone had driven it to him. Both Kerry and Shawna’s vehicles were there, so he suspected one of them had delivered it to his house.

Seth ran through a few strategies on how he could encourage them to leave and decided on the direct route of telling them to get out. He even practiced a few different tones as he traveled the short distance from his driveway to the front door. But once inside, the smell of delicious food and the sound of cheerful chatter changed his mind. Or maybe it was seeing the man he loved standing at the kitchen island, holding court like the king of the castle and the keeper of Seth’s heart. Kerry, Shawna, Keegan, and Sven held on to his every word as he wowed them with something he assembled and put in a baking dish. None of them noticed Seth had entered, which gave him a moment to take it all in. He’d built this house after his breakup with Oliver because the home they’d once shared felt like a box of memories that never let him heal. Everywhere he turned was a reminder of what Seth had viewed as Oliver’s rejection. He knew better now and recognized that they were just too different to make it work, but back then, Seth needed a fresh start. Building the house had helped, but the structure had never felt like his home until this very moment. Seth dropped his keys in the little dish on the foyer table his mother picked out on one of her many antique hunts. Boy, would his parents get the surprise of their lives when they returned from their cruise and met Rueben. They were going to love him.

Rueben must’ve sensed his regard because their gazes collided over the expanse of the house. His man lit up brighter than fireworks on the Fourth as he reached for a towel to wipe his hands. They started moving toward each other at the same time, meeting in the middle, where Seth caught Rueben in a tight hug.

“I hope you don’t mind the company.” Rueben’s voice was muffled against his chest, but Seth still heard him over his pounding heart.

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