Page 127 of The System

“Tried to convince her. She still wouldn’t, though. And yeah, I got a little aggressive about it because I loved her, you know? She got pissed, and I got pissed, so I burned myself. I told them that she did it, and she got in trouble.”

“Why’d you do that? That had to hurt.”

“Like a motherfucker. But it was worth it.”

“Because she got in trouble?”

“Because of that, but also because I thought she’d finally just let me have her already. What the hell was she holding out for, anyway? It’s not like she was a virgin. And there wasn’t some rich doctor waiting for her out there. She was mine.”

“Were you hers?”

“What?” Theo looked confused again.

Kieran recognized what Dylan was doing, and it was working, too. By continuing to let him talk and tossing in questions to move his brain from one thing to another, Dylan was keeping him on track but also messing him up a little. He was spending so much time trying to figure out what she was doing and where she was going with something that he hadn’t yet asked for an attorney. Maybe it was arrogance, pride, or narcissism that was getting in his way, but Kieran was grateful.

“Do you belong to her?”

“Sure. Yeah. I mean, whatever. It doesn’t really work like that. I’ve been hers forever. All she had to do was accept that and let me have her.”

“But Nick had her,” Dylan said. “I mean, Nick was her husband, so he had her whenever he wanted, probably.”

“Shut up! He fucking hit her!”

“How do you know that, Theo?”

“Because I fucking saw it! I couldn’t be there all the time, but whenever I was, I fucking saw him beat her. She just put up with it, but I couldn’t anymore. I’d seen too much and had enough.”

“You were watching Marin?”

“Who else was going to protect her?”

“But you let her marry Nick May?”

“I just told you: I couldn’t be there all the time. I’ve had jobs over the years, and sometimes, she’d move before I could get my last paycheck, which I’d need to take with me so I could live on something before I find another job wherever she’d decided to live.”

“Sounds like she’s been a real pain in the ass for you.”

“Yes, she has. And I got there after she married Nick. She changes names and stuff, too, so it’s hard to find her unless I follow her directly, but that’s not always possible. Anyway, I’d had enough on her behalf when I saw him hit her in the head with a fucking board.”

“You saw that?” Dylan asked.

“He just put himself there the night of the murder,” Carina said, rubbing Kieran’s back.

“Yeah, I did. He left. She was just on the floor.”

“Did you go in and check on her?”

“Not at first. I thought he’d be right back, but I went around back, and she had a pulse, so I knew she’d be fine. He came back then, though, and went outside to smoke or something, but I’d found the gun she’d bought and took it. I ran and waited around the corner, but I missed him going back inside the house. I assumed she was still there. I got back inside and smacked the bastard over the head with the same damn board. Then, I shot him and went looking for Marin because I figured she’d be scared at the gunshot.”

“Marin wasn’t there, though.”

“No. And I knew she took the bus because she didn’t have a car, so I burned down the house first to get rid of the evidence, and I left to look for her.”

“Didn’t find her?”

“No, I missed her. And it took me a few more years to find her because she’d changed her name and moved again. She couldn’t wait for me to get her and take her away from fucking Nick May? Stupid.” Theo shook his head.

“What happened then? When you found her again?”

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