Page 110 of Shameless

Crew’s expression gets darker and darker with every passing second as he scrolls through Eddie’s text messages. “We needto accept that the bloody clothes and Eddie’s burner phone can only mean that this bag belongs to whoever killed Eddie. Maybe one of the Morellis? Or someone connected to them? It would be important to know who put this here. Very few people have access to this boathouse. Did Tory say that she was officially cleared by the sheriff?”

Jules and I look at each other and come to the same conclusion.

“Fuck.” We say in unison.

“What?”

I start shaking my head, unwilling to accept the evidence. “Yesterday when Jules and I came here to be alone, we saw Dad coming from here.”

Jules nods. “When we asked him what he was doing in here, he waffled something about the alarm going off in the boathouse. Yesterday I didn’t think it was weird but now that I think about it, Tom looked stressed.”

Stefan scowls. “Like someone who came here to hide evidence from a murder scene?”

Exactly like that, is the thought that comes to my mind but I don’t want to say it out loud.

“Do you think Dad did it?” I ask Jules.

The answer comes from Crew. “I don’t know, baby. The hat in there belonged to Arianna if Stefan is right. And I just found Arianna’s name in Eddie’s phone. And my mom’s. There are a few messages to both of them.” He reads through them. “It looks like Eddie was flirting with both of his ex-wives. He’s pretty insistent, asking them to meet up alone and I’m glad the sextingour late father did was just verbal, because if I find a dick pic, I swear I’m gonna be sick.”

I crane my neck to read the screen. “Shit. He gets pretty graphic about what he wants to do with them. Arianna seems to be shutting him down more firmly.”

Crew’s jaw ticks when he scrolls through the messages between Eddie and Tilly. “Yeah. The last message here is to my mom and the time stamp is from the night before the murder.”

Eddie:

I miss you, Tilly. Meet me tomorrow morning while everyone is at that quail hunt. We should talk.

The last message is another set of numbers like the one Stefan said was coordinates that indicate a place.

“I bet those numbers lead to the stables on the second island.” Stefan checks on his phone. “Yup. Fuck. It’s right there.”

We all look at each other. “This can’t mean—do you guys think our parents are involved in what happened at Twinberry Cove?” I don’t know what to think.

Jules pulls me into a hug, his mouth skimming the crown of my head. “There’s only one way to find out. We need to confront our parents and show them the contents of this bag. I don’t want to believe it, but unless they have one hell of an explanation, it seems that way.”

Crew shoves everything back in the bag. “Do you think we need to call the sheriff? Or, I don’t know, get a gun or something? Ifone of them did this and they find out we know, would they hurt us?”

I don’t want to believe that. “Do you really think your mom, Arianna or my dad would hurt us?”

Stefan exhales slowly, running a hand through his blond hair. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, but what’s the point in getting a gun? Even if one of them became violent, would you shoot one of our parents?”

We all know we wouldn’t. At least not Dad, Arianna or Tilly. Tiffany is a different story.

22.A Woman Scorned

Crew

We find our parents outside on the deck.

Tom is manning the grill, while Mom and Arianna are fetching sides from the kitchen and setting them on the wrought iron table that’s starting to become familiar.

The realization hits me that the Cutler's house is starting to feel like home and Stefan, Jules, Arianna and Tom are starting to feel like family.

Of course there is Lula, but she’s on a totally different level. I never thought it was possible to love someone this much.

The atmosphere is relaxed and festive. Jules explained that since his mother bought the Country Club from Dustin Hudson, the Fourth of July has been hard work for the entire family.

On the fifth, the club is traditionally run by a skeleton crew and the family celebrates at home with a huge BBQ.

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