Page 80 of Cruel Riches

“No, but I was just a kid. I didn’t mean it.”

“I used to think the same thing. You were just a child. There was no way you were actually going to come back here and avenge your father one day. But then I caught you in my house that night a few months ago, and I started to wonder.” Nate’s eyes narrowed. “I started following you around. You broke into more and more houses, obviously looking for something. I figured out what it was, too. You were looking for information on whoever it was who accused your father, because you wanted to get back at them. In fact, you wanted to get back at the whole island. Wreak havoc to punish everyone for what happened to your family ten years ago.”

“If you were so convinced that I moved back here to kill people, why didn’t you stop me?” I asked.

“Because I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t just lock you up when you hadn’t done anything wrong apart from a few break-ins,” he replied. “So I decided to watch you instead and try to convince you to leave the island. I got into your phone and bugged your dorm with a camera. I know you know about that, by the way. It’s offline now, and the last footage it transmitted to me showed you finding it. But that doesn’t matter now.” He paused, lips hooking upward in a smirk. “Oh, and I bugged your apartment in the city with a listening device, too.”

My eyes widened. “I knew it was you!” I shouted, climbing to my feet.

Nate looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“It was about five weeks ago, wasn’t it? The same day we ran into each other outside Redstone?” Nate nodded, and I went on. “Someone broke into the apartment that night. Sascha didn’t think so, but I was sure of it. My stuff was all messed up. Now I know I was right. It was you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I looked around and installed the bug in the living room so I could hear any conversations you had when you went home to visit, but I didn’t mess anything up. I didn’t want anyone to know I was there.”

“Bullshit. My research into Dad’s case was scattered all over my room!”

Nate was silent for a moment. “That wasn’t me,” he finally said. “Like I said before, I looked through your stuff, but I was careful to put it all back exactly where I found it. I’m not fucking stupid.”

I sighed and sank back to the mattress. He would never admit to anything that made him look incompetent. Typical arrogant asshole.

“Anyway,” he said, raising his brows. “I used the listening device in the apartment to rule your sister out. I thought she might’ve returned to the island to help you at first, but it’s clear she didn’t. For one, she’s too much of an emotional wreck to plan out a series of murders. All she seems to do in the apartment is lie around watching soppy movies on Netflix and crying. I’ve also heard her on the phone to you.”

My stomach lurched again at the thought of my sister. She was a very emotional person, so I couldn’t even imagine how badly she would be affected if and when she realized I was missing and possibly dead.

“I heard her telling you to concentrate on your college work a few times,” Nate went on. “She kept saying ‘revenge isn’t everything’ and ‘you might never get the answers you want’. She also said a lot of stuff that alluded to your father’s guilt. So she obviously knows you came back here to try to prove his innocence, but she doesn’t agree with you at all. I doubt she was aware that your plan involved revenge killing, either.”

“That’s because it didn’t,” I said, stubbornly crossing my arms. “Yes, I’ve always wanted revenge. But not like that. I wanted to find the people who framed my father and turn them in to the authorities.”

Nate chuckled darkly. “Oh, sure. You trust the authorities here, huh? Even though you think there was some far-reaching conspiracy that set up your dad?”

“I was going to take my proof straight to the FBI when I found it,” I said, glaring at him. “Of course I don’t trust the cops here on the island.”

He snorted with amusement. “It’s funny how you think I’m delusional when you’re clearly the delusional one here,” he said. “And you know what else is funny?”

“What?”

“You really think your psycho father was innocent. But in the process of trying to exonerate him and avenge him, you’ve become him. It’s so ironic.”

I clenched my teeth. “For the millionth time, I’m not a killer!”

“All the evidence says otherwise.”

I rolled my eyes. “What fucking evidence, Nate? Your imagination doesn’t count.”

“Hm. Let’s see.” He pulled my phone out of his pocket again, clicked a few buttons, and held the screen up to the bars. “Very interesting search history over the last several months, Alexis. Efficient methods to remove organs. How to bleed out a body. How to remove eyeballs without damaging them. That’s just a small sample.”

“I can explain that,” I said, holding up a palm. “I’ve been researching all that stuff to try to prove that my father was innocent. He didn’t have much scientific knowledge, and I think the way the Butcher murders were carried out showed that the person knew what they were doing. I’ve been trying to prove that. That’s all.”

“That’s a convenient excuse.” He reached into the black bag he’d brought to the cell earlier. “Do you have an excuse for this too?”

He held up an orange and white medication bottle. The label said ‘Alexis May Livingston’ along with the drug name. Aripiprazole.

I frowned. “What’s that?”

“I found it in the trash in your room. It’s an anti-psychotic medication.”

“But I….” I trailed off and shook my head. “It’s not mine.”

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