Page 99 of Just Between Us

“You really think I would have confessedanything?” Disdain dripped from his angry words. “Please.”

He smoothed back his disheveled hair. “I’ve been playing this game for years. Face it—you’re outsmarted and outmaneuvered.”

I lifted my chin despite the swelling that had begun around my eye. “Then why are you still sweating?”

He ignored my question as his stale breath floated across my cheek. “I just want to know how you did it. How you unearthed the pieces I’ve worked my entire life to keep buried.”

I glanced around, the solitude of the setting sun creeping in on the secluded lake like a heavy blanket. Even if I screamed, it was unlikely anyone would hear me.

“It wasn’t easy, I’ll give you credit for that.” I adjusted the hem of my skirt and cursed myself for not wearing something that would have been easier to run in. I swept my hand toward the crushed-limestone trail. “It was this.”

His brow creased as he took one step back to survey the forest around us.

“I know what you did to her,” I lied. A flicker of fear flashed in his eyes, and I pressed on. “You made sure that no one would find her. The poor, selfless man who was given the burden of raising his children. It certainly fit the narrative you were creating for yourself. If everyone in town saw your devotion and benevolence, they wouldn’t ask questions. No one would suspect this wasn’t even your real life.” I slowly clapped as Russell’s breaths heaved.

My words had hit their mark.

Emboldened, I pointed a finger at him and looked out of my good eye. “The one thing you didn’t count on was June Sullivan. You made sure no one would find Maryann, and you thought you could buy your way out of it by purchasing this land. But June saw you, just like I see you. You’re a bully and a coward.”

A hysterical laugh bubbled up from my chest. “You were probably right. No one would have found her here, except for the fact that the Department of Natural Resources preserved it as a state park heritage trail. Instead of keeping your head down and your mouth shut, you tried to flex your power, and June made itso that people walked right through it all the time. Thanks to her, you can never know peace, worrying that someone could find out. I bet that’s why you have the Sinclairs checking to make sure nothing washes ashore. But they’re stomping all over Sullivan land to do it.” A hysterical, unhinged laugh cracked out of me.

Russell crowded my space as a frustrated growl tore through him. His face was inches from mine.

I raised my chin in defiance. “Are you going to make me disappear, just like you did to Maryann?”

His face was nearly purple with rage. “You are nothing more than an inconvenience. One who knows too much.”

My breath was shaky. “How could you do it? To your wife? To your children?”

Russell straightened. He brushed off his sleeve as he shook his head and looked down at me. “I have a wife and children, and they certainly don’t live in some fucking tourist trap in Michigan.”

He motioned his chin to signal Bowlegs, who stepped beside me and clamped his hand around my arm.

“No one will miss you when you’re gone. You’re not the first woman to leave a King, and you likely won’t be the last.” He shook his head. “Those kids are just like her. If only they knew their places, none of this would have happened. When you’re a King, you show up, you shut up.” His arms spread, his composure hanging on by a thread as he paced. “And you rake in the benefits of being associated with me. It was simple, really.”

My head shook. I lifted my chin, anger and defiance glittering in my eye as I stared at him. “You let them all believe their mother had abandoned them, but I know the truth. She’s the one who got away from you. I won’t stop. I will spend every day of my life hounding you until I find out the truth about what really happened to her.”

“You want the truth?” Russell’s angry voice boomed into the shadowy forest. “Yes, she knew about my family in Chicago. Yes, she was willing to forgive me and keep my secret, but she was leaving with the children. She was choosingthemover the life I would give her.”

His face got redder and angrier, as if he was reliving the betrayal he felt that his mistress would dare choose their children over him. “She just couldn’t let it go. So I silenced her. I choked the life out of her with my bare hands. I watched the light flicker out of her eyes, and when it was done, Ilaughed.”

His hands were curled into a gnarled shape before he gripped my arm and yanked me forward. Hot, shocked tears welled in my eyes. I pulled at my arm and scoffed at his arrogance despite the intense fear creeping up my back. I resisted as he tried to pull me closer to the water’s edge.

Royal.

My eyes slammed shut. I had to keep going—to see this through to the end. For him.If something were to happen to me, would he believe I’d left him like his mother?

I would never allow that to happen.

My fists clenched and I found my footing. “You went about it all wrong, though.”

I prayed my voice didn’t shake as he shoved me to the ground. Dirt and gravel bit into my knees. “All the power moves, the cloak-and-dagger routine. If it’s all a secret, no one gets to see how smart you really were.”

He loosened his grip and stared down at me as though he was letting my words sink in. Finally, he shrugged and wiped his chin with the back of his hand. “Some things are best left behind the curtain. The public sees what I want them to see. In their eyes, I’m a man who cares deeply about his community.”

Goose bumps tingled across my arms as I summoned every ounce of my strength. “Sure, I get that ... but the only wayto really make an impact—to demonstrate your true strength and prowess—would be to show the world how powerful Russell King really is.”

My stomach somersaulted as my courage grew. “Like, for example, if you were to be live-streamed. Then everyone would see the man you are.”

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