Page 123 of The House Beyond the Dunes

“Devon tried to kill me.” Whatever fear and anger that was fueling me is fading. My teeth are chattering. I don’t know how much longer I can stand on my feet.

He removes his flannel shirt and drapes it around my shoulders. I thread my arms through the sleeves and clutch the flannel folds over my chest.

Reece’s shirt smells of sawdust, sea air, and him. It’s such a comforting scent. It makes me feel safe. My gaze drops to his bandaged hand. Blood is seeping through the white gauze.

“What did Devon tell you?” he asks.

“There were two missing women. Devon said Kyle and Jeb raped a girl a long time ago. She said you let the girl go.”

Disgust hardens his face. “Devon drinks too much. She gets confused. And she’s not right in the head.”

“She wouldn’t tell me what happened to Stevie.” I swallow the rising fear and shock. “I don’t know what happened to Stevie.”

He cups my chin in his calloused hands, smearing the blood over my jaw. “Where is Devon?”

“On the porch. She’s shot, but she’s alive.”

“You shot her?”

“I was fighting her for the gun when it went off. She was ready to shoot me if I didn’t get in the hot tub. She wanted to drown me.”

He nods slowly as he picks up the gun and tucks it into his waistband. “I need to go to her.”

“Did you hear what I said? She tried to kill me. She has covered for Kyle for years. You’ve covered for Kyle.”

He grips my arm. “I heard you. Let me check her.”

As he moves toward the porch, I clutch the folds of his shirt around me. “Were you the one that let Stevie go all those years ago?”

He stops, turns, faces me. “I don’t know any woman named Stevie.”

My throat tightens with a silent scream. “Did you let her escape?”

“There was no one to free.” His voice is soft, but there’s no conviction shoring up his words.

Tears well in my eyes. I liked him. Kissed him. Had been ready to have sex with him. How could I be drawn to two men who hid such terrible secrets? “You all knew each other for so long. Devon was devoted to him. Loved him. She said you were up here on Friday because you thought he was going to kill me.”

A muscle pulses in his jaw. “I was here to fix the water damage. That’s all.”

“You said yourself someone disconnected the hose from the wall.”

His strong fingers bite into my arm. “I didn’t know anything about Kyle’s plans. Devon called me.” Reece is repeating the words as if saying them again will convince us both.

“Devon said you arrived here so quickly.”

“Luck. I had another job close by.”

He’s looking at me as if I’m crazy, but I’m not. He’s lied to the world and himself for so long, he believes all the stories he’s told. “You fixed the closet floor and carpet in Kyle’s office. Someone was locked in the closet of his office, and somebody covered up the evidence.”

“You’re reaching for random pieces and putting them together all wrong. None of what you’re saying is making sense.”

A cold current rises under the shirt, chilling my skin. I want to believe he’s innocent in all this. I want to believe he didn’t know Kyle’s true nature. “We need to call the cops.”

“Let me check on Devon first.”

“And do what?”

“Help her.”

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