Page 61 of Twist Me

“Yes, Ezello, I agree.” He looked thoughtfully out at the rain and seemed to speak right from memory.

“Lith went back to the cells while I tried to help triage the people who were not dead yet. We split up because we figured securing one area at a time would be safer. It was protocol, as you know.”

I nodded.

“I heard a scream from the back, and I ran to help. What I saw was Goliath…covered in blood and the head of the facility dead underneath him. His father. He swore up and down that he didn’t do it. He told me I had to trust him, but I didn’t. I was just a rookie back then, and I called it in.”

“You betrayed Goliath,” I said as another puzzle piece fell into place.

“The department didn’t want to admit that they’d placed two rookies in a facility of known insane criminals by themselves, and so when the massacre happened, they covered it up.”

My heart hurt for Goliath. He had to have been defending himself while his father was murdered and his best friend betrayed him.

“So how do his brothers come into play then? How are they part of this at all?”

Micah sighed again and fidgeted with his cuff link. “That, I truly don’t know…I was not around when that happened.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Micah, what aren’t you telling me?”

Goliath appeared from out of nowhere from the woods, a mask of coldness blocking his features as he eyed Micah on the seat beside me.

“Nah. How would Quinny Whins know about that when he was eating potato surprise right beside me in our matching jumpsuits of Hospital Twelve?”

My eyes widened, and I turned my attention to Micah, who was looking away from us and trying to contain his anger.

“He was a cooky looner for a year before his rich ass daddy busted his ass out.”

Again, I looked at the detective. “Is this true? You were a patient of Hospital Twelve?”

Quinn finally looked at me, his face looking sullen. Destroyed.

“My sister. At the diner, that woman called you my sister. Well, my real sister was kidnapped and sold into a sex trade where she’s believed to have been tortured and killed. I went into the asylum after I was told this news. I developed an extreme version of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. My father was a lawyer in Tennessee, and he didn’t like his prodigy son being in a “nuthouse,” so he paid a large sum to get me out without a paper trail.”

I knew something had happened to Quinn, but I would’ve never dreamed it would be something like that.

Goliath narrowed his eyes. “Don’t let him fool you. He is a hypocrite. He ran off to join the army to hide from what he did to me. Ranking up year by year in the military police while I deteriorated in hell for something—I—didn’t—do!”

Goliath was shaking from head to toe, his obvious hatred for Micah rolling off him in waves.

“You say you didn’t kill your father, so who did kill him, Goliath?” I said, standing and rubbing his arms to calm him.

He didn’t stop vibrating underneath my grip, but he didn’t throw me off either. “I don’t know. All I saw was a shadow. I hadn’t seen anything like that until the night I found you at the lake.”

“Wait…” Micah spoke up. “The Reaper captured you?”

Goliath spun around so fast I couldn’t track his movement until he growled at Micah. They were almost nose to nose.

“You let her go to the fucking asylum in the first place, knowing what was just lying dormant, so don’t act like a big daddy protector, you fucking traitor.”He spat in his face and turned away.

Micah stood and followed him.“That was not my choice to make, and you fucking know it, Lith! She was assigned to Hospital Twelve, and I was doing my job by escorting her there.”

Goliath laughed without a trace of humor. “Of course, Mickey. When have you ever broken the rules? Such a good little cop, throwing anyone lesser than you into the fucking garbage. Always doing what you’re told by the fuckwads who use our pain as a means to line their wallets.”

“Why didn’t you fight for freedom if you were an innocent, Goliath?” I asked softly, my voice buried in the sea of testosterone.

Goliath heard me, though.

“You don’t believe me either? I should have known better than to think otherwise.” He looked so hurt, so defeated, and…broken.

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