Page 37 of Cornered

Cherry drew in a sharp breath and gulped air. “That was all just a horrible accident. Horrible and no one will believe me. They won’t.” She hiccuped and dropped her face into her palms.

“Tell me.”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“You have to.” Steph sat for a moment, thinking. Then took a wild stab. “Cherry, you’ve protected him your entire life. You’ve always put his needs ahead of your own. Always. Truthfully, you’ve basically sacrificed your life for his. It’s time to reclaim your life.”

“At the expense of his?” She mumbled the question.

“He hurt, probably killed, someone. If you continue to protect him and don’t tell the truth, he’s going to hurt someoneelse. Can you let that happen?” Steph didn’t bother to add that Benji probably wouldn’t be hurting anyone for the rest of his life if convicted of all the charges against him.

After a few seconds, Cherry lifted her head, her tears gone, but grief still in her eyes. “She’d discovered everything. The crazy numbers in the accounting, the fake sales to various customers, the return of equipment but the refund was never deposited. Everything. She was suspicious for a while, but she took her time and put together hard evidence against my parents and Benji—and brought it to me. I didn’t know what to think. I told her she was out of her mind. That she was making it up or lying or ... I don’t know. While I yelled at her, she just sat there, this sad expression on her face. One of indecision and pity. Benji overheard the argument and stormed in. He grabbed Brenda and locked her in the office closet.” Cherry shook her head, her eyes wide with the memory. “I didn’t know what to do. I reached for my phone to call the police and Benji grabbed it from me. He was furious, in a panic, unsure what to do.” She swallowed hard. “But he wasn’t letting Brenda go, that was clear.”

Steph gritted her teeth hard enough that her jaw ached. “Go on.”

“He left, never thinking I’d go against what he planned.” A low scoff escaped her. “I admit I’ve protected him and covered up a lot for him since he was a child, but murder? There was no way I was going to let him do that to Brenda. To our friend. The person who came to me, begging me to get Benji to do the right thing so she didn’t have to turn him in.”

“Oh, Cherry...”

“A couple of hours passed. Benji paced the office, tossed threats in my direction, but he wouldn’t leave. He even cut the cord to the phone line. And I didn’t dare try to go anywhere to find another phone or involve one of the innocent guests. I worked the front desk—minus answering calls—until closing,knowing that time was running out for Brenda. Benji canceled all of the activities that would involve him leaving the area—and me. But finally, he stepped outside to talk to someone, and I hurried to let Brenda out of the closet. I shoved her out the office’s back door and got her to her car. She was practically hysterical. I told her to go to the police and tell them everything and I’d back up her story. Just as she was leaving, Benji came back and realized what had happened. He raced to the nearest vehicle, one of our SUVs, and climbed in. I knew he was going after her. Unfortunately, I had no way to call for help, so I jumped in the passenger seat, begging him to stop, but...” She shook her head and tears tracked her cheeks once more. “He was determined and took off after her. I was horrified to see her go in the Youngstown Road direction. I guess she was hoping that Benji would be too scared to follow.”

“Benji took her phone?”

Cherry nodded.

Of course. “Then help was closer. The store at the bottom of the hill.”

“Yes. I thought about that too. Anyway, Benji bumped her car toward the drop-off, but she managed to stay on the road. I grabbed the wheel and he pushed me off, screaming at me he was going to kill me next. My head hit the window, and it dazed me for a few minutes. He took advantage and bumped her one more time. That time she went over.” Cherry lowered her head to her hands and wept. When she regained control, she sat for a brief second, pulling in gasping breaths. “Then he stopped,” she said into the table, “got out of the car, and fired a gun at her.” She sniffed, lifted her head, and grabbed another handful of tissues. “I didn’t even know he had a gun on him. The rest of that evening is a blur. I was screaming at him that he’d crossed a line and I wasn’t going to be a part of it. He put the gun to my head and told me to shut up. So I did. Then we drove back to the office and he told me to thinkgood and hard about reporting him to the police. Because our parents would go down too. It was then that I realized my whole family were crooks. And now ... killers.”

TATE LOOKEDAT COLE,who couldn’t seem to take his eyes from the drama unfolding in the interrogation room.

James had come from Benji’s room just in time to hear the full story. “Wow,” he said. “Benji wouldn’t say a word and Cherry can’t seem to stop talking.” He glanced at his phone.

“Shows which one of them has a conscience,” Tate said.

Cole nodded. “Must have been killing her keeping all that bottled up inside.”

James glanced at his phone again. Tate raised a brow. “You expecting a call?”

“Lainie’s coming by. She said she’d text when she got here.”

Tate shoved his hands in his back pockets and nodded to the two in the other room. “Cherry would have come to us eventually.”

“You believe her?” James asked.

“I do.” He pursed his lips. “She won’t walk away from this without some consequences, though. I’m guessing she’ll have to face some charges for covering up a crime.”

James crossed his arms after another look at his phone. “Maybe she can get those reduced for testifying.”

“You think she’ll do it?” Tate asked.

Cole shrugged. “Only one way to find out. Let’s see if we can get a deal worked up fast while she’s still getting all of this off her conscience.”

“Cherry.” Steph’s soft voice reached them once more. “What was Stan’s role in all of this?”

“I asked Benji that after the detectives left. He found out about the money laundering before Brenda did and came toBenji, wanting in on everything . . . especially the profits. He demanded a percentage for his silence.”

“Ohhh, I see. So, all of his zip line adventures...”

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