Page 128 of In the Air Tonight

Twenty years.

Or more.

My babies will be adults by then, having grown up without me. I’m so devastated by that thought I break down into sobs.

Bennett hands me a tissue.

“I’m sorry. I’ll ah…I’ll just get going.”

“Good luck to you.”

“Thank you.”

I stumble out of there, heartbroken and terrified. I’m going to prison. Possibly for decades. My family will be left destitute, my brother and closest friends could be in big trouble, and it’s all my fault.

Blaise

NOW

Three mornings after the dead animal landed on my stoop, I wake to a text message from Sienna.

Can we talk?

I don’t open it, so it won’t show as read.

“What’s wrong?” Jack asks.

He’s insisted I stay in the house with him and the Glock he has stashed in his bedside table. He made me aware of the weapon the other night and showed me how to use it, if need be. The possibility that I might need to shoot someone is too big to wrap my head around.

“Sienna texted me.”

“She’s the ex-best friend, right?”

“Yes, and she’s married to Ryder Elliott’s brother, Camden. They’ve been together since middle school.”

“What does she want?”

“To talk.”

“About you not testifying against her brother-in-law?”

“Probably.”

“Delete it. You don’t owe her anything.”

“Can I tell you something that you can never tell another living soul?”

“Of course.”

Because he’s shown me I can trust him implicitly, I say, “She was with me that night. She saw it, too.”

He props himself up on an elbow. “Does Houston know that?”

“I told him I was speaking only for myself when I initially made the statement, but I think he’s figured out from other things I’ve said that she was with me. She was the one who demanded I stay quiet at the time or else end up a pariah. She said she’d deny she was there.”

“Wasn’t he going to speak to her about the dead animal?”

“Yeah.”

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