Page 301 of Dark Love

Is this all a game, or is Basil genuinely concerned about his sister? I step away from Dahlia and get in Basil’s face. “Don’t you already know who did it?”

“Are you crazy?” Basil looks to his mother and sister for support.

Eugenia steps to my side. “Answer the question, Basil.”

“No. I don’t know who drugged Dahlia. I didn’t even know she was drugged until two seconds ago.”

I search every expression, trying to figure out if he’s lying or not.

“He’s telling the truth,” Eugenia announces.

“How could you think I wasn’t?” Basil walks away. “I love my sister. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her.”

There’s something off about the way he said that. Before I can formulate another question, Eugenia asks, “Did you ever suspect someone?”

“Sort of. But he didn’t do it.”

Basil knows. He won’t admit it, but he knows.

“He wouldn’t do it. Montgomery is my best friend. He wouldn’t hurt Dahlia. I asked him. When it happened, I asked him, and he said no. I believe him. My best friend wouldn’t hurt my sister.”

Eugenia’s voice is soft as she asks, “Why did you ask him in the first place?”

“Montgomery’s grandfather is a big-time movie producer, and Montgomery always wanted to follow in his footsteps. When we were kids, he would record everything. He spent an hour recording a bird dying once. And in school, he’d play pranks on people to record them. His videos were never good enough for his grandfather. Bryce was the golden child, and everything Montgomery did was trash.”

“You didn’t answer my question. Why did you ask him?”

“Because I thought he might have asked his girlfriend to record the party. Stupid sorority party movies were big back then. Montgomery might have thought that would have gotten his grandfather’s attention, and then someone else leaked the video of Dahlia.”

“That’s the truth.” Eugenia turns back to me. “Did Montgomery do it?”

I nod.

“What? No. He couldn’t have. He told me he didn’t. He promised me.”

“You have proof.”

Eugenia isn’t asking a question. She knows I wouldn’t have done this without proof. I click the part of the video that they haven’t seen before.

The entire family turns towards the screen as it lowers down from the ceiling. But I watch Dahlia, who’s nestled into her father’s arms, and Basil.

“He said he didn’t do it. I promise you. He said he didn’t do it.” Basil allows his mother to hug him as he cries.

A few moments later, Dahlia’s father clears his throat. “Why did you bring us here to tell us this?”

Eugenia answers, “To give us a choice. Kill him or send him to jail.”

That woman just impressed me almost as much as she scared me. Whenever our children cause us trouble, I’m going to ship them out to her to set them straight.

“He’s here?” Basil asks.

“No.” But I have him secured. There’s no way I wanted him anywhere near Dahlia.

“I need to see him.” Dahlia’s voice is barely a whisper.

“No, you don’t.” I walk up to her, and she shifts from her father’s arms into mine. “You don’t ever have to see him again.” No one will ever see him again after I’m done.

“But I want to.” She shakes her head. “No, I ‘need’ to. I need to ask him why he did this to me.”

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