Page 121 of Heart of Thorns

“Stephen. He lied!”

“What do you?—”

Rhys shoves his phone in my face. I blink and try to make sense of what he’s showing me. It’s an old social media post with a picture from what I’m assuming is the night of the fire. He pinches the screen and zooms in, right past Ben’s face. I recognize the old grandfather clock from the Kappa Sigmahouse. It was gifted to one of the frat boys the year prior because he gotclockedby Cross Lopez in the cage.

It still rests in their house to this day.

“I don’t understand.”

Rhys dials Thorne’s number and puts it on speaker. Through the shrill ring, echoing throughout the empty batting cages, he makes sense of it all.

“Stephen told Thorne that Ben leftthisparty that night to go find you, but if the fire was shortly after nine, and this clock says?—”

Thorne’s voicemail cuts through, and we both make a noise of frustration.

He calls again and pulls the photo up so we can inspect it further.

“Okay.” My voice shakes. “But… the clock could be broken.”

Rhys swipes through the rest of the photos and zooms in on the clock. Ben is there, with a cup in his hand, and the little hand on the clock shifts to the right each time.

Thorne’s voicemail cuts through again.

“Fucking hell,” Rhys snaps. “You try to call him.”

I dig my phone out of my pocket and dial his number. My hands shake.

Rhys scrolls through the photos again before moving onto a different set.

It’s from the same party.

“No answer.” My chest tightens. I wrap my arms around my stomach. “So if it isn’t Ben, then we’re back to square one.”

Rhys pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fuck. Let’s think back to the fire at the warehouse. We practically crossed out half the team because most of them were there. Well, because we saw them when the fire was discovered, and they seemed just as panicked to get out. Like Aaron and Willow. There were a few unknowns, though. Stephen, Ben, and a handful of others?—”

I gasp.

Rhys drops his hand and pins me with a look.

“Ben was at the warehouse.” I slap my forehead with the heel of my hand.

His brows crowd together. “Wait, he was?”

I nod frantically. “I didn’t think anything about it, but when you said warehouse, I remember what he said to me the other night. I was too pissed to mention it to you and Thorne. I didn’t want Thorne to get jealous?—”

Rhys grabs my shoulders. “Briar, spit it out.”

I shake myself mentally. “He said he saw me fall to the floor when the fire started and how he felt awful for how scared I seemed.” I take a breath. “If he wasn’t there, he wouldn’t have known that I fell to the floor. That’s too specific.”

“Stephen.” His gaze shifts to horror. “It’s fucking Stephen. He wouldn’t have had a reason to lie about Ben otherwise.”

Rhys hands me his phone and he pulls me towards his car. “Go through those photos and tell me if Stephen is in any of them.”

I swipe while we head towards the parking lot.

With each flick of my wrist, it becomes clear.

“He isn’t.” I hand his phone back and climb into his passenger seat. I call Thorne and almost cry when he doesn’t answer.

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