Page 62 of Release You

She shook her head, a sad smile on her face. “Come on, Henry. You were just a kid. Just like Nikki, there was nothing you could’ve done.”

“We’ll make it right. We have a plan.”

Her lip trembled, and she shook her head again. “Do you love her?”

“What?”

“My sister. Are you in love with her?” she asked.

“Lisa. I’ve been in love with her since we were in grade school.” I glanced over my shoulder.

Nikki ducked her gaze and smiled.

“I know. I just wanted to be sure that was still the case. I’d hoped the two of you would find your way back to each other somehow.” She placed a hand over her chest, tears brimming her eyes. “Take her away from this place, Henry. Take her to Paris. Leave before you lose her again.”

Behind me, Nikki paced the small room.

“We can’t leave you or Mom here. We both ran away once, and it almost killed us. At least for my part, I can tell you Ispent the last ten years consumed by regret and loneliness, barely breathing, barely living. I can’t go through that again.”

Tears spilled onto her cheeks, and she wiped her hand across her face. “I was selfish for dragging Nikki into this. I should not have done that. It’s over, Henry. I’m stuck here.”

“No, Lisa. I’m not doing that to Nikki. I’m not leaving. Mom isn’t sick anymore. We’re going to find her and get her to testify for you.”

She breathed into the speaker. “Henry?—”

“Don’t do this, Lisa. Don’t push her away. As long as you’re in here, Nikki won’t find peace or any kind of happiness. With me or anyone. Do you understand that?”

She met my gaze, trying to get a read on me. I relaxed my face. Lisa didn’t need to know how terrified I was, how much I doubted my own words. Our plan was a half-baked one, and it might not work, but she had to at least let us try. We were ready to try over and over until she was given the justice she deserved.

“Her happiness and your freedom are worth the risk,” I said.

She conceded with a nod. “Promise me you’ll take care of her.”

“I promise I will protect her with my life.” I smiled.

“Thank you.” She glanced over her shoulder. “That day, when I found your dad, there were streaks of blood on the floor, like he was dragged out of the tunnel under the stairs. I told my lawyer what I’d seen, but he said they hadn’t found any blood that far away from the body.” The words flowed out of her, as if she’d played this conversation many times in her head, probably knowing she’d never be able to tell it to anyone, not even Nikki. “They thought I was lying.”

“I believe you. Nikki and I were playing in the tunnels that day. We…we think we saw Jonathan. There’s also evidence that shows Dad was moved postmortem.” As fucked up as it all sounded, it felt good to finally be able to speak up about what happened. When Dad died, in one way or another, we’d all gotten buried along with him. “We think he killed Dad. Why else would he be in the tunnels if not to move the body?”

“But he came out of the study when he found me.”

“Maybe he heard you coming and hid in the study. I don’t know, Lisa. It was so long ago. I don’t really trust my memory of it.” I glanced up at Nikki, who’d come to stand next to me and brace her hand on my shoulder.

“What is it?” Lisa asked.

“Something I remembered led to a document I’d been looking for, which I think means my memories are not all that fucked up. It had to be him. My uncle killed his own brother.”

Lisa pursed her lips. “That son of a bitch. He was the one who turned me in, along with his wife, Francesca. She was horrible to me, yelling at me, saying I was going to rot in jail for what I did. And all that time, her husband was the real killer.” She stood, slamming her hands on the glass. The guard by the door stood at attention, sliding his hand to his gun while he kept his gaze on Lisa. “I’m sorry,” she said to him.

He gave her a sharp nod and relaxed his stance. I wanted to kill Jonathan. I wanted to see his lifeless face spread across a dozen pictures, like the ones Nikki had in her room. I wanted to see his body covered in bleeding wounds like Dad’s. He didn’t deserve to have it all after what he did. How dare he take Dad’s job as mayor? Stroll about town as if he owned it, as if he cared about our family?

And Francesca had gone along with it, covering his heinous crime? I’d be willing to bet she’d known about it too. Why else would she spend so much time and energy to make the entire town hate Lisa and Nikki? She had to have known. If she had, she was as guilty as him, and she deserved to rot in jail too.

“Now you understand why we can’t drop this? Why we can’t run away like we did before.” I leaned forward and touched the glass dividing us.

“Yeah, that son of a bitch has to pay for what he did to your dad and me,” Lisa said through gritted teeth. She met Nikki’s gaze, and all the color left her face. “Let me talk to my sister.”

“What is it?” I asked.

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