Page 130 of Diem

“I didn't? Are you crazy? This is my life too,bro,” I sneer.

His brows slam over his eyes, and he meets my gaze, bellowing, “He’s a fucking freak, Mae. There. Are you happy now?”

“Not really,” I grumble, dropping my head. Do the others know what he thinks about Dad? Fuck.

“And Mom?” I ask.

“What about her?” he huffs, and I shake my head,

“Her and Hailey’s dad…er, Mr. Monroe.”

He gives me a blank stare and this time, I feel the sting of satisfaction at knowing something he doesn’t until it fades because there is no victory in this.

“They’re fucking,” I say and rub my hand down my face.

Ollie snorts before standing from his lean on the wall. “Seriously?”

Before I can respond, Ramsay says, “Let’s get back to Penny. What can you tell us about her, Mae?”

“Other than she thinks Dad killed Dixie and Ollie was in on it?”

Ramsay’s brows fly over his head, and I glance between Ollie and Diem. They’ve been keeping things from each other. Why?

“Dad didn’t kill Dixie,” Ollie barks and I hide my frown behind a shrug. “How do you know?”

Believe me, I’d be happy to avoid my brother’s toxicity, but I can’t understand what’s happening right now and if pushing him means finding out if there really is a fissure in the group, I guess that’s what I’ll do.

If Dad truly is a killer, doesn’t Ollie need his friends now more than ever? Besides, there’s more to this sad tale based on the weird ass panties and Charlie…fuck Charlie.

“How long has Frank been gone?” I whisper and Diem’s head whips around.

From the corner of my eye, I see Ramsay grab Willow’s hand and frown. What am I missing now?

“What?” I ask the room at large.

Diem grunts but to my surprise it’s Willow who answers. “A little over a year now.”

Leveling her with my stare, I ask the question she knows is on my tongue and with a shrug, she ignores Ramsay’s rumbled warning to say, “I killed him.”

I’m shocked into silence, and I spin to Diem who’s frowning at Willow and say, “Okay. Not what I was expecting but whatever. If he’s been gone that long, then who is Charming Charlie?”

Oliver stands from the wall, Ramsay’s head whips up and he growls, “What the fuck?”

Ignoring the tension that fills the room, I continue, “Dixie was communicating with Dr. Love, I mean Kenny–Dad but also some guy named Charming Charlie. We tried to figure out what’s going on but—“

“Hold up, what do you mean?” Diem growls.

Hunching my shoulders, I prepare for the lambasting I’m about to receive and mumble, “We went looking for answers in the forest.”

Silence greets me before a cacophony of sound breaks out. Wincing, I hold up my hand which does nothing to temper the disbelief coming at me from all angles.

After a moment of listening to the barrage of words, I shout, “Okay. I get it. It was stupid. Can we move on?”

When they’re appropriately silent, I explain what happened in the woods, right down to the rabbit’s foot on the car.

“Fuck,” Diem barks, slamming his hand against the table.

Willow turns to Ramsay whose grim facade does not inspire the warm fuzzies and with a frown, I ask, “What?” I ask.

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