Page 63 of Insurgent

Goosebumps appear on my bare back before the door shuts. I exhale, looking in front of me, watching the smoke twirl in the air. He takes a seat and I slide the note over for him to read as I sip my drink, feeling the sting from the whiskey all the way down.

I run a hand over the small bit of hair on my chest. The cigarillo hangs from my lips, and I wipe condensation from my glass.

He tosses the note away from his hand. “Fucking hell, Bones,” he says, shaking his head.

I nod, taking a drag from my smoke. “Fucking hell, brother.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Bexley

One month three days missing

“What? You killed his whole family and you are just now remembering that? Are you kidding me right now?” I watch him as he stands across the room not saying anything. “Danny, you gotta talk to me here. I mean, Jesus Christ.”

His eyes go to mine. “I’ve never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it.”

“Do you hear yourself? Oh my God. Who am I locked in this shack with?” I run my hands through my hair, gripping at the ends in disbelief.

“You’ve got this wrong,” he says.

I nod my head quickly. “Explain then.”

“I was a kid. I didn’t realize who I was talking to. I thought I was being questioned by the police, but they were working for Moretti. You know how many times I’ve told you the cops around here are dirty.”

“I know.”

“They told Moretti what I said. They told him who I described, and he put out a hit.”

I feel my brow furrow. “So, he had the people killed that murdered your mom and dad?”

He shakes his head. “He had his whole family killed, Bex. Carson was the only survivor. The ring I wear… it had to have been his dad’s. Moretti sent it to me in a teddy bear. It was still on his finger.”

“Hold on.” I put my hand up. “You mean that man sent you someone’s finger in a teddy bear?”

“Yeah,” he says, like that’s exactly what he did. Like that’s normal in his world.

I can’t wrap my head around this. “He said he was going to take everything from you.”

He nods. “Just like I did him. The day he killed Samuel, he tossed a bottle into the shop. I went back and got it. It said an eye for an eye. I’ll take everything you love first and then I’m coming for you.”

I remember the bottle and the note. I was going back to get it when I ran a red light and nearly got killed. I was also going to get it before Carson grabbed us. I would have known for sure this was because of Danny if I had found it before him.

“So, this whole time you knew this was because of you and you lied to me about it.”

“I didn’t remember. It’s all coming back to me. I don’t know how I forgot all of this.” He rubs his head, looking confused and concerned. I take pity on him.

“You were hit hard. And he was drugging us at first. It’s understandable.” This is all crazy. Danny was just a boy. I mean, how was he supposed to know about bad guys paying off cops and the crooked way of the world?

“This isn’t your fault, Danny. You were just a kid. But, how have you not known you’ve been hanging around a psychopath?”

He scoffs. “I did know. I just didn’t realize he could turn on me like this.” He thinks for a moment. “You know it doesn’t matter what the facts are. He only sees it one way. He blames me for everything that happened to him.

“And now Samuel is gone, but he was trying to get to you because he knows how much I love you.

How could I not have seen this? He’s been acting odd lately, the rubber band popping when it was just him, Sweep, and I. I questioned it out loud to him and Sweep. I even said, ‘There are only so many people who know about mine and Bexley’s history.’ And there he was sitting in the backseat, knowing it was him the whole time. Goddammit.

“He’s a fucking traitor. He’s gone against me, his authority, his brother.”

---