Page 112 of A Smile Full of Lies
Exactly what I wanted. Exactly what she deserved.
I glanced back once, memorizing her like that — hopeful, dazed, beautiful in the aftermath of breaking herself open.
“I’ll be home for dinner,” I said, quiet but sure.
Then I walked out, already planning how the night would belong to her.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
ROS
I was aboutto betray Knox. Not because I wanted to, but because it was the only way to save him from himself.
I felt shredded.
Anything I tried to keep secret seemed to spill out, in the worst possible ways, even if the result of that, today, felt mostly good – maybe. But that just made it all worse. Ever since I’d watched that clip from the USB drive, I’d been tearing myself apart, trying to decide, but now, Knox’s own actions had decided for me.
If he knew what I suspected, if he caught even a hint of it, he’d kill Thayer without thinking twice, and I’d lose him. No way in hell could I let Knox end up in jail for murder, even if Thayer probably deserved what Knox would do to him if he found out the truth before the cops did.
Still, I couldn’t keep it in anymore. Not the fear twisting low in my belly. Not the knowledge crawling under my skin like fire. Not the truth about Thayer that had burrowed its way into my brain and refused to let go.
So, I texted Alyssa Allen – she’d been the cop on the Stonewood Mansion case from the start, so it only seemed fair that she be the one to get this lead, now - and prayed I’d be home in time for whatever Knox had planned for tonight.
Me
I need to talk to you. Not over the phone.
Alyssa
That feels ominous. I’m off in thirty. Meet me at Heather’s Coffee Shop then.
A half hour later, I sat in a quiet corner of the indie coffee shop near downtown Stonewood, Knox’s sweatshirt swallowing me whole, the weight of the USB drive still burning a hole in my pocket. I had my laptop in a tote bag at my feet, and I was bouncing my leg as I waited for Alyssa to join me.
Five minutes later, Alyssa slid into the seat across from me in her Stonewood PD hoodie, all sharp eyes and cop instincts. I pushed a black coffee toward her like a peace offering.
I didn’t even say hello, I just dove in head first and word-vomited at her.
“I think Thayer Williams was there the night Knox’s family was murdered,” I said, voice low and steady. “And I think he’s the reason it happened.”
Alyssa didn’t blink. She didn’t flinch, either.
She just took a slow sip of her coffee and said, “Tell me everything.”
So I did.
I told her about the video — the coveralls, the masked figures, the laugh I knew too well. I told her about Thayer’s stupid-ass HVAC worker group costume with his cousins back in college. About the way the figure turned toward the camera, and tilted his head in that smug, lazy way.
“I’d bet my life that was him,” I whispered.
Alyssa’s eyes sharpened.
“You might have to.”
My breath hitched.
“What do you mean?”
