Page 82 of Outlaw Ridge: Griff
Her shoulders shook again.
“I didn’t plan it. I didn’t go down there meaning to kill her. But when I picked up the rock, when she looked at me like I was nothing… I just—” She exhaled sharply. “I hit her. Over and over. Then, my hands were around her throat, choking her, and I didn’t stop until she wasn’t moving anymore.”
Silence fell.
“I had that photo,” she whispered. “The one of her dying. I don’t even remember grabbing my phone. But I took it. And then I… I cleaned up. I planted the tire iron in Bobby Ray’s burn barrel. Got blood from Hannah’s sweater and smeared it in his truck. Made it all fit.”
Griff could feel Lily’s breath catch beside him.
Margo finally looked up, tears clinging to her lashes. “I needed the world to believe Bobby Ray was guilty. I needed him to suffer for making me believe I mattered to him.”
Her voice dropped to a whisper. “And he did. Every damn day until the day he died.”
Griff didn’t speak. He couldn’t. There were no words for what sat between them now—just the weight of a truth too long buried.
Griff gave her a few beats. Let the silence settle. Let her breathe.
Then he asked, voice low, even, “What happened after you heard the case had been reopened?”
Margo’s head dropped slightly. Her lawyer shifted beside her, raising a hand as if to stop her, but she waved him off, her tone sharper now—clearer than it had been all morning.
“No,” she said. “No more hiding. I want it all out. I’m so damn tired. The secrets have eaten my soul alive.”
Bennett Krauss sighed and lowered his hand.
Margo wiped under her eyes, then lifted her gaze to Griff and Lily. “I panicked when I found out. When I heard that the case was being reopened, I thought… maybe with all the new forensic testing, maybe they’d find something. Something I missed. I couldn’t risk it. Icouldn’t.”
Lily’s voice cut in, firm but quiet. “So you tried to stop us.”
Margo nodded, her expression crumbling all over again. “Yes.”
The confession kept pouring out like she couldn’t hold it in anymore. “I hired those two men. First one, then the second after the first was killed. I gave them burner phones and instructions. I sent the note. I left the photo on your SUV. I scattered the photos outside Everett’s office.”
Griff leaned in slightly. “Why do that? Why point the finger at Everett?”
Her eyes met his, bleak and tired. “Because he was part of it. Not Hannah’s murder, not directly. But heusedher. He helped turn her into the girl who laughed at me. Who crushed me like I was dirt. And if the heat landed on him… maybe the rest would blow over.”
Griff kept his expression steady, but the sick weight of what they’d just heard settled deep. It had all spiraled from that moment. A teenager’s fury, a sister’s cruelty—and a silence that had festered for fifteen years into murder, manipulation, and a town full of ghosts.
And now, finally, the truth sat in the middle of the room like a stone.
“Tell us about Catherine.” Lily’s voice was steady, controlled.
Margo’s hands twisted in her lap, her nails pressing into her palms. Her voice was quieter now, more frayed. “When I found out she was paying off Rhett… I didn’t know what she knew.Maybe she had details about the murder—something buried in his notes, something Catherine saw or heard. I couldn’t risk it.”
“So you killed her,” Lily said, not a question.
“Yes. I waited until I knew she’d be alone. I lured her out. I… I staged it just like Hannah. I needed it to send a message. I wanted people to believe someone was targeting anyone tied to the case. I hoped they’d arrest Everett. Or Rhett.”
Griff leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. “Did Rhett have any part in your sister’s murder?”
Margo’s mouth twisted. “Only through his incompetence. He questioned me once. I started crying. He backed off like I was made of glass. Never even asked if I’d done it. Not once.”
She looked at Griff now, raw with contempt. “And he spent all his energy trying to cover for Everett. I don’t know why—maybe loyalty, maybe money, maybe both. But he never looked at me. Never looked atanyof the women close to the case. He should be in jail.”
Griff didn’t respond out loud, but in his mind, he agreed. Rhett Hale had broken enough laws to warrant a long list of charges. Maybe he hadn’t killed anyone—but he’d protected the wrong people, obstructed justice, and made damn sure the truth stayed buried.
Not anymore.
