Page 130 of The Third Grave (Savannah 4)

“Of course he did.”

And there it was. Nearly a confession. Nikki couldn’t believe it. Just like that.

“And you were always jealous,” Ashley accused. “Which was just . . . ridiculous. You know I was always in love with you. Owen was a friend. A gentle, sweet person. He liked poetry, for God’s sake! He didn’t deserve this.” She was advancing on Tyson, disbelief in her eyes.

“And you always had a thing for him,” Tyson charged.

“No, babe, that was the problem. I always had a thing for you. Always. And now look what a mess . . . Oh, God. Can it just stop?”

“Not yet. And Owen was a liability.”

“A liability?”

“Yes.”

“Jesus, Tyson, you are so fucked up. Owen didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He was a kind, gentle soul. Do you know how he beat himself up over his sisters? He blamed himself that they were gone!” She threw up her hands and turned her back on him. “And now he’s dead. You fucking murdered him.”

CHAPTER 32

Tyson’s nerves were jangled, every muscle taut. This dark, decrepit lodge with all of its bad memories had been a bad choice to meet, but Ashley had caught him off guard when she’d called him, all freaked out about that damned Duval. And now she’d decided to be a bitch, second-guessing all he’d done. For her. For them. He couldn’t believe she was fucking it up, again. He had to calm her down even as his own agitation was creeping up. “Look, babe. Chill. Okay? It had to be done,” he pointed out, trying to stay calm, trying not to think that everything he’d worked for was unraveling.

“What? You had to kill Owen? Is that what you’re saying? God, that’s nuts!”

“Don’t worry about it. I covered my tracks. The cops will think he killed himself.”

Why was she turning on him? Why now? After all this time, all they’d been through together. Didn’t she know that everything he’d done, including the murders, he’d done for her? Weren’t they in this together? Her reaction to Duval’s death was over the top. But then he shouldn’t be surprised and he felt his old jealousy rise to the surface. The fact was, he didn’t trust her. Not completely. She’d always had a weird fascination with Owen. The truth was that Tyson had only gone along with her idea of giving Owen Duval an alibi because it gave her one, too. It took the heat off her when she was in this up to her pretty neck. Sure, she hadn’t known that he’d killed the girls, but so what?

“You don’t know what the cops will think,” she said, glaring at him, defending Duval even in death.

The muscles at the back of his neck tightened and he fought the rage he’d always battled when it came to Duval. “Face it, Ash. Owen was becoming dangerous. To us.”

“Dangerous?” she spat out. “Are you serious?”

“The cops interviewed him.”

“Of course they did. He was their number one suspect. Dangerous like Bronco? Jesus, Tyson, why?” Beneath her anger, she seemed genuinely perplexed. “Why kill them? Owen and Bronco?”

“He saw me.”

“What?” She was staring at him as if she thought he was mad.

“That day that he discovered where we stashed the bodies, he saw me in the boat.”

“Whoa—whoa. The day ‘we’ stashed the bodies? That wasn’t my idea. You didn’t need to kill those girls, Tyson. The plan was that you were going to abduct Rose from the theater, just Rose, right?”

Oh. Fuck! She was really going off. Trying to absolve herself, just like she did way back when by marrying that loser Ryan Jefferson. Tyson should have put his foot down then, but at the time, they’d cooled it, trying not to look suspicious, letting people think they’d broken up, but she’d taken it too far.

“We’ve been over this, Ash. You knew what happened.”

“Afterwards. After the mess-up at the theater. You were supposed to abduct Rose—that was the plan. You said you had someone who would take her and so while I was keeping Owen busy, you killed two innocent girls.”

“Not so innocent,” he reminded her, but he felt a well of satisfaction when he remembered the terror in Holly’s eyes just before he choked the life from her, after he’d done the same to her sister.

“You’re sick!” Ashley charged. “And besides that, Rose got away.”

“Because of Owen Duval. He came back before he was supposed to and found the kid.”

“No, Tyson. It wasn’t because of Owen. He came back after the movie. We knew he’d do that. It all happened because you messed up. You messed up big-time. And I never agreed to any killing. That was all you.”

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