Page 68 of They Will Fall

I release the notepad, letting it settle back in my pocket, then I take Riley’s hand again. “Sorry. Go on,” I tell her, attempting to gain some sort of composure, even though my body is ready to go into kill-or-flight mode at the moment.

“I don’t know who they were, but they didn’t hurt me. They tried, but someone helped me. She was like this dark angel that appeared out of nowhere.”

I don’t give a damn about the girl. I need to know who these guys are. “Does she know who they were? Can she tell us their names?”

“I’m sure she does. They all go to BCA together. But Ridge, this girl—”

Her words are cut off by the sudden sound of someone running…right toward us. In a knee-jerk reaction, I grab my knife out of my pocket and flip the blade open. “Come get some, fucker!” I howl with the blade pointed outward.

“It’s me.” Maddox steps into the beam of light, hands up in surrender. “Put the knife down.”

We all exhale a sigh of relief, and I put my knife away. “What the fuck are you doing out here? Where’s your dad? Don’t tell me he escaped.”

“Or that you let him go,” Lev chimes in. “I have plans for that fucker.”

“He’s there. Slightly unconscious. Can’t walk. Can barely talk. But it doesn’t matter.” Maddox curls over to catch his breath as he digs something out of his coat pocket. “I’ve got it all on here.” He holds up a recorder, waving it in the air with one hand while the other remains pressed to his knee.

Riley steps forward and grabs it from him. “This is the same recorder he had when he kidnapped me. I bet my voice is on here.”

Maddox straightens his back and looks at Lev while I shine the light on him. “I’m sorry, man,” he says, his tone laced with empathy. “It was him. He confessed to it all.”

Riley hits Play on the recorder and the sound of Maddox’s voice rings in our ears. It’s not Maddox’s typical soft tone. No. He’s fucking pissed. I’m actually pretty proud of the way he stood up to his dad. I’m proud of him for taking all of this in his own hands. Maddox is a good guy, but even good guys need to be bad sometimes. And this is one of those times.

I watch Lev as we await the confession. For that one pivotal moment we’ve all been waiting for when Maddox’s dad says, “I didn’t wanna hurt those little girls. His family was in the wrong place at the wrong time and it will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

There it is. The truth. And while it hurts now, I’m hopeful one day it will set Lev free.

“Keep listening,” Maddox says, his eyes now on me.

I listen intently to Maddox’s dad. “Not your mother. I love her dearly, but our love was no match for what I had with Helen.”

I snatch the recorder from Riley and hit Stop. “Helen?” I spit out. “Tell me he’s not talking about my mom.”

“It’s true,” Maddox tells me. “They were having an affair. It was a revenge tactic because Lev’s dad killed your mom. Then, Governor Saint found out and blackmailed him into killing his wife.”

“Neo’s mom?” Riley’s eyes shoot wide open as she looks at Maddox. “Your dad is the one who hit her?” She drops her shaking head. “This is too much.”

“I don’t even know what to say.” My hands fly in the air. “This is unreal.”

We all stand there for a few moments in shock as we try to process everything. When suddenly, I notice one of us is missing. “Where’s Lev?”

All eyes skim the area around us, but he’s nowhere in sight. With my hands cupped around my mouth, I holler, “Lev!”

“Fuck.” Maddox scoffs. “We need to get to the cabin before he kills him. Get my mom on the phone,” he tells me, before turning his attention to Riley. “Your parents, too. It's time.”

CHAPTER24

LEV

My blood feelslike fire running through my veins. My feet can’t move fast enough as I shimmy down the ladder, skipping the last three steps and jumping down. I see him immediately. Stanley Crane lying in a fetal position with a few spots of blood on his side. He’s holding his shoulder, knees to his chest.

The toe of my boot strikes his back. “Wake the fuck up.”

He grumbles and moans a few inaudible words, but his eyes remain closed, so I kick him again. “I said, wake the fuck up!”

When he still doesn’t wake up, I grab the collar of his shirt and jerk his head off the floor. “It’s doomsday, you son of a bitch, and I’m going to fucking destroy you!”

His eyes flutter open and I give him a second to register who’s looking back at him. “Lev?” he croaks.

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