“He was drunk,” Reid continues. “I hit him hard enough to fall down the stairs, and he broke his neck.”
“God.” I drag a hand over my mouth, my stomach twisting hard. Beside me, Talon is completely still, his silence saying everything.
“I didn’t mean to kill him,” Reid says quickly, like he needs that on record. Then his gaze drops to his hands. “Or maybe I did. Maybe somewhere, deep down, I wanted him dead. It was the cleanest way to get rid of him.” His voice tightens. “And I was so fucking mad that he was back after everything, still the same asshole trying to beat us into submission.”
He exhales sharply, like he’s forcing himself through it.
“Right after it happened, I called my uncle. He’d reached out a couple of weeks before, but he was still pretty estranged from the family. He was the only one I could think of in that moment.” His jaw clenches. “He came right over. I wanted to call the police, but he didn’t let me. I was seventeen. Too close to eighteen for comfort, he said. Even if it was involuntary manslaughter, I could be tried for murder. Especially since I’d threatened my dad before.”
I shift my weight, restless, my skin prickling.
“He told me my mother wouldn’t take my side if I argued self-defense.”
“Why wouldn’t she?” I demand. “You said he used to beat her, and you’re her son.”
“Abuse is complicated.” He gives a bitter, humorless smile. “And you of all people know that being someone’s son can sometimes mean nothing.”
I grimace slightly.
Yeah. He’s got me there.
“For all their fights, my mother fancied herself in love with him,” Reid continues. “She loved him a hell of a lot more than she loved me, or she wouldn’t have called him back.” His voice hardens. “And it wasn’t the first time she’d done it either. Before he died, my father told me how many times she called him, begging him to come back.”
This was just when he finally ran out of money to burn through and had beaten his old girlfriend badly enough that she finally kicked him out. He had nowhere left to go, so he took my mother up on her offer. Reid’s lip curls slightly, like the whole thing still disgusts him. “So anyway, my uncle told me there was no fucking way he was letting me take the blame for it. Said he’d do it instead. But I didn’t want that either.” He swallows hard, his throat working. “So we…” He drags in a rough, uneven breath. “We got rid of the body.”
God.
It hits me like something rotten. Like a bad movie that keeps getting worse the longer it plays. My stomach turns, and for a second I actually think I might be sick. I keep waiting for him to crack, to smirk, to tell me this is some sick joke he and Sierra have cooked up.
He doesn’t.
“How?” I ask, my voice coming out tighter than I expect.
“There was a lake close to our home,” Reid says. “Below a steep, rocky cliff.” His eyes stay fixed somewhere past us, like he’s watching it happen again. “He tossed the body in there. We cleaned the place up. Wiped anything down my uncle thought might show my prints or DNA. Made sure there was no sign of a struggle. We hoped that when they found him, they’d assume he’d gotten drunk, wandered off in the direction of the cliff, then stumbled, fell, and broke his neck on the way down.”
A cold shiver works its way up my spine.
“Jesus,” I mutter under my breath, dragging a hand down my face. “How the fuck did your uncle know how to do all that?”
Reid exhales slowly. “Second-hand experience. Like I said to Sierra just now, some of his friends used to be in a gang.”
“I knew it,” Sierra murmurs quietly, but Reid doesn’t even glance at her. His gaze stays locked on his hands, like he doesn’t trust himself to look up.
“After that, we went home to his place,” he continues. “I packed my things and left with my uncle. I’d already dropped out of school, so there was nothing keeping me there except…” He hesitates for a fraction of a second. “Loyalty to my mother. But after that day, that was done.” His shoulders shift slightly, like something in him still carries the weight of that decision. “I left. Got my GED.” He pauses, then adds flatly, “And that’s it.”
“That’sit?” The words come out sharper than I intend. It feels like he just dropped a bomb in the middle of the room and then shrugged like it was nothing. I force out a breath, trying not to spiral. “No one else knew? Just you and your uncle?”
Reid shakes his head. “It took a while before the body was found. We didn’t even tell my mom. She just thought he’d taken off again, after grabbing the cash she kept in her nightstand. She was pissed at him.” A faint, humorless huff leaves him. “My uncle said she called him, complaining that I’d abandoned her too, asking if he knew where I was. He told her I was stayingwith him after me and my dad argued, and that my father had been there when he picked me up.” He glances up briefly. “Clean alibi.”
He takes another breath, slower this time, letting a beat stretch out between us before continuing.
“Eventually, the body was found. But just like my uncle planned, they ruled it an accident. Said he probably got drunk, fell into the lake, drowned.” He shrugs slightly. “Apparently, he wasn’t the first person it had happened to, so they didn’t look too hard. No evidence of foul play.” His jaw tightens. “I think my mom probably suspected, though. I don’t know if she ever told anyone. No one came looking for me.” He tucks his hands into his pockets. “She died a few years later. The case was never reopened.”
Silence stretches.
“And I thought that was it,” he adds quietly. “That I’d gotten away with it.” His gaze drops again. “Except I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was eating me alive.”
“Could anyone have seen you dump the body?” Talon asks, his voice low, controlled.