I step around the couch and keep a generous amount of space between us as I make my way inside the secret room. Monitors fill the entire back wall. Rooms from inside the house flicker on the screens. My stomach tightens when I see the guest room I used when I first got here, including the bathroom. Oh God, you can see so clearly. My eyes dart to Colt’s room—a perfect view of the entire space, including the bed where we made love. “Is this recording?” I ask, a lump lodging in my throat.
“Every nasty detail,” he teases, making me want to cover my skin in bleach and scrub. “Conveniently, not on the night of the storm when he was no doubt butchering poor little Annemarie to get back at me for dating her.”
Lies. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t have. He spent the night making love to me.
“Have you been watching this?” I ask.
“Oh please, I don’t need to watch my son’s fuck some whore from that island. I’m not a creep, despite what the media would have you believe.”
His words stab into me like he’s wielding a knife.
“Here,” He steps beside me, clicking on buttons laid out on a desk.
The date he enters flashes on the screen. One by one, the monitors flicker and the dining room comes into view. “I’ll leave you to witness for yourself, then you can make up your own mind.”
His shoes click across the floor. I hold my breath until I hear the front door open and close.
Suddenly, Colt comes into view on the screen. He’s younger, not as refined.
“What do you want?” he sneers to someone just off camera. My heart screams in agony when Clara’s form comes into view, her long curtain of hair curling around her shoulders. She’s so vibrant, so alive. I want to reach through the screen and hold her.
“I’m not going back,” she states firmly. I look closer, seeing her necklace around her neck. She was wearing it the night she was killed.
Colt turns, appraising her with a curious eye. “And this is my business why?”
“Because I’m not staying for Cash.”
“Be careful of the next words you speak,” he warns her, his tone so cold, it evokes a shudder throughout my body. It doesn’t seem to have the same effect on her, though. She shuffles closer, almost flinging herself at him. “I love you. Please, Colt.”
He shoves her away, making her fall to the ground. A sob overcomes her body.
“I told you when you declared this unwarranted affection it would never happen.”
“Why do you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you. I hate the way you people are never satisfied with what you have. You always try to take more, hurting whoever the fuck you want in the process.” He towers over her, menacing.
“I don’t understand,” she pleads.
“That’s because you’re selfish and young. You only think of what you want, need, feel. Does it matter that I feel nothing for you? I look at you, and my heart is black.”
“Stop.”
“You’re the first woman my brother has ever loved, and you betray that by being here.” Her gasp mimics my own.
“I haven’t encouraged this affection. I don’t understand where it’s coming from,” he growls.
“It hurts,” she beseeches.
“What does?”
“My heart.”
“It will heal, and so will my brother’s once you’re gone.”
Her head whips up, and my insides quake as I watch him drag her to her feet.
“What is this?”
I startle at Cash’s voice. I hadn’t heard him come in. He stands next to Colt, Colt’s eyes full of fire. “Stop this now,” he barks, pushing their father to the ground. He’s bloody and beaten. They must have crossed paths when he tried to leave and they dragged him back here.
“No. Don’t touch a fucking thing.” Cash holds his hand up, his eyes watching with the same horror.
I wouldn’t know how to stop it. Tears track down my cheeks. I didn’t realize I was even crying. I shift, keeping distance between us.
“What is this?” I ask Colt, hiccupping.
“It’s nothing. Turn it off,” he warns.
The camera trails him dragging Clara from the house before it turns black.
“Get the outside camera feed up,” Cash barks, making me leap out of my skin.
“I don’t understand how,” I sob. “Colt?” I choke out his name.
“It’s not what it looks like. Cash…”
Cash begins searching for the other camera feeds.
“It’s not there, Cash,” Colt warns.
“What the hell do you mean it’s not there?”
The tension is palpable. Cash rushes Colt when he doesn’t find anymore, grabbing him by the lapels of his jacket.
“The camera feed only shows the front of the house. The ones for the dock and surrounding acres got knocked out in the storm we had that week and weren’t fixed for over a month.”
“That’s real fucking convenient. Just like Annemarie.”
“That’s what your father said,” I say, pointing to him.
Mr. Ward spits blood, swiping at his dripping nose.