“Do you believe him?” he asks.
I take a drag of the cigarette and slowly blow the smoke out. “I think that whoever is behind it is smart. And they have help.” He frowns. “It’s gotta be more than one person.”
“What makes you say that?”
“A hunch,” I answer. “And Austin had mentioned us having enemies in Collins. She wasn’t wrong. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Someone back in Collins is helping someone here ’cause no one here knows what all we’ve done in the past.”
“Except for us, Demi, and Becky. The girls admitted that they read Austin’s journal.”
“Yeah, but we don’t know what all was written in there. And she hasn’t had it since she was shot. And they knew that we killed Kellan.” His name was marked out in red.
“But that was all over the news.” He shrugs. “People thought I killed him. They just couldn’t prove it.”
Five months ago
I called the cops on our way to Bruce’s from the clubhouse. But I didn’t disclose that Kellan was involved. I gave an anonymous tip that there was a homicide at the Lowes’ residence, then hung up. When we arrived, Austin was lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen, and Kellan was leaning against the countertop. Cole told me to remove him from the scene because he didn’t want the cops getting to him first. So, I brought him up to the abandoned cemetery behind the Lowes estate, making sure I didn’t leave a trail of blood. Kellan doesn’t deserve to be behind bars. What little life he has left is up to Cole.
Cole reaches down and grabs Kellan’s ankle, dragging him across the uneven ground. Even though we are too far from the Lowes’ residence and no one can hear him, Cole drops his ankle and then straddles him, placing his hand over Kellan’s mouth to quiet him.
“I’m not even going to ask you why.” His bloodied chest rises and falls quickly as he sucks in breaths through clenched teeth. “Because it doesn’t fucking matter.” Then he punches him in the face. Kellan opens his mouth to cry, but Cole does it again. And again.
I don’t stop him. Or offer him any help. When Cole is in this kind of mood, you just stand back and thank God you’re not the guy he plans on destroying. He used to do this for sport, but ever since Jeff, things have escalated to murder. And I don’t hold him back. If anything, I encourage him.
He comes to a stop and falls off Kellan as though he was functioning solely on adrenaline, and it just ran out. Cole sits on a patch of dead grass next to him, breathing heavily with his eyes closed. Pulling his knees up, he places his elbows on them and drops his forehead into his open, bloody hands. They’re shaking. His entire body is.
I take a step toward him to make sure he’s okay but then stop myself. This isn’t like all the other times. No matter how much Kellan has betrayed us, he was still one of our best friends at one time. But now he has tried to kill the love of Cole’s life. And by the amount of Austin’s blood covering him, I would say Kellan succeeded, causing my chest to tighten for him. For Becky. I’m gonna have to break my girlfriend’s heart and tell her that her best friend is dead.
“She was …” Cough. “Always going to die,” Kellan chokes out. “The game …”
Cole lifts his head slowly, blood now covering his face, and he opens his eyes. He stares at Kellan for a long moment, and I see the fire raging in them. I’ve seen it so many times, and I know how explosive they can get. Then he kicks him in the face.
“Fuck the game!” he roars.
Kellan’s head snaps back, and I hear bones breaking. For a moment, I think Cole broke his neck. But then Kellan releases a strangled moan, and I realize it was just his jaw. His bloody hands come up to cover his busted face. He sobs into them like the little bitch he is.
“You’re the only one who is dying tonight,” Cole snaps. “She’s alive. And she’s gonna stay that way.”
“Naaa … Pwe … ase …”
It’s hard to understand his words with a broken jaw.
Cole finally looks up at me. His chest rising and falling fast. “Call Shelby.”
I scramble to remove my phone from my pocket. When she answers, I place it on speaker. “Are you at the hospital?” I ask in greeting.
“Deke? What are you …?”
“Are you at the fucking hospital?” I bark out. Austin’s alive for now. But how long will she stay that way?
“Yes,” she snaps.
“Austin is on her way. She’s been shot.”
“What?” She gasps. “What the hell, Deke? Cole shot her?”