I nod.
She tosses a sheet of paper at me. “Have a look for yourself. It’s all right there—he’s been drugging you.”
Sure enough, when I scan the sheet, I can’t believe my eyes.
Test results.
“Cocaine? How did you get this?” My gaze moves from the paper to Snow.
“Sal pulled a hair from you when you got in the fight, and Ariel put a rush on it at the lab,” she explains. “And then it hit me. Ben is Scott. He never wanted you to introduce us to him. He always wore a hat, but I wouldn’t forget those eyes. How he got past you, I don’t know. You saw a picture, granted, it was a horrible picture from far away. He also dyed his hair.”
“You ruin everything,” Ben yells at Snow, lunging and taking a swing at her.
I grab his shoulders, yanking him back, before he can make contact. “Don’t touch her.”
He starts cackling. “You don’t really remember our date, do you?”
Furrowing my brows, I scowl. “I thought you were talking about a girl that dumped you or something.”
“No, that was you.” He sneers. “You were talking about a girl that you couldn’t have. You were talking about her. And because of that, you rejected me. To get you back, I started stalking her and then got her to forgive me, turning on the charm, telling her I would take care of her. I hated her so much because you loved her.”
“You’re crazy,” I growl.
“Her parents love me. I’ll never go to jail—they love me that much.” Scott—well, Ben—has a maniacal, evil grin on his face as he emphasizes the word “that.” The guy’s lost his damn mind.
“You abused her just because you wanted me and couldn’t have me?” What. The. Fuck.
“Correct,” he confirms, and I take a swing, knocking him to the ground where he laughs. Like a true psychopath, he laughs.
“So, what was all this?” I gesture around me, even though I really mean the shit he pulled, not the backyard.
“Snow left me. But I figured she would run to you. And I was right. And then I saw that you would be the bachelor, so I applied to be on the crew. Sal needs to get better at vetting people. And then I put my plan in motion. Started talking to you, offering advice. And then I started to put cocaine in your beer. And then started pitting you against them . . . making sure the relationship was severed.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved you and I wanted you to see I could take care of you,” he shouts, getting to his feet.
“By drugging him?” Snow asks, arms crossed, her eyes piercing him like daggers.
“You’re such a stupid bitch. Why don’t you die?” He tries to get to her again, and I fling him like a rag doll against the big tree in the center of the yard.
“I said don’t,” I hiss at him.
“You’re going to hell for all of this,” Snow snaps. “And jail.”
“I don’t think so. Who would believe a junkie and a liar?” He cackles, and then Snow pulls out her phone.
“A lot of people will since you just confessed,” she says as the sheriff’s car rolls up. “And by the way, you don’t get to talk to me like that. Ever. You won’t ever put your hands on me again, either. Hope you like bars.”
“Sheriff,” I greet him, inclining my head.
“London, Snow. I’ll take him now. I heard all of it. I’ll make sure it sticks.” The sheriff nods Snow’s way, and she gives him a shaky smile as he grapples with her psychotic ex.
He’s resisting arrest, dragging his feet, and still trying to launch himself at Snow. Cursing and threatening her is only adding more to the charges stacking against him.
Eventually, Ben is hauled away, straining against the cuffs, trying to twist them off. He even tries to run, only spitting in the sheriff’s face when he’s caught, after falling face-first in the mud. Snow just waves—I’m super proud of her.
Snow is on her phone calling Shane to tell him what happened.