I try to reason with him. He’s hurting. I get it. “I’m sorry you lost your mom, Zed. I really am.”
He doesn’t even look at me. He just turns around and walks into the darkest area of the room, and I lose sight of him. The next thing I know, I hear a loud thud and the repeated sound of metal on cement.
He’s chipping away at the cement floor.
He’s digging.
Holy shit. Is he digging up Josh?
Resting my chin on my chest with my eyes closed, the sounds begin to fade. Like a storm passing, but still striking in the distance.
I’m not sure how much time has passed when I feel him at my side again. My eyes pop open, and I lift my head. “What did you do?” He’s waving something in front of me, but I can’t make out what it is. I lean closer and catch a glimpse: the SD card.
“Remember when you went to hell and back for this card. You even let me dip my fingers inside of you just for answers. What are you willing to do for it now?” He smirks.
I don’t need that card anymore. Little does he know, I had the phone, and I already have my answers.
“Nothing. I don’t want it.”
He perks up. “Oh? You don’t wanna know what your boyfriend has been keeping from you?”
“I already know everything.” I smirk right back at him.
He laughs. “You think you know everything.”
“I do. I already know that Talon killed Josh. So you can shove that card right up your ass.” I snuff my nose in the air and turn my head.
Stepping closer, then even closer—until his legs are level with mine—he climbs on top of me. His knees hit my sides, and we’re face to face. “Naive little Marni.” He tsks. “You don’t know a damn thing.” Leaning over, his mouth hits the lobe of my ear. “Talon didn’t kill Josh. Your daddy did.”
Everything stills. My heart, my breath. Zed’s body and his words. He’s frozen on top of me, waiting for a reaction.
He’s lying.
Laughter erupts from inside me. “Shut the hell up. There is no way that my dad killed Josh, and don’t even try and pin this shit on him.”
“You think I’m joking? That’s cute. But it’s true.” He leans back and his eyes bore into mine. “Sure, Talon wanted to kill him. Josh was peeping through your windows and Talon had a fetish for you. Talon was at Tommy’s that night. Josh parked his car nearby, and they knew exactly where he was. So they walked over there to confront him. They planned on recording Josh as he stood at the end of your driveway with a pair of binoculars. They were gonna tell him that they’d show the entire school if he didn’t stay away from you.”
“Why should I believe anything you say to me?”
“Because I have no reason to lie.”
He’s right. He has nothing to gain from this. Aside from turning me against Talon—again. “Alright, humor me. What happened next?”
“So the guys were getting a good laugh and just as they switched on the camera and hit record, your dad came flying down the road at full speed and took the fucker out. Hit him and killed him. Instantly.”
Gasping, I begin to squirm again. “Let me up. Please, Zed. I need to get up.” The walls feel like they are closing in around me. Sucking all the air out and smothering me.
He continues to talk, as I buck my knees up. “Tommy and Talon hid behind a bush but kept recording. Your dad got out of the car, took one look at Josh, panicked and got back in and drove off. Never called an ambulance. He never even went home.”
Words that don’t feel like mine escape me. “He was supposed to come home that night. He called and told me that he had a last-minute meeting in Phoenix and he’d be home a couple days later.”
“Later that night, we all got together and came up with the elaborate scheme to get you right where we wanted you. We went to your dad with the video and threatened to hand it over to the police if he didn’t do exactly what we wanted.”
“What did you want?”
“You.” Zed hops off of me and grabs a shovel that’s leaning against the wall. He goes back over to the corner where he was and it sounds like he’s digging up dirt now. There’s the scrape of the shovel and then the drop of dirt onto the cement. He continues talking as he digs. “Your dad handed over his little girl just to keep his reputation and freedom.”
This whole time, it was my dad. I have so many questions that I need answered. Only, I don’t want answers from Zed. I want them from Talon.
There’s a brief pause in digging and the light on Zed’s phone shines from the other end of the eerie basement. “They’re almost here.” He whistles, way too chipper for someone in his position. He’s digging a manmade grave and, deep down, I know that he plans on filling it with another body—Talon’s.
25
The rain is hammering on the windshield. “Could ya press the gas a little harder. Come on, man.” I lean forward in the passenger seat. To say that I’m tense is an understatement of epic proportion. I’ve chewed half of my thumbnail off and the fucking thing won’t stop bleeding. Add that to the scratches on my neck, and the diced skin under my shirt and I look like I
