In the end, getting away with it hadn’t been complicated. People tend to have short memories and hardly anyone mentioned Celine these days. Of course, nobody else knew she was dead, but even with Keenan I could already tell it would be the same. They’d call his death a tragic accident. Poor guy working underneath his car after having a few beers. They’d shake their heads, mourn awhile and say a prayer or two before getting on with their busy lives. That’s the way things worked when someone died. People paid attention for a while and then moved on. Forgot. It’s how it had been with Mom and Brad. Give it a little time, and hardly anyone cared.
35
ASH
I stared at my stepsister, trying to comprehend what she’d told me, but all the doubt crumbled away as the memories of what happened that night slipped back into place.
Celine had died because of us. We’d hidden it from the world. She was buried on the grounds. How could we have done such a thing? How could we lie to Celine’s family for years, pretend their daughter, their sister, had run away? We were abominable, that much was certain now, but looking at Maya, her face a picture of pure calm, I realized she felt no guilt about what we’d done. Given the chance, if we had the ability to go back in time, it seemed she’d make the same decision all over again, and if we’d done something so despicable once...
My legs buckled as I sank to my knees, all my strength and resolve flowing out of my body and into the ground. “What really happened to Kate? You have to tell me—”
“Let’s go to the house,” she said, reaching for my hands, trying to pull me up, but as she did, there was a dull thud from somewhere inside the garage. “Get up, Ash.” Maya raised her voice and yanked on my arms again. “Come on, let’s go now and I’ll tell you everything else.”
I was about to move when I heard another thud, followed by what sounded like a muffled cry. Pulling away from my sister, I cocked my head and listened, putting a finger to my lips. As Maya was about to speak, I shushed her and got up, asked if she’d heard the noises, too. She insisted I was imagining it, pulled on my sleeve to steer me toward the front door, but I shook her off, walking farther into the garage. Another thump, another cry. I turned around.
“Maya,” I said, slowly. “Is someone in the old room below?”
She shook her head, but her eyes betrayed her, and I looked back at the trapdoor, which had been covered with boxes of Maya’s supplies set atop the orange rug. It was definitely where the noises were coming from.
“Who’s down there?” I asked her before the realization hit me. “Jesus, is it Lily?” She swallowed, hard, but didn’t deny it. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I shouted as I ran to the trapdoor, kicking and shoving the boxes out of the way.
Maya didn’t move. “If you open that,” she said slowly, “everything will be ruined. She’ll tell the police I put her down there. I’ll be arrested...”
“What were you thinking?” I yelled, shaking my head. “We were about to leave for Brookmount. We’d have been gone for two days. There’s nothing down there. No food, no water. What if she’d died? She’d—” I stopped, what had to be a look of complete horror and absolute disgust appearing on my face. “Unless that’s what you wanted. Was she right? Did you set her up? She wasn’t lying after all, was she? You wanted to get rid of her.”
“Help me!” Lily screamed, her shouts clearer now that the boxes were gone, and I turned my attention away from Maya, who stepped closer as I kicked the orange rug away. I bent over, my fingers closing over the ring of the trapdoor when another thought punched me in the gut.
“Did you have anything to do with Keenan’s accident?” When she didn’t ask me what I meant I knew—I knew—she’d killed him. And Kate’s death, that mustn’t have been an accident, either. That’s why I’d left Newdale after she died. Maya had to have been the reason I’d changed my identity. It was all because of her. I couldn’t remember why, not yet, but I’d make damn sure I would because another thing was certain. My stepsister was a sociopath.
I lowered my voice, my words coming out firm, hard and cold. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to take a step back while I let Lily out. Then we’re calling the police—”
“No, I—”
“Yes. We’ll tell them everything.”
“But they’ll send us to prison.”
“Then so be it. I’m done with the lies, with all the deceit. Do you hear me? I’m done.”
“How can you say that? I’ll never see you again,” she shouted, letting out a sob, her shoulders shaking as she collapsed on the floor, and I wondered if this was the first time I’d witnessed her true emotions. There was no telling what she’d lied to me about over the past couple of weeks, or what she’d done, and I wasn’t going to give her another opportunity to do more harm.
“I think that’ll be what’s best for the both of us,” I said, watching her blanch so hard I thought she might puke.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice a mere whisper as she clutched her stomach. “I’m sorry, Ash. I’ll do whatever you want. Whatever you say. I’m sorry.”
I ignored her and as soon as I opened the trapdoor, I dropped the ladder into the room below. Lily looked
