Page 72 of Tangled Past
Will stepped forward, kicking the gun out of Jonas’s reach. “Hands where I can see them.”
Jonas laughed weakly, head tipping back against the stone. “You finally did it.” He gave a single nod in Asa’s direction. “You finally know the truth.”
Asa approached slowly, gun still raised, his chest heaving.
Jonas’s smile faded. For the first time, something like fear flickered through his eyes.
Sirens wailed above them. Backup had arrived.
Asa lowered the gun only when Will nodded.
“Get him stabilized,” Will ordered. “He goes to the hospital under guard.”
JT and Declan moved in, cuffs snapping shut, tourniquet applied. Jonas hissed in pain, but he didn’t put up a fight.
As they hauled him to his feet, his uncle leaned close enough for Asa to hear. “I tried to do right by you, but you wouldn’t let it go.”
Asa leaned in just as close. “That’s because the truth doesn’t stay buried,” he said. “Not forever.”
Jonas was taken away, his footsteps fading up the stairs. Silence rushed in.
Asa turned back to the alcoves. To Vanessa. His hands shook now. “She’s dead,” he said under his breath. “I have to tell Maya.”
Will stepped beside him. “We’ll bring Maya in later. Not tonight. Not until you’re ready.”
Asa nodded, his throat tight. He headed to the alcove and knelt, fingers hovering over the locket but not touching it. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to Vanessa and to the little girl who had survived that night at the barn.
Behind him, the lighthouse groaned as the storm pressed in. The truth was out now, and Asa would carry it. For Maya. For his father.
For every name carved into stone.
