Page 30 of You for Her (The Edge of Retaliation 2)
“There is nothing you can say that we haven’t already heard,” Tatum growls, crossing his arms. “You’re a killer. You know it. We know it. Everyone knows it.”
I look to him, and my voice is a low hiss when I say, “Are you sure about that, Tatum? Are you willing to bet that I don’t have anything to say that Tanner here might not have heard?”
Tatum’s face will live on in my memory. His expression changes, just for a second, to one of uncertainty. I know he’s wondering, deep down, if I do know something. He’s currently going over every single move he made when he had his brother’s name changed, when he helped him disappear, when he lied to his best friend. He’s making sure he had all his tracks covered. I know exactly what is swirling through his mind right now.
“Tatum is right,” Tanner finally speaks, his voice so thick with emotion, it is almost unrecognizable. What does he have to be emotional about? He’s a god damned monster.
“Tatum is a liar, and I’m not going to give you another chance. Sit down and hear what I have to say, or I call the police. What’s it going to be, Tanner?”
His jaw ticks, but he moves toward the table and sits. Tatum slowly moves over, too, and takes a seat.
When they’re down, I walk toward Tanner and take a seat so I’m facing both of them. Jo stands behind me. Garrett crosses his arms, but he doesn’t say a word.
“I see you’ve found my folder,” I say to Tanner. “Good, because it has what you need to know inside.”
Tanner glances at Tatum again, and then opens the folder and looks down at the emails I’ve printed out. He reads them over, and it takes more than a few minutes for him to figure out what’s going on in them. Shaking his head in confusion, he looks up. “Where did you get these?”
“Allow me to explain,” I say, putting my elbows on the table and leaning forward. “You see, I know what happened the night I hit Celia Yates with my car. I know it, yet nobody believed me. Nobody except Jo, of course. When I got out of prison, I made it my mission to prove to the world that Celia killed herself. So, I broke into her house. You can only imagine, Tanner, what I found there.”
Tanner’s face changes, and his eyes flick left, then right, as he processes what I’m telling him.
“That’s right, Tanner Yates, I’ve known who you are for a few weeks now. I’ve known what you’ve been doing to me. I could have told you, but then I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy this moment where I throw the truth in your lying, backstabbing face.”
He opens his mouth to say something, but I put my hand up, my voice a whip. “Do not fucking open your mouth.”
His eyes flash, but I keep going.
“I decided I was going to prove that I wasn’t lying, so I looked further. I dug deeper. I found those emails on Celia’s laptop. I started piecing things together. First of all, Chase’s last name in the emails was different to the name he used at school, and I pieced together that Chase is Tatum’s brother, but you already know that. Celia and Chase were together, but something happened, something really bad, something that made Celia take her own life.”
Tanner glances at Tatum, who looks so damned guilty I know now my plan will work. Tatum thinks I have the whole story, I can tell by his expression, and that’s all I need. Is for him to think I know the entire truth.
“Don’t listen to this shit,” Tatum growls, shoving his chair back and standing. “She’s lost her fuckin’ marbles, she could have made those emails up. Let’s get out of here.”
“Sit down, Tatum,” Tanner says through gritted teeth. “Now.”
Tatum glances at Tanner, but he sits down, his big fists clenched. He knows he’s done for, but it’s about time he owned up to what he’s done.
“Finish your fuckin’ story,” Tanner says to me.
“Gladly.” I smile bitterly. “So, after reading those emails, I was even more determined to find out what happened to Celia. Because, regardless of what you think, I have thought about her every single day since that horrible night. I’ve wanted her justice more than you can possibly imagine. Without anyone on my side, that was damned hard, but finally I had a lead. I paid your dear mother a visit,” I say to Tatum.
He grits his teeth. “You fuckin’ …”
“What?” I throw at him. “What could you possibly call me that wouldn’t be exactly what you are, too? A liar? A cheat? Manipulative? Sneaky? What, Tatum?”
He exhales angrily, panting with rage.
“Your mom,” I go on, my voice like a whip, “told me that Chase disappeared after Celia died, she had a great story as to why he doesn’t come and see her, but she did say that she still calls him. I stole his number from her phone. When you changed his name for him, Tatum, you should have probably thought that one through.”
