Page 77 of Thicker Than Water
Think.That’s the word I used with Aiden last night.I think your father killed him, still softening the blow—for my son’s sake, of course, but more so for my own. I know, though, that Sienna won’t acceptI think. There’s too much wiggle room in the phrase, too much for her to chip away at.I thinkis almostmaybe, almostI’m not sure.
“I don’t know exactly what happened,” I start, staring at my mug. “I don’t know why Jason went to Gavin’s after he left Maeve’s—”
“Exactly,” Sienna cuts in. “Why would he?”
I lift one shoulder, a half shrug that takes so much energy, and I offer the only theory I’ve been able to piece together. “Maeve said Jason thought Gavin assaulted her after the holiday party. So maybe he tried confronting him about his suspicions at that restaurant first, the night Henry Hendrix attacked Gavin, but then there was all that chaos and he lost his chance. And then maybe after… sleeping with Maeve, Jason realized how much he cared for her, and he decided he couldn’t wait for another opportunity. He had to confront him immediately.”
“One, Jason doesn’tcare for her,” Sienna counters. “Not like that. It was a moment of weakness. Of stupidity. He lovesyou. Two, why would he try confronting Gavin at a restaurant,orat his house, when he sees him every day at work? And three, confronting Gavin is one thing. Killing him is another. You can’t really believe—”
“The evidence is there. The knife, the blood, the blazer. Gavin’s phone in Jason’s car. You can’t keep ignoring it all.”
“Why would he take Gavin’s phone?” Sienna fires. “If he really killed him, why would he pick it up at all? Why not leave it with the body?”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“And if he was getting rid of evidence, why would he trash the blazer but not the phone?”
“I don’t know.”
“And why would he wait till Sunday to throw it away? Gavin was killed on Friday.”
“I don’t know, Sienna. I don’t know.”
“That’s because it doesn’t make sense. He couldn’t have—wouldn’t have—done it.”
She wants me to nod. Expects me to, I’m sure. Expects me to let her speak for both of us, because it’s what I’ve always done.
Instead, I take a shuddering breath. “I still have a million questions, but…” I meet Sienna’s gaze. “Jason did it. I truly believe he did.”
Sienna squeezes her eyes shut, as if absorbing the shock of my conviction. I see the pain on her face, and I wish I could peel it off her, scrub it like dead cells from her skin. But that wouldn’t be enough. Because beneath that pain, I see the flickering pulse of her fury.
“Wow,” she says.
When she opens her eyes, she keeps them narrowed. “So, what’d you do, Jules? Since youtruly believehe did it. Did you take that photo to the police?”
My hand tightens around my mug. “No.”
“Oh, really? You didn’t, say, show it to Wyatt last night?”
“No. I didn’t see it until Aiden got back from—” I stop, the question fully registering. “Wait. How do you know I went to Wyatt’s?”
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. She and Wyatt talk all the time, apparently.
“I saw you there. And I can’tbelieveyou would go to him without telling me first. Without warning me. I would have warned you, I would have done you that courtesy, if I had any reason to even be in the same neighborhood as one of your exes.”
I huff out a breath. I was going to let it go—her lie about Wyatt; we have bigger issues at the moment. But her choice of words is insulting.
“Thecourtesy? Like you didmethe courtesy of telling me you’re back with Wyatt?”
“I’m notback with him. We just have sex. I’ve been very clear with him that it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Right,” I say, not bothering to hide my sarcasm. “You still lied to me a hundred times about it. And for no good reason! It’s not like I would have judged you for seeing him.”
“Ijudge me for seeing him!” she bellows.
I glance at the ceiling, listening for the groan of Aiden’s mattress. All morning I’ve been trying to be quiet, tiptoeing down the stairs, avoiding the creakiest steps. I haven’t wanted him to lose a second of sleep—the one place where he doesn’t have to endure our new, shared truth.
“That’s not who I am,” Sienna says. “I’m not the woman who lets people hurt her and keeps them in her life.”
