Chapter Sixty-Three Isla
Chapter Sixty-Three
Isla
Present Day
The recorder continued with nothing but static filling the air until it shut off, leaving Eden’s last words hanging in the air.
No matter how many times Isla heard them, each time was a deeper twist of the knife.
She imagined horrible images of what Eden had gone through, of how her best friend had suffered.
Outside the doors, Victor’s reception went on without its guest of honor while the room descended into chaos.
“What kind of joke is this?” Victor began, searching one face and then another for answers no one wanted to give. “What is that?”
“It’s bullshit is what it is,” Bennett barked. “I’m going to kick your ass out personally.” He charged at Isla, but Myles was quicker.
Myles growled, shoving Bennett back. “Back up.”
“Get off,” Bennett yelled, launching a wild punch at Myles. Myles parried it easily and delivered his own. Bennett reeled back from the blow.
“Bennett!” Brooke cried, lunging for her son as Dixon pulled Myles off him.
“Myles,” Dixon said forcefully. It was the first time he’d acted without Victor giving a command. She saw a flash of his holstered gun under his tux jacket.
Brooke helped Bennett to his feet and tried to stanch the blood running down his face. He snatched his head away.
“What the hell was that for?” Bennett growled at Myles. “Don’t tell me you believe this concocted shit.” His mouth said one thing, but his eyes said another. He was terrified. This was something he could not hide.
Myles growled. “I can’t believe you could do this. Edie was our sister. Our sister, man!”
Brooke stood between them, shielding her son. Bennett shrugged his mother off, declaring everything was a setup.
“Don’t believe it, Dad,” Bennett implored a thunderstruck Victor. “It’s a lie. It’s fake.”
Brooke hushed him, knowing when to back off. “Quiet,” Brooke said urgently. “You’re bleeding. Just wait.”
The other day, Brooke had practically danced when she’d toppled Isla in front of everyone with Charli. She was singing a different tune now. She looked downright terrified, Isla thought with satisfaction.
Isla expected them to leave. She kept silent as Jackson slipped out too. To regroup. To tie up their loose ends—and Isla would be there to catch them.
Victor paid Bennett and Brooke no attention. He was fixated on the recorder in Isla’s hand. He repeated his question, a tremor in his voice.
“It’s Eden,” Isla replied. “A recording she made the last day she was seen.”
“What do you mean it’s Eden?” Victor said, flustered. “What’s the meaning of all that?”
As quickly as she could, Isla told them what she knew of that day.
“Edie was here? She came to see me?” Victor asked, stricken.
“This is the real reason why I came here and deceived you. I came here for the truth about what happened to Eden. I had to know if you or anyone else had anything to do with her disappearance.”
“You think I had something to do with Edie being gone? You thought I could hurt her?” His anguish cut through Isla. She’d wounded him, and it was only going to get worse.
“That’s ridiculous,” Dixon snapped. Another first Isla was seeing from him. “All you had to do was tell us the truth from the start.”
Isla laughed bitterly. “I doubt even you believe what you just said. I’m a nobody to you all.”
Victor looked as if years had been taken from him. The vibrant business magnate who commanded any room now looked older than his sixty-nine years as the reality of what had happened to Eden hit him. He had no more hope or fantasy to hide behind.
Isla had waited for this big reveal till she could put them all in one room unaware and see who reacted and how. She’d chanced everything on finding Eden tonight, but time was of the essence, and if they took any more, they might miss their opportunity to end a decade of uncertainty.
She made eye contact with Myles.
She’d rather have been anywhere else, but she had to finish what she’d started. She owed them all that much.
Victor roared, regaining some of his former self. “Bennett, explain this goddamn recording now!” He twisted in his seat, but Bennett wasn’t there. Neither were Brooke and Jackson. “Where the hell did they go?”
Isla pulled out her phone and turned on the tracking app. “I can show you.”