Chapter Thirty-Six
I followed her line of sight, using my hand to shield the reflective glare of the sun that burst through the tree line, but above that lay a clear view.
“That house overlooks yours,” she said faintly.
The expansive white mansion gleamed atop the canyon’s edge, offering the owner an unobstructed view of the homes and properties below, extending down into the city beyond.
I’d never had a reason to visit the house. “I don’t know who lives there.”
“They’ve just returned home from a trip abroad, so they were away the night Amelia died. Super nice couple, a producer and his partner who writes political speeches. They wanted to help.”
“How?”
“Their security cameras cover your property.” She rested her hand on my arm. “They weren’t trying to spy on you.”
I glared in their direction. “They let you see their footage?”
What if everything I thought about that night was wrong? What if, in a moment of fury, I had done something unforgiveable? Perhaps my mind had protected me from the harrowing truth.
But if the worst-case scenario were true, Willa wouldn’t be so calm—would she?
“Let’s go in,” she said, her tone making me doubt my innocence once again.
I’m a monster.
Atticus had done the unthinkable to shield Eve and her daughter. What if that was the common thread between us—the ability to do what had to be done to protect the ones we love? I’d loved Amelia, though not in the way love is often shared—more in a caring fashion, like a protective force. But she had threatened countless lives by working for Jewel and betraying everyone in her wake. Amelia had become a liability.
“You should go,” I said, caring for Willa more than I ever had before—an impossible love for a woman that came into my life too soon.
“Maybe I’ll go later, if you really want me to.”
How could I express my fear that I didn’t know if she was safe around me?
Her tenderness, her fortitude, shone through. “But first I want to show you what their cameras captured.”
In a daze, I walked toward the house, heart twisting with confusion, thinking that this moment could change my life—change me and how I saw myself.
Just outside the doorway, a spider crawled along the trellis and a sense of calm came over me. The delicate arachnid rested on its silken threads. Despite its size, there was a quiet majesty in its form, a reminder of the beauty that goes unnoticed in the smallest creatures.
I was surrounded by nature here. Insects were always finding their way inside, but I had never hurt anything in my life—merely tried to set them free.
Like I had done with Amelia.
Willa walked ahead of me, and I followed her into the kitchen. We proceeded towards the corner nook.
She sat before the screen again and awakened the mouse with a swift shake.
Willa sent a file from her phone to the laptop. I helped her with the transfer, accepting the file.
“I want to see it,” I admitted. “But at the same time, I don’t.”
“I get that.” She refocused on the screen. “Their cameras captured everything.”
Originally installed to monitor their lawn for security, their surveillance also covered my property. Had I known this, I might have been more cautious about my privacy.
Willa fast-forwarded the footage to right before Amelia’s recorded time of death, and then let it play.
I saw Amelia coming through my backyard’s side gate. She was being manhandled by a man I didn’t recognize. He was leading her toward the pool. She resisted, but he was too strong. Her body turned towards the house as she struggled.
Amelia began screaming…but there was no sound.
Was she calling my name?
They continued to struggle.
I turned away, unable to watch what he was doing to her. My heart was racing as though this was live footage, and I could rush outside and save her.
I stared at the window, but all I could see was the truth unfolding. She hadn’t come for a midnight swim, hadn’t tried to awaken me. She’d not taken a midnight dip, in that rebellious fashion of hers, being too drunk to stay afloat.
Amelia had been murdered that night—and I’d been sleeping when she’d needed me the most.
“Why would this happen?” asked Willa.
“They came for Jake at first, and then Atticus, and…”
“Now you?” She shuddered. “Cameron is your fourth partner.” She looked sympathetic. “Jewel will come for him next.”
I glanced back at the screen, at Amelia’s lifeless floating body.
Willa was staring at Amelia, too, her expression filled with horror.
“This exonerates you, Greyson.”
“Technically.” I was still guilty in other ways.
“Do you recognize the killer?”
“No.”
“Do you think he works for Jewel?’
“Perhaps.” I rubbed my chin, trying to remember if I had ever seen him at Pendulum.
“Want some tea?” she offered.
Not sure why, but I laughed—an outrageous response, but facing the truth has its consequences.
It lets the nightmares bleed into our daylight hours. Once seen, it can’t be forgotten. And then, everything I’d just seen in the footage replayed in my mind like a film, only I was seeing it all from a different perspective.
A thread pulled, unraveling everything.
Jewel had focused on me, a more dangerous and unsettling move that felt terrifying.More than this, Amelia had been in harm’s way, and I hadn’t done enough to get her out of the city.
I pulled the barstool away from the island and sat with a trembling hand covering my face. A wave of grief hit me hard, like it had a suffocating grip on my throat.
How could I have let this happen? I cared for her, more than I could ever express—and now Amelia was gone. The clawing guilt was tearing me apart. I should have done something, should have realized that Jewel was going to use Amelia against me in such a way—setting me up as her murderer.
No doubt the postmortem would show signs of the struggle.
Amelia was vulnerable and not getting her away from Pendulum sooner had been a mistake. How scared and desperate she must have felt, knowing I was so close and yet so far away.
I shook as a sob wracked my body, my face buried in my hands, the tears pouring down my face.
I’d failed her.
She’d been so alone.
Willa wrapped her arms around me and held me, her quiet fortitude something I could cling to, something I drew strength from—even though I couldn’t look at her, couldn’t make eye contact.
My shame over the outburst weighed me down. I’d always felt I shouldn’t allow myself to cry in front of anyone.
But in her embrace, I found comfort and I drew on her compassion. Willa’s calm resilience brought a profound sense of steadiness that anchored me, even as I was drowning in sorrow.
“This…it honors her life,” she whispered. “It shows how important she was.”
Willa’s presence was unyielding, her strength unwavering in the way she held me without hesitation.
There was a depth to her that I could barely comprehend. A quiet bravery that didn’t demand attention but commanded respect.
She broke away, but only to bring me tissues. I thanked her with a nod, unable to talk with this lump in my throat.
I couldn’t recall the last time I’d lost control of my emotions, but it hurt too much to keep all this agony inside.
What they had done to her…
Within minutes, Willa had made tea and we both returned to the flower garden, sitting at the corner table trying to digest what we had seen.
“I don’t usually express myself like this…” I wrapped my hands around the mug.
Willa reached out and squeezed my arm. “You lost a close friend. This is perfectly normal.”
I flinched at the thought of me being asleep upstairs. “When she needed me the most, I failed her.”
“You didn’t know what was happening—how could you?”
“That first night you saw me, I had returned to Pendulum to get Amelia out. But I didn’t listen to my gut, didn’t fly her out of town. I should have gotten her as far away from that woman as possible.” I paused, feeling a fresh bout of rage at the needless cruelty. “Jewel won’t get away with this.”
Amelia, I am so fucking sorry .
I rallied, trying to think of what came next. “I need to get the footage over to the lawyer.”
“I emailed it to Cameron,” she said. “He’s on it.”
“When?”
She peered up at the house above us. “Before I left their place—in case I was intercepted.”
I’d put Willa in danger, too.
“Not sure you should be connected to this.”
“Well, I am.”
She was so damn smart, but even so, I still didn’t want any of this to touch her.
Then my brain ached with the realization that Willa had been lured into Pulse360.
“You know I believe that Jewel killed Lance Merrill,” said Willa, meeting my gaze.
Shit . That wasn’t a road Willa should go down—because I had been there that night when they had murdered him.
Caressing my brow, I told myself that all this chaos would settle down and somehow, someway, we would eradicate the evil component to our secret society.
“Jewel and Lance were connected.” Willa held her mug tightly, trying to put the pieces together. “Dean Hersey, did he…?”
“He just got too close to Jewel.”
“Staying one step ahead of these people is challenging.”
“They are hard to predict or understand.”
“We don’t think like them,” she agreed. “It’s hard to imagine what an evil person would do.”
“We need help figuring this out,” I reasoned.
“Minds who are trained to confront evil.”
“Your brother?”
“Cameron is good at this sort of thing.”
“Understatement.” I sipped my tea. “Not sure he’ll want you anywhere near this.”
“It’s too late for that, Greyson.”
“Maybe.”
“No maybe about it.”
I looked toward the pool. “We have something substantial now. Jewel will abandon her lackey when she learns what we have.”
“Let the police handle this.” She set her mug down.
“Willa, if we involve the police, it may lead them to raid Pendulum. Everyone will go underground. We’re not saying we won’t do that—we just need more.”
“More evidence against Jewel?”
“Yes.”
“That’s where I come in.”
“What you did here is remarkable.” I pointed at her. “But that is where you’re input ends—do you understand?”
She went to speak and then thought better of it.
“Wait here.” I leaped from my seat and hurried inside. Within a minute, I had retrieved a chenille throw and had it wrapped around her shoulders.
Willa beamed at me.
“Better?”
“Much.”
It wasn’t lost on me that I had done the same for Amelia on those chilly nights. We’d sat out here drinking wine. While I read, she would take a nap before bedtime, which always made me laugh.
Willa seemed to sense where my mind had gone. “Tell me more about how you met Amelia.”
“It’s complicated.”
“I’m good with complicated.”
“Our story reflects my lifestyle.”
“I want to hear.”
I took a deep breath. “Soon after we expressed an interest in buying Pendulum, we were introduced to Amelia.” I paused. “They presented her to Jake…as a gift.”
“Presented?”
“As a submissive.” I tried to explain it better. “With her consent, of course, she was matched with Jake. He’s a famous football player and—”
“Hot.”
“You could describe him as that, yes.” I smiled at her.
“You’re all pretty hot, actually.”
“I’m clearly the standout in our clique,” I joked.
“You really are,” she replied, winking at me.
“Anyway, I really liked Amelia. Managed to persuade Jake to let her go. He ended up with Stella. The rest is history.”
“What was she like?”
“Amelia?” I avoided glancing toward the pool, toward the place she took her last breath. “Playful, and a bit damaged. I tried to make her happy.”
“She liked being a submissive?”
“Yes.”
“Did she spend much time here?”
“Some. We had only been together a short while.”
“Did she have a job?”
“She worked at an animal rescue place in Burbank.”
It was in Willa’s eyes, the sudden realization that Amelia had lived and breathed and dreamed just like her—before her life had been tragically cut short.
The weight of it was overwhelming.
Amelia was bright and unique, and the fact her life had been extinguished so prematurely filled me with a profound sorrow. It wasn’t just the absence of Amelia, but the realization there would be countless untold stories, unspoken words between us that would never be shared.
“She loved animals,” Willa said softly.
“She really did.”
“You had that in common.” On my reaction, Willa added, “Cameron mentioned how gentle you are with nature.”
That made me smile. “Amelia had striking blue hair, which was artsy.”
She’d hurt me, too, betrayed me terribly, but right now I didn’t need to drive that home, didn’t need to blame her for my own inadequacy.
I wanted to change the subject. “How did you meet Hugo?”
She looked surprised. “Oh, at The Box in New York. It’s a club.”
“I’m not that old, I know The Box.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-five.”
She looked sheepish. “Eight years older than me.”
I gave a nod. “You hit it off right away with Hugo?”
“I had secretly crushed on him from afar. He had this thing about him, like he had stepped straight out of the nineteenth century. He has this Byron-esque vibe, always immersed in poetry and music, strumming his guitar. In many ways, I’d met my match. Or thought I had.”
“Sounds like you had fun.”
“At first, everything was great. We were happy, or at least I thought we were. But I had money, and he didn’t, which made him feel vulnerable at times. I didn’t mind, but it bothered him. Looking back, it may have affected his self-esteem more than I realized.”
“Because he cheated on you?”
“I wanted to make him happy. Make him feel welcome. He moved into my penthouse. But slowly he came to resent my privilege. Like I had control over it.”
“It can be intimidating to some.”
“It was like he secretly loathed it and yet he stayed.”
“Did you feel used?”
“I didn’t think of it like that.” She let out a sigh. “He called what I did for him charity.”
“Sounds like he was immature.”
“Cameron says his behavior was narcissistic.”
“I remember you saying so. What did Hugo do to deserve that label?”
“He made everything about him. Even on my birthday. I’d plan something special, but he would find a way to turn the attention back to his needs, his mood. Show up late, or sulk over something trivial, just enough to ruin the vibe. If I was happy, he would feel ignored, so he would disrupt it. My joy never felt as important as his.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I was at a restaurant having lunch with Hugo. It was spontaneous. I’d told him I was going to join him at the last minute. He had no time to text her, you see, to warn her, because we were together. I noticed this woman on the other side of the restaurant window staring at him. We were sitting inside, and she was sitting at an outside table. Hugo went all coy and kept watching her. I caught them flirting. He acted nonchalant, but my gut told me something was up. Later, I recognized her from his social media accounts. It was obvious they knew each other. So, why act like they didn’t?”
“Your intuition kicked in.”
“Cameron says our minds take everything in. And sometimes, our brains hold information back. We don’t see it. Not until our mind is in a more relaxed state and we can replay it in a safer state.”
“Makes sense.”
“Hugo’s lover was posting images of herself from the same location as him. I knew he was there, only they never posted pictures together.”
“How do you know for sure, that he was cheating?”
Willa cringed. “He was dating me, a wannabe investigative reporter.”
“Yet another mistake.” I smiled to lessen the intensity of the painful moment.
She nodded. “Right. I checked his phone.”
“Texts?”
“She was listed under his sister’s name.”
That had hurt her—I could see it on her face.
“You called the number?” I asked.
“Yes, and his sister didn’t answer. The woman did.”
“Do you have any communication with him now?”
“Very little. Hugo is leaving my place.” She shrugged. “It hurts because it feels final, even though I know it’s over. It’s hard to explain.”
“I get it.”
“A part of me thinks I should forgive him. What we had was essentially fun and it made me feel alive, you know?”
“Oh, trust me, I know.”
She gave me a gentle smile. “Moving past what he did is impossible.”
The last time I saw Amelia, she’d been with three men—now that memory was best buried. Didn’t want to think of her that way.
“Come on.” Willa jumped to her feet and hurried over to the other side of the flower garden.
I got up and followed her, intrigued.
She plucked two lavender blooms and handed one to me. “Over here.”
We strolled over to the side of the pool.
“Let’s say a prayer for Amelia.”
Plucking the petals, I scattered them onto the water’s surface, offering a silent prayer, a hopeful thought that she had found peace—while quietly vowing her death would be avenged.
“Want to share your thoughts?” Willa wrapped her arm around mine.
I whispered, “May you rest in peace, Amelia. Even though I can’t change the past, I will spend my life making it right for you.”
A sharp reminder, as fleeting as a breath, that life could turn on its axis in a second, scattering all I knew into a haze of uncertainty.
“That’s beautiful, Greyson.”
Of course, it crossed my mind that this was also where Willa and I had made love yesterday for the very first time. And those cameras from up on that ridge might have covered that, too.
I turned to face Willa. “Maybe it’s best if you return to New York until after all this is resolved.”
She flinched. “I’m of value. I just proved that!”
“More than anything, I owe you a debt I may never be able to repay, but…” I looked down at the petals drifting aimlessly across the water, like fragile promises, and realized I couldn’t bear the weight of keeping her safe any longer. “We’ve witnessed how dangerous Jewel can be. Please, see the wisdom in allowing us to handle this.”
Willa’s eyes watered as though my words had hurt her to the core. “I have to go.”
“At least consider it.”
She gave a nod, refusing to look at me.
“I’ll drive you back.”
“I’d appreciate that,” she said, giving me a sad smile. “Considering I left my car at the Beverly Majestic last night, where I came to save you.”
“I didn’t need saving.”
“You were at risk from Chloe.”
“It’s you I want, Willa.”
Right.
I’d admitted it.
The truth.
So much of that spilling around here lately. In this house that is a prison for my soul.
We both paused, Willa and I staring at each other as though needing to replay my outburst and confirm it happened.
“Willa, please, let me sort out my life.”
“Let’s pick my car up on the way home,” she said softly. “It was a gift from my brothers. It’s new.”
“They really are the best.”
She frowned at me, annoyed. “They’ve given me their blessing to take this as far as I can.”
“That’s great, Willa,” I said sternly. “But I’m not them.”
“You don’t get to boss me around, Greyson.”
“This tragedy is proof you can’t mess around with these people. I don’t know what Cameron is thinking, but he’s wrong. You need to stay as far away from this as possible.”
“They know I’m the missing link.”
“To what?”
“Jewel brought me into this. That was her move. She has no idea what a mistake that was. I will end this.” Willa pressed her finger into my chest. “Underestimate me at your own peril.”
“That’s…dramatic.”
“I’m insightful, hard-working, and never back down from a challenge. I see the bigger picture, even when others can’t.”
“And you’re a Cole.”
“I have a lineage of visionaries behind me.”
“I’m aware.”
“I helped solved Amelia’s murder. It’s time to take down the woman who perpetrated it.”
“You’re way too precious to be caught anywhere near this.”
“Do you have any idea how patronizing that is, Greyson?”
“I’m the one who escorted you out of Pendulum. Remember that?’
“You also had me touch myself while you watched.”
Shrugging, I said, “What has that got to do with anything?”
She flinched, looking hurt, and I reached out to her, needing to pull her into an embrace, show her this was what loving a friend looked like.
But she had already pivoted away. The chenille throw fell off her shoulders and tumbled to the grass in a graceful swirl.
She headed into the house, leaving me outside alone, feeling her sudden loss.