Chapter 19
Asher
The second the door shut behind us, Becket exploded.
“What the hell was that?” he barked, pacing across the gravel drive like he needed somewhere to throw his fists.
I didn’t answer right away. My chest felt tight, and I felt disoriented.
“I can’t believe he sat on that,” Becket went on. “All these years.”
I pulled my phone out. “I’m calling Eric.”
“Yeah,” Becket muttered. “Call Phoenix too.”
Eric answered on the second ring. “What’s wrong?” I never called Eric at this time, so his reaction made sense.
“Can you meet?” I asked. My voice sounded flat, strange to my own ears.
A beat of silence.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Something that affects all of us,” was all I could get out.
“Okay, call Phoenix, but I don’t think he can leave his house. Elyna’s sleeping, and Braden just went down,” he explained. With Elyna close to her due date, she could go into labor at any time, and Phoenix wasn’t leaving her.
“Come to me,” Eric said since he had a house on the property.
“I’m coming with Becket,” I said.
Becket leaned against my truck while I dialed Phoenix next. He picked up, voice low.
“You good?” Phoenix asked quietly. I never called him this late either.
“No,” I said honestly. “Dad just dropped something.”
“Like what?” he asked.
“Something about Mom.”
Silence.
“I can’t leave right now,” Phoenix said.
“We’re going over to Eric,” I said to him.
“I’ll stay with Elyna,” Phoenix said quietly. “Put me on speaker when you get there.”
Eric’s house was warm when we walked in, lights dimmed low. Harmony was in the kitchen, but one look at Becket’s face told her this wasn’t small.
“Come,” Eric said, leading us toward the den.
Phoenix was already on FaceTime by the time we sat down. His screen showed the soft glow of a lamp behind him.
“What happened?” he asked.
Becket didn’t ease into it. “Dad knew,” he said.
“Knew what?” Eric asked.
“That Maggie Chabot’s death was really meant to be a hit on Kyle Jansen. He knew Bellerose ordered the hit, and he didn’t arrest him because he thought the charges wouldn’t stick, and that made Mom angry enough to leave.”
The room went dead quiet. Phoenix’s face drained of color through the screen. Eric stared at the floor for a long moment. “You’re saying he knew the truth about what happened by the river… and never shared it?”
“Yes,” Becket snapped. “Remember the damn letter we found in the attic? That’s what it was about.”
Phoenix swore under his breath.
“We need to call Bean,” Eric said quietly. Bean was our nickname for our youngest sister, Isabelle. She was living in Philly with her famous hockey player husband.
I nodded.
Becket Facetimed her. She picked up with a smile that vanished the second she saw our faces.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Becket didn’t soften it for her either. He laid it out the same way he had for us. By the end, Bean was crying silently on the other end of the call.
“He let us think she just left,” she whispered.
Luc’s arm appeared around her shoulders on the screen. He didn’t interrupt. Just held her.
Phoenix rubbed his jaw. “He cracks now? Because of Claire’s friend? Because she’s digging?”
“That’s what kills me,” Becket said. “Claire shows up chasing answers about Sophie, and suddenly Dad’s ready to confess.”
I swallowed hard.
“He watched her obsess over that case, and that triggered him,” Becket continued. “But he never once thought maybe we deserved to know why our mother walked out.”
Eric leaned back in his chair slowly. “I blamed myself,” he admitted quietly. “For years. I thought I wasn’t enough. That I did something.”
Bean nodded through tears. “I thought she left because I was too much work.”
Phoenix looked down. “I thought it was because I was getting into trouble.”
Becket’s voice went low. “I figured I was too angry. That she didn’t want to raise a kid who looked at the world like I did.”
Their words hit like blows. I stared at my hands. “I thought she left because I wasn’t worth staying for,” I said finally.
No one laughed or dismissed it. We all carried the same wound. Just shaped differently.
Eric exhaled. “Nothing’s going to feel the same after this.”
Becket nodded. “Yeah. It won’t.”
The weight of it sat between us. For a moment, I felt the old instinct rise. Leave. Take off. Get in the truck and drive until the road turned into something else. That had always been my pattern when things got hard. Wander until the noise quieted.
“I should just go somewhere,” I muttered without thinking.
Phoenix looked up sharply. “Ash.”
I ran a hand over my face. But then Claire’s face flashed in my mind. The note on her windshield. Your friend’s death was avenged. Someone out there knew she was digging. Someone thought they were clever enough to warn her. Leaving wasn’t an option.
“I can’t. I won’t.” I corrected myself.
Becket looked at me.
“I need to stay,” I said. “Claire got that note. That means someone dangerous is paying attention.”
Eric nodded slowly. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Phoenix’s jaw tightened. “We’ll get through this. Together.”
“We always do,” Becket agreed. A look passed between us like we had made up our minds. We had all come too far to let this tear us apart.
“There hasn’t been any news on Mom. Do you think she’s making her way back to us?” Becket asked.
“I’m not getting my hopes up,” Eric replied, and we all agreed. “The letter we found said she wasn’t going forever.”
“It feels like it’s been forever,” I added.
“True,” Phoenix said. “Look, we’ve grown up and raised ourselves. We’re all in good places. We can’t let this shake us. I’m about to become a dad for the second time. I need you guys.”
“We’re here,” Becket said. Eric and I both agreed. We were here for each other. We would always show up.
Bean wiped her face on the screen. “Please don’t let her handle this alone.” That comment was directed at me. She was referring to Claire. The girl who came out of nowhere and somehow got under my skin.
“I won’t,” I assured, even though I realized I never mentioned Claire to Bean, which meant one of my brothers had already told her about Claire.
Silence fell again, but this time it wasn’t explosive. It was processing.
Eventually Eric stood. “You guys need space tonight from Dad,” he said.
Becket hesitated. “I’m not going back to the house.”
Eric didn’t argue. “Stay here. Guest room’s made.”
Becket nodded once. “Thanks.”
We ended the call with Phoenix and Bean. None of us really knew what to say. Everything had shifted. I left Eric’s house alone and walked back to the cabin. That’s when I heard a thudding sound. Like a rhythm I knew all too well.
I stepped around the corner. Claire stood there in the dark, wearing a hoodie.
My hoodie. And she was hammering my punching bag like it had personally betrayed her.
Her fists landed repeatedly. For a second, I didn’t interrupt.
She looked fierce. Determined. Like she was fighting something bigger than the bag.
“Claire,” I said finally.
Her hands stilled mid-swing. She turned slowly. Her eyes were blazing. And for the first time that night, something inside me steadied.