Chapter 40
Whitlock stepped in first and took in the scene, his eyes landing on Gabriel standing near the table, Brianne seated, pale and hollow-eyed. Foley entered behind him, his eyes narrowed as he clocked all the faces.
“Somber crowd,” Whitlock said.
Foley turned toward me. “Care to explain what’s going on here?”
I nodded and began, starting from the moment Gabriel admitted Anne left the bonfire with him, to the cabin, to the fall, to the years of silence, to the truth now sitting between us like a live wire. Then I continued with Brianne and her confession.
When I finished, both Foley and Whitlock had moved their hands to their hips, heads shaking.
“I say, it’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” Whitlock said.
I turned to Gabriel. “There’s something you haven’t admitted yet.”
He looked at me, offering a slight nod.
I continued.
“Your wife has always known about what happened to Anne. And yet, you left her out of the story.”
Gabriel didn’t answer right away. He turned toward his wife, searching her face, his expression desperate and broken.
Brianne met his gaze.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You don’t have to protect me anymore. Yes, I knew. I’ve always known. He called me that night, right after Anne fell. I was his best friend long before I was his wife, you see.”
“What did he say?” I asked.
“He was terrified. He told me what happened, and he said he didn’t know what to do.”
“You told me to calm down,” Gabriel said. “You told me—”
“I told you I’d find a way to get to you, and I snuck out of the house and met you at the cabin.”
Foley straightened.
Whitlock’s jaw tightened.
“It was all my idea,” Brianne continued.
“Brianne, don’t,” Gabriel said.
“It’s all over now,” she said. “It doesn’t matter.”
I crossed my arms and leaned against the counter. “What was your idea?”
“I told him not to go to the police.”
“Why not?”
“He was drunk. I didn’t think they’d believe it was an accident. I thought if he confessed, they might not believe him, and it would ruin his life.”
“You said—” his voice cracked. “You said burying her was my only option.”
“I said it would protect you,” she replied. “And it did, until now.”
I turned toward Gabriel. “You may not have murdered Anne, but you had a chance to do the right thing, and you didn’t. You did what Brianne suggested, and you buried Anne in that dilapidated cabin. And you lived with that.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.”
I shifted my gaze to Brianne. “And you. Audrey came to you because she trusted you, and I’m guessing she suspected someone in the friend group killed Anne, but she never expected it to be you. And you rewarded that trust by taking her life.”
Brianne swallowed. “She knew enough to be dangerous. Once she went to the police, once they reopened the investigation, I was sure they’d find a way to trace her back to Gabriel, forensics being what they are nowadays.”
“You should have told me,” Gabriel said. “I would never have allowed you to go through with your plan.”
“That’s the reason I didn’t.”
“All this time, you’ve been mourning Audrey, acting as though her death struck you as hard as it did her own mother,” I said. “It’s disgusting.”
Hands trembling, Gabriel faced his wife. “You destroyed us. You destroyed our family.”
“Don’t blame me,” Brianne said. “If you hadn’t taken Anne into the woods that night, none of this would be happening.”
Foley stepped forward. “I believe we’ve heard enough. Gabriel and Brianne, you’re coming with us.”
They didn’t flinch or resist or hesitate.
Whitlock read them their rights and took them into custody, and as the door closed behind them, my thoughts turned to Talia and the truths that had been exposed at long last.