Chapter 49 Avery
Avery
He’s here. Lucas is actually here, standing in front of me, eyes as wide as saucers, mouth hanging open as he looks from me to Caulder. I follow his gaze to Emerson, whose smile broadens as he holds up the knife.
“Emerson,” Caulder says slowly. “Put the knife down, man. What’s going on?”
“Look who I found,” Emerson says, still holding up the blade. “Look who I found lurking around with this.”
“Holy shit.” Kaitlyn’s voice is a bolt through the air, and I turn to see her stepping into the hallway from her room. She blinks fast, moving from Lucas to Caulder to Emerson to me and back again.
“What the fuck happened?” Kaitlyn asks.
“They’re working together,” comes a strangled sound from behind Lucas that makes me jump. I look past Lucas’s shoulder to see a closet door is ajar, two wide eyes peering out at me through the dark.
“Marlene?” I ask, rushing past Kaitlyn, Caulder, and Lucas to fully open the closet door. She’s trembling harder than ever as I take her hands in mine. “What are you talking about?”
“Lucas,” she says, and there’s such hurt and betrayal cracking through every syllable that it makes me tear up. “He gave Emerson the knife.”
“What?” I ask, looking from her to Lucas, shock written across his features.
“I came in here to cry,” Marlene explains through sniffles. “After what Emerson said. I just wanted to be alone. I heard the shower turn on. And then I heard footsteps. And then I heard…I heard a scream.”
She lifts her gaze to Lucas, meeting his eyes. It seems like forever ago that I watched the two of them playing Guess Who? downstairs.
“That wasn’t me, Mari,” Lucas says, and I don’t know how to process the fact that he sounds just like the Lucas I’ve always known. Kind, gentle, sweet. Curious about the world.
Marlene shakes her head, tears rolling down her face in big, heavy drops.
“It was,” she says, tapping the slats in the closet door. “I saw you through here. I saw you give the knife to Emerson. I heard you both.”
“Mari—”
“Don’t,” she says. “Lucas, please. I can’t handle it. You were supposed to be the one I could trust. But I can’t cover for you on this one. I just can’t.”
Lucas’s mouth falls open, like he’s searching for words and coming up short. Which doesn’t make sense because Lucas always has the right words. He always knows what to say.
“But you were knocked out,” I say, my own gaze shifting from Lucas to Caulder.
That’s the detail he has been trying to process, right?
The one sticking point in all of this. “Emerson said you were attacked,” I say.
“That he fought off your attacker. You were out cold when Mr. Jay died. I watched you myself.”
For a moment, Lucas just looks at me. That usual softness is there, that sweet, understanding nature that’s all Lucas. Not the eyes of a killer. They can’t be.
But there’s one problem with that: He doesn’t look surprised about anything I just said. And Emerson looks pleased.
Lucas avoids looking at Caulder as he speaks.
“It’s a long story,” he says. “And I’m happy to tell you guys. Or, uh, not happy to tell you. I’ll lay it all out, I swear, but you’ve gotta believe me. I didn’t do this.”
“We don’t have to believe anything you say,” Kaitlyn says, tears streaking her cheeks. “It’s been you all along.”
“Yes and no,” Lucas says. “I just mean there’s more to it. Please. Give me five minutes.”
Caulder and I exchange a look, and his eyes anchor me in this moment. Reminding me that I’m not alone, no matter what comes next. No matter what Lucas says. I’ll get through it with him. We all will.
Right?
“Fine,” Caulder says. “But start from the top. And don’t leave anything out.”