Never Die Alone

“Of course,” she whispered, a sharpness in her voice as they both knew how long Aria

“We would meet at the river late at night. She’d sneak out and I’d be waiting.” It had seemed so i

As the miles rolled beneath the tires of the truck, he added, “It hadn’t gone on all that long. A few weeks. One night I showed up later than expected because of car trouble and when I got there—” He cleared his throat remembering how they’d swum beneath the moon and the stars. It had been exciting, almost dreamlike until that particular night, the one that changed all their lives forever. “When I got there,” he continued feeling the weight of Bria

“What do you mean?” she asked and he heard the hesitation in her voice over the rumble of the engine.

“There was a man with her. An . . . an assailant.”

“A murderer?”

“Rapist.” In his mind’s eye he remembered walking through the forest to see Aria

“Oh dear God,” Bria

Without thinking, Jase had attacked, sprang on the back of the man who had turned in the darkness, a blade flashing. He’d jabbed quickly, co

“He cut me.” With one hand, he indicated the scar. “Got his licks in.” The truth was they’d fought, struggled. “We went at it and somehow I managed to co

“How come I’ve never heard of this?”

“Because it was covered up. That’s the way Aria

“I don’t understand.”

Neither did Jase. Never had. Never would. “I—I was certain I’d killed the bastard and stupid kid that I was, once I saw that Aria

Bria

“Dad,” Jase spat out, remembering how stupid he’d been, how scared, how young. “He swore he’d buried the body under a tree on the farm, and I believed him. It was a mistake and a lie, but that’s what he told me. The tree?” he glanced at her, “It’s still there, kind of a reminder, I guess. And now Prescott, my brother, he wants me to buy the place. Tree and all.”

“Your brother was part of it?”

Jase’s jaw grew rock hard. “Seems as if.”

Jase stole a look at her, saw the revulsion on her face, the same revulsion he felt. “So now Ed says I didn’t kill the guy?” Jase couldn’t believe it. “What kind of man would let his son think he was a murderer?”

“The same kind that wouldn’t let his kid go to the cops and plead self-defense,” she said, her voice cold as ice. “What happened to my sister?” Bria

“I went back to Aria

Bria

“Trust me, I tried to talk her into it, but she wouldn’t hear of it, wanted to pretend it didn’t happen, made me swear I wouldn’t say anything and I didn’t. Ever again.”

“Except to your father and brother,” Bria

“Right.” His insides churned at the memory and he finally forced out his final confession, “I kept my silence. Even after she drowned three days later.”

Bria

“I don’t know why she didn’t tell you,” he said as he drove past the city and into the countryside beyond. If he’d expected to feel release at unburdening himself, he’d been wrong. All he felt now was guilt. Deep, burrowing guilt. But hadn’t it been with him all along? How many nights had he dreamed of Aria

Bria

“I’m sorry,” he said, and he meant it. God, how he’d meant it. “I should have forced her to tell your parents or you or the police or someone.”

“Or you should have, instead of relying on your sorry excuse of a family and saving your own damned skin.”

Every muscle in his body tensed. He stole another glance at her and saw her lips curl in disgust.

“You son of a bitch,” Bria

CHAPTER 32

Bria

Fighting tears, she stared straight ahead through the windshield as the Louisiana countryside flew by in a blur.

Jase had lied to her. If not by commission, then omission until now and that thought soured her stomach. She didn’t dare glance his way as he drove a good ten miles above the speed limit, all the while remaining silent, letting her digest everything he’d finally told her. From the corner of her eye she witnessed his own anguish and anger. His jaw was set, his hands clenched over the steering wheel until his knuckles blanched, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

Was everything he’d confessed the truth?

She blinked.

Why would he lie?

He wouldn’t, she thought as she heard the sounds of sirens in the distance. His body language said as much.

So, she was forced to believe him and his tale, no, his confession, for that’s what it seemed like. So Jase had not only been secretly romantically involved with her sister, but he’d witnessed Aria

Why? Oh, God, why?

Dying a little inside, Bria

Bria