“Nope,” Bennett suddenly says in Camille’s pause. “Louise didn’t write that.”
There’s a collective sigh in the room. Because it’s true. No one who knows Louise even half as well as we don’t, would ever imagine those words coming from her pen.
“Then who?” Kiera asks.
But we’re all thinking the same thing again. We are nothing if not a collection of group thought.
Kiera.
That’s Kiera’s voice.
“It wasn’t me, you guys. I swear to God, I didn’t write this.”
“Well, no, Kiera, that’s not true at all,” Bennett says. “You actually did write this. Maybe not this copy, but you were the writer back then. You wrote all of it.”
I just look at Bennett like… What the fuck, dude?
He shrugs and says, “Hey, I’m just stating the obvious. Kiera was the one with the notebook and pen, OK? That’s all I’m saying.”
“I had to,” Kiera says, defensive. “We all had to play our part.”
“We’re not accusing you,” Sofia says.
I glance at Hayes, mentally telling him to stop this before it starts, but he’s watching Kiera intently. Logging every reaction. Every expression. All her little tells. When he speaks he’s not looking at Camille, he’s looking at Kiera, even though his words aren’t directed at her. “Keep going.”
“Are we really going to read this whole fucking book out loud?” I ask before Camille can start again. “I mean, shit. How many pages is that? Four hundred? It’ll take days.”
“Then it takes days,” Hayes says. “Because we need to know what’s in here and we need Kiera to corroborate that it’s real. She’s the only one who—”
“Then let her read it,” I say. “I’ll take her home and—”
“No,” Camille spits. “We need to sort this out together. No one leaves until that’s done.”
I glance at Hayes again. Because he’s awfully accommodating to Camille today. And that’s not normally part of his MO. He’s always had an in-your-face attitude about being in charge of us.
“Keep going,” Hayes says, shooting me a warning glance.
But just as Camille opens her mouth to speak, the phone rings again.
This time Hayes gets to it first, picking up the receiver from the nearby side table just as Kiera is reaching for it.
Why is she reaching for that phone?
“Yes,” Hayes barks. Listens, as we all do, leaning forward like that’s gonna help, which it doesn’t. “Yes, OK. Bring it up then.”
“What was that?” Sofia asks.
“The package was a notebook and a pen. There’s a message inside.”
I look at Kiera and find her pale.
Everyone is silent as we wait. Even Camille has lost her words.
Hayes gets up, walks over to the door, unlocks it, and steps outside to collect our gift.
CHAPTER TWLEVE – KIERA
“It’s not even true,” I say, taking advantage of the pause.
“What’s not true?” Connor asks.
“That I’m the only one who knows. You guys were all there too. You don’t need to corroborate anything. Bennett and Camille know what happened to them. Sofia and you know what happened to you guys. Hayes knows what happened to him. I’m not the only one who knows this shit, OK? It’s not true.”
All of that comes out defensive. I get it. I look guilty as fuck right now. But I didn’t write that book and I’m not going to let circumstance dictate how this all plays out.
“Why would I write this story? I’m already successful. I’m a New York Times bestseller, for fuck’s sake. I make plenty of money and I have more stories in my head than I know what to do with. I didn’t need this book!”
“Need has nothing to do with it,” Bennett says.
“Dude,” Connor interjects. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m just saying. Whoever wrote this book didn’t do it for money.”
“No?” I spit. “Well, it sure as fuck made a lot of it so far. You don’t get to number three on the New York Times by not selling books. And I’m telling you, I’m not poor. OK? Maybe next to you guys I appear poor, but I’ve got more money than I need. I didn’t write this book.”
“Who did you leave the book with when you left that last night?” Bennett asks.
“Ben,” Connor says. “Come on, man. Let up a little.”
“We all want to know,” Camille adds. “And we all deserve to know too. It’s our story as much as it was hers.”
“Well,” Hayes says, coming back in the room and locking us back in. “They didn’t catch her yet, if anyone’s wondering where the resident psycho is.”
“Great,” Sofia says.
“Candlestick in the library,” Camille chortles. “I’m calling it now.”
“Fuck her,” I say. “Show us what’s in the box.”
We all look at the slim box Hayes is holding. He hands it to me and says, “It’s for you, so go ahead and take a look.”
“For me? What the hell?”
“It was Emily,” Sofia says. “She planned this whole thing. The book, the visit, all of it. This just proves it.”