I stumble back home to find my father in the lounge room holding onto a scotch, staring into space, and Ryan by his side.
‘What is it, Luce?’ Ryan asks, grinning with seductive charm, sipping on a beer. His blue eyes brighter than ever. Next to him, my father snorts, and his head drops to the side.
‘I know who hated her enough to kill her.’ I shudder saying it aloud.
He nods approvingly. ‘Well, it seems the girl takes after her father with her investigative mind.’
‘Hardly.’ I hold up the torn paper. ‘It was here, in her diary. This.’ I point to the scrawls. ‘My sister and Brandi – they were fighting for the same man’s … for your …’ I can’t say the words when I see him. That he was her butterfly – that she tattooed him on her.
‘What are you trying to say, Luce?’ He looks at me, almost coaxing me.
‘I just can’t believe it … that she was chasing you? She was in love with you. They both were. You’re Brandi’s boyfriend. And you were Emily’s.’
He laughs openly. ‘Now, how did you deduce that? You recognised the chain, didn’t you, Luce? It was on Emily, when she died.’
‘You gave it to Brandi … a gift … weeks before you killed Emily … did she …’
‘Did she what?’ He grins. ‘Did she have something to do with Emily’s death?’
My whole body trembles with an insatiable rage. I want to smash this bastard’s face, scream at him until I can’t hear my own voice.
He lowers his voice. ‘You’re a bright one, Luce. You know when to shut up. I have the diary, and Brandi’s name is all over it. No, she didn’t hurt your sister. She’s only aware that we were together, but say a word, and I’ll pin this on her.’ He smiles. ‘It was an accident. Emily and I had a fight. She was jealous. One thing led to another. I hated to do it, but I had to make it look like ...’
Suicide.
My stomach turns, thinking those scratch marks on my sister’s neck weren’t hers. Those were his. And the reason her body was half-naked. It was his sweatshirt. He stripped it from her after he …
My father stirs. Now I know Ryan’s vigil in the house has allowed him to keep guard.
Ryan looks at my father. ‘All this drinking, and he’s practically handed me his job.’
I turn my rage on my father, for now. As he sits up, I push him back down. ‘You slipped, you useless shit,’ I say. ‘You might as well have killed her yourself.’