“See, you’re not sure, either.” Stacy covered her face. “That’s why I did it. So he couldn’t hit Shelly—”
Breanne went cold with fear, but not for herself. “Stacy, did you have something to do with Edward’s death?”
But Stacy was no longer talking. Just humming and very slightly rocking back and forth.
“Stacy?” Breanne stroked Stacy’s wild hair. “Can you tell me what you did? Something to protect your sister?”
Stacy kept humming, and rocked faster.
“Oh, Stacy.”
“He always yelled,” she said unhappily. “He scared me. I’m glad he’s dead.” She covered her face again. “Bad Stacy.”
“Stacy!” This shocked cry came from Shelly, standing at the end of the hallway. She looked both horrified and terrified. “Oh, honey.”
Behind her was Dante.
And then Cooper. “What’s going on?” he asked, locking gazes with Breanne.
“Hi,” Stacy said uneasily, shifting from foot to foot, swiping her hand across her mouth. “Hi.”
Shelly rushed past Breanne to pull her sister in for a hug.
“I was quiet, like you said,” Stacy told her, gripping Shelly tight. “I was.”
“It’s okay.” Shelly looked tortured as she rocked her sister. “It’s going to be okay.”
Lariana crowded in, took a look. “What now—” When she saw Stacy out in the open, she sighed. “Dios mio.”
“I was telling on myself,” Stacy told her.
“Oh, sweetie.” Lariana pressed close and wrapped an arm around both Shelly and Stacy.
“Am I in trouble?” Stacy asked.
Shelly just hugged her tighter and closed her eyes, resting her cheek on Stacy’s head. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” Still holding her sister, she looked into Breanne’s eyes, silently begging her to believe it. “You didn’t.”
Cooper moved to Breanne’s side. “You okay?” he murmured.
“Yeah, this is Stacy. Shelly’s twin. She—”
“—Didn’t do anything,” Dante said, moving to join the fray, putting a hand on each twin, making a united front as he turned to face Cooper and Breanne. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not true.”#p#分页标题#e#
“I’m not thinking anything,” Cooper said.
“Like hell. You’re a cop. Your mind is always spinning. But you’re wrong.”
“My mind might always be spinning but that doesn’t make me a coldhearted bastard,” Cooper said calmly. “And I’d have figured you knew that by now.”
Lariana was stroking Stacy’s hair, Shelly was still holding onto her, and Dante was guarding over the whole pack of them like the alpha wolf. The thought of them clinging to each other like a tight little unit, so brave and uncertain, broke Breanne’s heart. “We’re going to get out of here,” she said. “And the proper authorities will—”
“Bullshit.” Dante looked at Shelly, who was openly crying. Then he looked at Cooper. “I did it.” He cleared his voice and said it louder. “I killed Edward.”
Shelly gasped. “No. Dante—”
“Well, fuck me,” Patrick said, joining the group. “First we play the nobody did it game, and now you’re taking credit for the deed? Christ Jesus, why, when we all know it was me who done the bastard in?”
Lariana spun around and leveled furious eyes at him. “You’ll not be taking the blame for this one.”
“Oh, yes, I will.”
“No.” Lariana whirled back to Cooper. “I did it.”
“Darling—”
“Don’t darling me, you skinny Scottish ass!” she snapped at Patrick. “I killed Edward with my bare hands and I can prove it.”
“Stop,” Shelly whispered.
But Patrick looked ready to explode. “Don’t do this,” he said to Lariana. “Don’t even think it.”
Dante stepped forward. “Both of you shut up. I already said I killed him—”
“Stop,” Shelly said again, louder now, but Patrick and Dante were toe-to-toe, looking ready to battle.
“Bugger off,” Patrick told Dante.
“STOP!” Shelly yelled before Dante could respond. She was still wrapped around Stacy, who was staring at everyone, wide-eyed. She seemed confused at Shelly’s tears, but solemnly lifted a finger and stroked one off her sister’s cheek. “I love you, sissy.”
“Oh, Stacy, honey, I love you, too. Remember that, okay? Promise me you’ll remember that if I have to go away.”