“Did he discover something about your drug dealing?”
Damen stared at him, his hand sliding off his chest and coming to rest on the bedside.
“You can tell me. I’m your twin brother.”
“No, Demarco. Some things I can’t tell you. You should just go back to your perfect life with your perfect business and perfect wife. Let me take care of my own affairs. I’m better at it than you think.”
Is that how he saw him now? Was he envious? Of him?
“Like murder?”
Damen’s expression froze. For a long moment he studied him. “What?”
“I saw you that morning,” Demarco said.
Still, his expression didn’t change, not that there was much going on there due to a lot of skin damage. “What morning?”
He’d had plenty of time to think on the way here. The detective. His wife. Damen. All of it. As torn as he was over what he saw, he had to at least let his brother in on the fact that he knew. Deciding what to do about it may depend on how his brother reacted.
“The morning after you killed Collette,” he said.
Rapid blinks of Damen’s eye were all that gave away his surprise. “What?”
“I saw you leave your house with a gun and I saw what you did with it.”
For a long time Damen stared up at him from the hospital bed, no doubt deciding how to respond. Deny or tell the truth? “What were you doing there?”
“I’ve noticed a change in you. You’re secretive and you avoid me. I needed to talk to you. I went to your house and you were just leaving. You looked strange and I saw you put a gun in your pants. I followed you.”
He pinned him with another long look. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t have the chance. You left for Wolf Creek.”
“Why didn’t you tell me when you came to Julio’s cabin?”
“I didn’t want to believe you did it.”
Demarco felt the bond they had still gripping him.
“I didn’t. Korbin did.”
His lie was a betrayal. “Don’t lie to me, Damen. I’ve been in denial over this. After I saw what you did, I was worried about why you had a gun and why you disposed of it. And then I just didn’t want to accept what it must mean. And then I saw the news. You said you saw Korbin Maguire leave Collette’s house at the time of the murder.”
Damen said nothing.
“You lied,” Demarco said, the hurt deeper now. Saying it out loud, confronting him, made it real. His brother’s betrayal cut him to the bone. He didn’t want to lose him. But he was. And he was furious with him for doing that to him. To them.
“I can explain,” Damen said.
“Really?” How had his twin veered into such serious trouble? “You can explain why you’re justified in framing another man for your crimes?”