Chapter Twenty-Nine

Snow

J ameson walks behind me as I open the door to White Rabbit's house with the key Lyrical received from Rachel. This happens to be the exact same address which was written on Bailey's sketch.

I use my fingers to close my nostrils, because it smells like cat piss and shit in here. The place is fucking dirty and moldy food lies on the table. I make my way to the living room, finding someone sitting on the recliner facing the opposite direction. I remove my gun from the back of my pants and aim it at him. Jameson does the same. When we walk in front of the chair, I find June's mouth hanging open, a gigantic hole through his forehead. Maggots and flies feast on his rotting brain. He's been sitting here for a while.

Slowly, I lift his shirt, and I see a snake tattoo with an X over it, just like in the picture Lyrical told me about. So he's the one who was abusing my sister. He probably was hanging around Lyrical so he could kill her as well, which makes sense as to why they were at a football party before they came to mine the night of the accident.

Rage fills me, so I shoot fresh bullets into his chest. I don't care if he's already dead, and now I feel like my revenge was robbed from me.

"Someone got to him before we did," Jameson murmurs.

This sucks because I can't torture him and figure out why he wanted Lyrical dead. Why did he have a hit on her? Lyrical believes he thought she knew too much about Bailey's death. I glance around the room, and I spot a cat hissing at me. Shaking my head, I walk farther down the hallway, and I don't know what I'm looking for, but I'm hoping to find some answers to my sister's death.

"Snow, come back here. You want to see this," Jameson shouts.

I follow his voice and I walk into a room with different computer screens and a file cabinet. Jameson shoots the cabinet open, and I grab a file and see pictures of different women and their information. This motherfucker was a stalker. I search through the files to see if my sister's information is there, and I find it. I spot a few photos of her chained to the bed, ones where she's giving a blow job while getting fucked in the ass, and I want to vomit.

When I flip the file open, it has a record of her abortion clinic, and how many men she has been with.

"He was Bailey's boyfriend," I tell Jameson.

He's completely speechless, not knowing what to say, so he picks up a chair, tossing it against the wall. I suspected Jameson was in love with my sister. When she was alive, he often looked at her with love in his eyes. He wasn't brave enough to voice his feelings because she was already promised to someone else, and if he had ever gotten close to her, I would have killed him.

Jameson breaks in to the computer and finds pictures of Lyrical, but there's no evidence of a car accident. I check over and over again, searching through the files.

Maybe she was high on Molly and believed she saw someone. It's okay if she was, but I need for her to admit it to herself. Sometimes, when people are traumatized, they don't remember doing things and tend to block out certain memories or form false memories to cope.

When I tuck Bailey's folder under my arm, we head outside, and I sit on the hood of the vehicle as Jameson grabs a gas can from the trunk of the SUV.

"I'm going to torch the place so it won't leave any evidence we were here." He disappears inside, and several seconds later, he rushes back outside. It's a good thing June lives out in the middle of nowhere away from North Haven. My phone buzzes in my breast pocket and a message pops up from Lyrical.

Blue: We're waiting for you. The photo shoot is about to start.

I almost forgot we have a photo shoot with Vogue magazine for our engagement.

Me: On my way.

I see red as I ball up my fist, digging my nails into my palm. I want my revenge, but whoever killed him must be seeking their own justice. Now, I feel defeated for not making June pay myself.

Thirty minutes later, Jameson drops me off at my parents' mansion and I make my way to the backyard, seeing the camera crew setting up the equipment.

Lyrical looks gorgeous in her beautiful black dress and I watch as Nora speaks to Clemon. I spot my mother and father hugging each other. My father sees me and stomps my way.

"Where ha—"

"We need to talk. Now," I snap.

The entire time I tried to tell him that Bailey had a boyfriend, but he didn't listen. Sometimes my father lives in a bubble and refuses to acknowledge what others are going through.

"I don't have time for your foolishness. Let's take these damn pictures and ge—"

"Get the fuck out," I yell at the camera crew. "We have to do this another day."

"What has gotten into y—"

"I found Bailey's boyfriend. He was killed," I scream at my father's face. I never raise my voice at him.

Everyone remains silent, and Lyrical comes up to me. I hug her tight.

"Let's take this conversation inside," Father demands.

We follow him to the living room, and I sit on the couch. Lyrical tries to sit next to me, but I place her on my lap instead. She looks sheepishly at her father.

"What did you find?" my father asks, leaning against the mantelpiece.

I offer him the folder from my seated position, and he flips through it.

"There are pictures of Bailey and Lyrical. He was following both of them. June Jones was her boyfriend." I look at Lyrical and her face turns pale. "He wanted to kill you for a reason, maybe he thought you knew something about him abusing Bailey."

"Why didn't you let me know?" Clemon asks, folding his arms across his chest, watching my arm around Lyrical's waist.

I always had a lot of respect for my future father-in-law, and he always treated me like I was his son, even when he used to catch me sneaking into Lyrical's bedroom. He used to tell us to use protection and close the door.

"With all due respect, Lyrical is mine to protect. She's no longer yours to protect, not since the moment we first met."

He nods and straightens his spine. "Understood. But anything that goes on with my daughter, I should be the first to know. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir."

Nora sits next to us, wrapping her arms around her daughter and crying silently. My mother looks so distraught, tears falling down her face.

My father keeps his eyes glued to mine.

"Did you find out something about the car accident? Any proof we were set up?" Lyrical wonders.

I shake my head. "I have a theory, but you're not going to like it."

"What is it?"

I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and stroke my knuckles across her delicate face. "Maybe you weren't drugged. Maybe you told yourself you were to cope with your trauma."

"Bu—"

"I think he's right, sweetheart," Clemon says, interrupting me. "I called every precinct in town, and no one pulled you over. There wasn't any evidence of your tags being ran in the system. It's okay to admit that you made a mistake. We're not holding it against you."

"But… but… I wouldn't make this up. I wouldn't lie. I don't remember taking any drugs before driving." She sobs uncontrollably, so I pull her head close to my shoulder, stroking her back and squeezing her gently.

My father frowns in disgust, while my mother looks away. Nora strokes her shoulders, soothing her close friend.

"We handled the situation. You went to grief counseling and rehab. We forgave you," her father states, hugging her tight.

My mother gives her a hug as well, then she keeps her eyes glued to my father who walks out of the living room.

"I lost my first daughter; I don't want to lose my second daughter," my mother whispers. "We will get through this. I've been taking my antidepressants and working on my depression to help with the grief. We'll heal in due time."

Lyrical cries hysterically, shaking her head no. She wanted to believe her story so bad, and it's okay. I've been too hard on her, I realize, and I didn't take the time to think about how the car accident affected her. I was blinded by rage, because I felt like she took something from me—but not anymore.

I bring her chin to face my way so she has to look at me. "I forgive you, Lyrical. It's okay."