Page 191 of The Woman By the Lake

Harry sat back.

Everyone remained silent.

“Linc didn’t catch them,” Tru said the last two words with such deep sarcasm, it was like a physical thing in the room. “He was at the big house. He saw the fire and ran to the cabin, terrified out of his mind. When he got there, Sharon was there. And so was Jeff, holding the shotgun, covered with blood. First thing Linc did, though, was ask after Dad and Mom. Jeff said they were in the stable, so he tried to go in and get them, but the fire was raging. Then he tried to stop the fire. Jeff was bloody, but Dad didn’t know what that meant. If they were dead or not. He grabbed the hose, went after it. But there was no stopping it, not with a garden hose, so he just made sure it wouldn’t spread, especially to the cabin. Dad loved that place. We all had happy memories in that place.”

Cade gave Riggs a look, which Riggs returned.

And yeah.

Nadia was right.

Cade was good at this shit because he’d called into question the drenching of the area on the cabin side.

Tru sucked in a big breath, let it out and kept talking.

“Once he accomplished that, he had to deal with Sharon and Jeff. Dad never trusted her, but even if he didn’t figure it out right then, he had a great deal of time with not much else to occupy his mind to figure it out later. So he talked to Jeff about it, and Jeff confirmed what Linc figured out.”

“And what did Lincoln figure out?” Harry queried.

“That she’d been messing with Jeff’s head about Dad, me and Kennedy being Mom’s favorites, Dad being the man with the money and all the power, and how she knew, because Dad told her, when he did not, that Dad was done sharing Mom and his family with Lincoln. So he was cutting them off. Including Jeff. Especially Jeff, because he abhorred even looking at the child his brother made with the woman he considered his wife. That they were going to be cast out. No Mom. No brother and sister. No Seattle house. No home by the lake.”

Jesus.

What a fucking cunt.

Some bitterness crept in when Tru said, “What gets me about that is, not only did Dad love Jeff like Linc loved me and Kennedy, but also how hard Mom worked at making us all know that wasn’t the case. He was only fourteen when it happened, but he wasn’t thick. And it wasn’t like he was eight. By fourteen, you should be forming a moral compass. You should be able to rationalize things, especially when everything around you is screaming the exact opposite of what a woman your own father openly distrusts is spewing at you. They gave me that. They gave Kennedy that. The only way I can make it work in my head is that we all pampered him so much, somehow, it was underdeveloped in him. He shot Mom to death, and still, that seems the worse betrayal.”

Riggs could see that.

Tru kept at it.

“At the scene, Sharon told Linc that she’d tell everyone about their ‘sordid’ life, and how fucked up Jeff was. That he’d be tried as an adult, and even if he wasn’t, his life would be destroyed forever because he murdered his mother and uncle, and everyone would know it and guess why. She really did a number on Lincoln, who had just, it shouldn’t be forgotten, lost the love of his life and his twin brother, and his son committed the murders. She knew that, I’m sure, so she went in for yet another kill. So he told Jeff to take off his clothes, which he threw on the fire, and ordered him to go home and take a shower and not to say a word or leave the house. Then he called the cops.”

“Are you sure of this story?” Harry asked.

“I’m not sure of anything. I wasn’t there,” Tru answered. “I know what Linc told me, because it was up to me to make sure everyone kept their mouths shut so Jeff didn’t get into trouble. At the time, he just said there had been a terrible accident, Jeff was at fault, things were going to be out of his control, and we all had to do what we could to protect Jeff. Imagine my surprise when I found out that ‘accident’ was my fourteen-year-old brother shooting my mom and dad to death then burning their bodies. At least they let the horses out.”

Riggs didn’t want to imagine it.

But yeah.

At least they let the horses out.

“I know when Linc got out of prison,” Tru carried on, “he came to me and shared how he was concerned that Jeff and Sharon were still close. Something I had no clue was happening. I hadn’t seen her since before we lost Mom and Dad. Though, Lincoln didn’t share about Sharon’s psychological manipulation, I know he had deep concerns about her. Before he was sentenced, and after he went to prison, he’d warned me multiple times to be certain she had nothing to do with Kennedy or Jeff. He was also upset that I’d become estranged from them.”

“And Kennedy in all of this?” Harry pressed.

Tru blew out a sigh before he said, “Jeff was our baby brother, sheriff. You don’t know it’s stupid to spoil him and let him get his way and do everything for him when you’re doing it. He’s cute and your little brother. You just do it. Though, Kennedy learned how stupid that was tonight. Hence her being hysterical. But we got the full story at the hospital, which is why I’m here.”

“And what was that?” Harry asked.

“Sharon was messing with Jeff’s head. And for her to get at the money, probably in another effort to screw over Linc, and posthumously, Mom and Dad, she used Jeff to mess with Kennedy’s head. Though, I’ll say, that might be jaded when it comes to Sharon, since Jeff is after the money himself. My sister and I aren’t estranged. Medical school is no joke, and residency sucks all your time and energy. So there’s that. We also just don’t see eye to eye on some important things, the unending lawsuits being the biggest one of them. Though, she’s more about keeping Mom’s folks from getting the money. However, we were all flabbergasted Dad’s folks and Aunt Mary got in on the act. Greed, I’ve learned, makes people do shitty things. They saw the money was possibly up for grabs, and they pounced.”

Greed sure did that to people.

Riggs was living that nightmare in his own way with Angelica.

Tru continued, “But Kennedy’s always been the worst, along with Mom, in spoiling Jeff and seeing to his every need. Now Jeff,” he nearly spat the name, the emotion coming out of him now, “he and I were estranged. But this had a lot to do with him killing my mother and father in an ‘accident’ and ruining a man I loved very much, who busted his hump and gave, essentially his life to cover for him.”

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