Page 145 of Only Fate

“Because of me,” she whispers.

Adrian squeezes my shoulders, walks around my desk, and takes the chair beside Jenna. “Why because of you?”

“I hooked up with Ethan at a party one night. We were both drunk. Greg found out and was pissed. The entire football team gave him hell for it, saying he wasn’t man enough to fuck me,and I had to go look for sex elsewhere. He broke up with me, but I begged him to take me back.” She blows out a long breath, regret crossing her face. “He claimed Ethan brokebro code.”

“Thatwas his reasoning for killing someone?” I bite out.

“Yes.” She lowers her head. “Greg and Jayden were drunk one night and complaining that Ethan was a crap friend and thought he ruled the school. That’s when they came up with their plan to cause the accident. I don’t think they wanted to kill Ethan, just scare and hurt him. They said if Ethan was hurt, it’d hurt his ego, and he wouldn’t be able to play football anymore.”

“How’d Earl get brought into it?” Adrian asks.

“Earl was Josh’s idea. The guys knew they couldn’t hurt Ethan without having someone to blame for it. They obviously didn’t want it to be them. Josh was suspended from the football team after Earl told on them for partying on the field. A scout was scheduled to watch him play at one of those games, costing Josh a possible scholarship.” She squeezes her eyes shut. “I swear, the plan was for Ethan to maybe break a leg, notkillhim.”

Maybe break a leg?

Jesus.

They killed Ethan for something that petty?

Put me through hell over a high school hookup and missed football game.

“I helped them,” she says, her words barely audible.

I lean forward, resting my elbows on my desk. “What do you mean you helped?”

“I snuck into Earl’s truck, stole his key, and had it copied for Greg. I also, um … I dropped them off in the woods, so they could walk to Earl’s house and steal his truck with the copied key. After they ditched his truck, I’m also the one who picked them up.”

Silence takes over the room after her last word.

Adrian focuses on me. His only concern is how I take this.

“Why?” I ask, raising my voice. “Why would you help?”

“I thought it was some stupid prank, I guess. I didn’t knowthey were going to kill him. I didn’t even find out Ethan was dead or you were in the car until everyone in town started talking about it. I just wanted my boyfriend back.” She wipes a tear from her face. “I was a stupid girl in love.”

And with that, everything I’d thought I knew just went up in flames.

45

I’ve never been so shocked in my life.

Not even when I found the phone in my father’s box.

Jenna played a large part in a murder and hurt the woman I love.

Her actions put Essie through grief, hell, and pain.

And also took an innocent man’s life too damn soon.

I’ve never been a violent man, and I don’t know who Greg and his friends are, but I want to kill them.

“You lied to me when you came in here,” Essie tells Jenna. “You didn’t only know who committed the crime. Youhelpedthem commit the crime. You’re an accessory to murder.”

Jenna stares at her, speechless.

“Call the cops.” Essie’s stare cuts to me. “They need to know this.”

“Does that mean you’ll be my attorney?” Jenna asks, her voice hopeful. Her back straightens in her chair.

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