Page 34 of Broken Truths

We nod at one another, and I walk toward her as more sirens near. A policeman identifies himself and then asks Alaric, Eden, and me to step outside.

The sun beats down on us. Unbelievably, it’s a little warmer out today, and my Edie can’t even enjoy it.

Another officer comes toward us while the partner walks in. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

In true Astor fashion, Eden breaks down us finding her father from top to bottom, not leaving any detail out. She’s there with any information he asks, including the doors, is it normal for her mother not to be home, is it normal for his office to be locked—all while watching paramedics run into the house with a stretcher. All Alaric and I can do is stand there and support her.

After getting the information he needs, the officer nods, telling us that we’ll have to come down to the station to take official statements. A woman cop comes over and hands Eden a bottle of water. Chatter over the coms only reaffirms that the victim is DOA, and there’s nothing they can do.

Leo walks out minutes later. When he comes up to our group, Eden shakes her head. “This is so fucked.”

He blows out a big breath. “I don’t think he did it, babe. I think someone killed him.”

“Did the police say anything?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Not yet. Not to me. But I’m just saying…”

Despite how sad Eden must be, I only see her resolve strengthen. She said she was going to get those bastards, and I think she will now more than ever.

12

Alaric

Flames from the stone fireplace shoot crazy designs on the ceiling. Eden’s asleep on my shoulder. I lost feeling in my arm hours ago, but there’s no way I would move from this position. I don’t care if an earthquake started to crumble the building to the ground, I’d find a way to keep her protected.

He did it.I keep replaying the words the officer said to Eden, coupled with the way Leo stiffened and has stayed relatively silent ever since. Of course he’s here with all of us, sleeping to my right while Eden is sandwiched between me and Oliver on the great room floor amidst a collection of blankets I’ve never seen a grown man own. If I could move, I’d pull off one of these blankets because the body heat and the fire are making things a little too toasty in here.

I saw some of it…the scene. The puddle of blood. Alistair, head down on his desk. If it weren’t for the red pooling on the top of the desk, he could’ve just been sleeping. Eden hasn’t said what she saw, but I hope she didn’t see enough for nightmares to plague her the rest of her life.

I take the deepest shallow breath I can so as not to wake her. Despite this fucked-up day, we did receive one piece of good news: her mother is alive. She’s at a retreat in Southern California, which was why she hadn’t answered any of Eden’s calls. The police had to contact the retreat itself to get ahold of her since they don’t allow electronic devices inside.

“Barclay…”

I stiffen, gaze dropping to Eden to make sure Leo’s words haven’t woken her.

“Barclay, I know you’re awake.”

I sigh. “I’m trying not to wake her,” I whisper.

He’s silent for a bit. “Can you believe we grew up in this fucked-up shit?”

My eyes burn with the need to sleep. I wonder if Leo’s feel the same or if he’s used to staying up and pondering the questions of the universe. “I don’t know that I ever thought about it before,” I answer honestly.

“I’m telling you, it’s a cover-up. I don’t know how we’re going to prove it, but he did not kill himself, Barclay.”

“Shh,” I chastise. Even though she’s asleep, she doesn’t need to be reminded of the awful shit that happened today.

“She’s stronger than you think.”

I shake my head. He has no idea how strong I think she is. I might have broken down, holed up in my house for a week if I learned my father died, and I’m not even sure we have the same kind of relationship that Eden and Alistair had. She’s unbelievably strong.

“What did your grandfather say?” I ask, changing the subject. Leo would know better than anyone if Franklin Jarvis had anything to do with this.

“His exact words were, ‘Really? I’ll have to send flowers.’”

I stop myself from shaking my head. Appearances. That’s all he’s worried about. “Did you tell him what the cops said? About the suicide?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t tell him anything else. Just that we found Astor’s body and the cops said he did it.”

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