Page 34 of Trapper Road

But that doesn’t give him the right to come after those I love.

I shift tactics. “How many times have you thought about killing Gwen?” I ask softly.

“You mean Gina Royal? Probably just as much as you have.”

It’s a low blow, but he’s not wrong, and he knows it. I have imagined killing her, in great detail. When I thought she was responsible for my sister’s death, I would have done anything to inflict the same pain on her as she had on me. “You lie awake at night imagining it, don’t you?”

“You would know. You’ve done the same.”

“Then what’s stopping you?” I ask. “Because if you kill Gwen, you’re no different from Melvin Royal. You’d be a murderer. A monster, just like him.”

There’s a long pause. “Who’s to say anything is stopping me? Who’s to say I don’t already have a plan I intend to put into action?” There’s a chill to his voice that sets off alarm bells.

I’m tired of placating him, of trying to be reasonable in the face of his delusions. “Let me be clear, Leo, you touch Gwen or her kids, and so help me you’ll regret it.”

He laughs — actually laughs. “Oh, Sam. You have so little imagination. Miranda always said that about you. Now I understand.”

A cold shiver runs down my spine at the tone in his voice. There’s nothing left of the man I once knew. Only this bottomless pit of rage and despair. For the first time, I begin to worry that this man might become an actual threat. “I mean it, Leonard.”

My threat seems to slide right off him. “Tell me how Miranda died. I’ll trade you Gwen’s life for the truth.”

“You know the truth. I’m guessing you’ve read the FBI report.”

“And you would swear on Gwen’s life that there’s nothing you left out of that report? Nothing fudged, even a little?”

I know better than to hesitate. It’s all he would need to feel as though he’s won. “Nothing.”

“You answered that question rather quickly. No need to think it over? To review the events in your mind just to make sure?”

“I told the FBI everything.”

“Then what about the fact they only killed her when you refused to tell them what they wanted to know?”

The question hits like a punch to the gut, sending me completely off balance. How does he even know about that? There were only two of us who survived the encounter — me and Mike Lustig, a man I would trust with my life. Neither of us would have divulged that detail, especially knowing how it would undermine our entire story.

“You’ve got bad information,” I finally tell him.

He laughs. He’s enjoying this, the sick bastard. “You sure about that answer?”

I have no choice but to say, “I am. Miranda’s death was tragic, but it wasn’t my fault.” Though that doesn’t stop me from feeling guilty about it. In her pursuit of me, she’d gotten pulled into something she had nothing to do with. She and my FBI friend Mike had been kidnapped and beaten. I’d tried to trade information for her release, but that had only gotten her executed.

Since her death, I’ve thought of a hundred ways things could have ended differently. Still, I wasn’t the one to pull the trigger. Miranda’s single-minded pursuit of Gwen and our family put her in the wrong place at the wrong time. If she’d just been willing to let go, she’d still be alive.

“I guess we’ll see about that. Miranda left me her estate, did you know that? And one of her requests in her will was that I continue the mission of the Lost Angels. She was invested in her documentary about Gina Royal — she called it a passion project. I intend to fulfill that dream of hers.”

I’m almost shaking I’m filled with so much anger. Miranda Tidewell nearly ruined our lives with her witch hunt of Gwen. She sent investigators and videographers to Stillwater Lake, angering the local residents. That’s what caused the Belldenes to get up in arms and eventually threaten Gwen into leaving.

Not only that, Miranda nearly destroyed my relationship with Gwen. I thought — hoped — that with her death that would be over. To know it was only postponed and will be starting up again soon exhausts me.

I understand more where Gwen was coming from when she asked me to put an end to it. Like her, I’m tired of letting these people continually come after us for crimes we didn’t commit. We just want to live our lives in peace, but people like Leonard Varrus won’t let us.

I blow out a breath, trying to calm myself. “One last time, Leo, I’m asking as a personal favor. Drop this vendetta. Find something that will bring you joy. Move on. I know it feels impossible. I’ve been there, remember? You can still find happiness. It’s out there, if you open your heart to it.”

His voice is acid when he responds. “Well, not all of us can fuck the wife of the man who murdered their family member, so I guess the kind of happiness you’ve found isn’t available to me after all.”

I’m done negotiating. It’s time to go on the full offensive. “We’re not going to keep taking the Lost Angels abuse lying down. We intend to fight back. Defamation, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress. You keep this up, and we’ll come for you any way we can.”

He smiles. I can hear it in his voice. He’s enjoying my anger. “Good luck with that. I appreciate your dedication, Sam. If only you’d had that same dedication with Callie and followed through with your promises to me, Miranda, and the other Lost Angels, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

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