Page 112 of Hate So Deep

“Yeah?”

“When was the last time you texted your brother, baby girl?”

It’s a valid question. Buck didn’t care about me and even if I felt as though I was in a dangerous situation, he’s the last person I would reach out to.

“What ifhetextedyou?” Dirk asks. “What if he was trying to find you and bring you home?”

“But why?” I ask and he averts his gaze.

“Dirk?”

When I touch his arm, he looks down at my fingers before saying, “If he knew he couldn’t erase her being there, what’s the next best thing?”

What?

Shaking my head, I lean away but he grabs my hand and says, “Find someone else to blame it on.”

What is hesaying?

Dirk

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but she has to see reality eventually. Her brother was a messed up human being who had no care for anyone but himself and the more I learn about Sheila Stark, the more I suspect Buck learned all his filthy ways from his mother.

I’ve been racking my brain for weeks and the only conclusion that makes sense is that Buck came for Lauren because he knew he couldn’t deny Aimee’s whereabouts the night he did whatever and who better to blame but his sister living under the same roof.

Did he drug her too?

It makes sense and maybe if I hadn’t barged in and took her away this would have ended differently although I think I drove her home to her doom.

Where was their bitch mother while all this was taking place because something stinks and it’s not Buck’s overpriced cologne.

How does this lead back to his attack though? What did these fuckers have to gain by hurting Lauren?

She’s not a threat. As far as I understand, she hasn’t really found out much beyond that Buck was at Gage’s house that night.

That’s it.

Unless you consider the date rape drugs that Buck bought however, if he got those from Gage, and much as I hate that little fucker, I don’t think it was him who sent guys to beat up Lauren, then who else is there?

I did confirm that Aimee was not at Gage’s house the same time Buck was, which furthers the mystery because he left her wherever she was to make the exchange.

No one saw Aimee again that night, whereas Buck made an appearance at two other places before ending up at the warehouse where he was beaten basically to death.

As the pieces slowly come together, though, it's becoming more and more obvious that what really happened that night can be directly linked to Buck.

The mystery remains of why he left the house again if he was the one that did something to Aimee.

However, if my suspicions are correct, it makes sense to go and find your sister and bring her home. This would also have given him an alibi I suppose, except if he was seen bringing his sister home that doesn’t make sense either.

I know we’re close to finding the answer. We just need the key, and unfortunately half of that key is now dead.

The blood doesn’t lie, and the amount found on that fucking shirt is definitely a death sentence.

I regret not taking that rug out of the house after we found it, but my hope was and continues to be that the evidence will eventually point away from Lauren.

Unfortunately, the only witness left is her, and she was either drugged and out of it or drunk and out of it because she doesn’t remember a goddamn thing.

Now what? Because the further into this mess we go, the harder it is to find a way out of it.

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