Page 123 of Reinventing Cato
Vigge shrugged. “I think she’ll have to make up her own mind.”
“Are you going to get out of the car?”
He wrapped his fingers around Cato’s. “It’s hard knowing that in a few minutes, I’m going to break three hearts.”
“I think that happened eighteen years ago. Now you’re going to help them mend.”
“I should have said something when Hendry made a move on me as a teenager.”
“What difference would that have made?”
“I’d have told my parents I was gay before that night and Anders wouldn’t have died.”
“God, Vigge, you can’t go down that path. What ifs don’t help. What happened, happened, and it wasn’t your fault. Don’t tell your parents about that. What you’re telling them is bad enough. Come on, before the village grapevine lights up.”
His sister opened the door and the smile on her face disappeared when she saw Vigge wasn’t smiling. He guessed he looked like he was going to announce the world was about to end. Gitte gave him a hug and turned to Cato.
“This is my sister, Gitte.”
“Hi. I’m Cato.” Cato shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you, Cato.”
“You too.”
They followed her through to the lounge. Gitte’s husband, Allan, was there as well. The phone rang as they walked in and Vigge snapped, “Don’t answer it.”
“Why not?” his mother asked.
Vigge picked up the receiver, broke the connection and left it off the hook.
“What on earth?” his mother said.
“I need to talk to you first before you speak to anyone outside this room.” Vigge took a deep breath. “Mum, Dad, Allan, this is my friend, Cato.”
How can I tell them?
His father looked from him to Cato, a muscle twitching in his cheek and Vigge blurted, “The police have just arrested Hendry in connection with Anders’ death.”
His mother gave a little cry and grabbed his father’s hand. Gitte sank onto the sofa, collapsing into Allan’s arms.
“Anders went into the river that night to try and save Fi after she’d fallen in, and was clinging to the bank. Hendry pulled him out and took him home. Anders was cold and confused and when Hendry took his wet clothes off him, he panicked and lurched away, hit his head on the mantelpiece, had a seizure, and died.”
Three faces stared at him in shock.
“Start at the beginning,” Cato urged. “From when you were last up here.”
Vigge went through everything, from the moment he’d set off from the pub on New Year’s Eve to Hendry’s confession.
Both his parents and his sister were crying. Vigge wanted to feel relief that the truth was finally out, but he didn’t. He was angry with Hendry for staying silent for so long, letting them still nurse that glimmer of hope that maybe Anders wasn’t dead. Unseen, Cato was rubbing circles on his back and Vigge took some comfort from that.
“Do you believe him?” his father asked.
“I’m inclined to. The medical examiner should be able to determine whether his story fits.” He didn’t want to talk about a damaged skull or other injuries that might or might not still be visible, that it might depend on what Hendry had wrapped Anders in, if he’d wrapped him at all. He didn’t want to think about what condition his brother’s body might be in. He didn’t want to imagine Hendry had deliberately hurt him.
“A little part of me thought maybe he was still alive,” Gitte said through her tears.
“We all clung to that,” said his father.
