Secrets We Keep (Thistle Cove 1)

“Do you think he tried to hurt her?” Ezra asks, glancing at Kenley. She’d been quiet since the police walked in the room and took Finn away. She’s either in shock or desperately trying to sort this out in her head.

She watches the video again, this time without the volume.

“I really can’t see Finn getting physical with her.”

I tug off my cap and run my hands though my hair. “This sucks. Why didn’t he tell us he had this argument with her?”

“Because he knew it looked bad?” Ezra says.

Kenley narrows her eyes and presses pause.

“There,” she says, “right when it looks like he’s grabbing her around the neck.”

I grimace. “Yeah, not a good look.”

“But he’s not hitting her or throttling her or whatever. He’s reaching for something.”

Ezra spins the phone. “What?”

She stands and pulls me up with her. She takes my hand and brings it to her neck, grazing her fingers just under her neck. She’s still wearing the chain from the day before and my fingers hook underneath.

My eyebrows shoot up and I say, “Holy crap. You’re right!”

“About what?” Ezra says, still clueless.

“Finn didn’t try to hurt Rose. He grabbed the chain off her neck.”

Ezra frowns. “And that chain was found in the water? So you’re excited that he’s the one that took it? I don’t get it.”

“It established our timeline. Finn tore off that chain two days before she went missing. Whatever happened, she didn’t have it when the car vanished.”

“Why didn’t he tell us that?” I ask, a dark feeling blooming in my chest. “Do you think he knew about the account? That she was cheating on him.”

“Could be,” Ezra says. “Those two were always together. Don’t you think he’d get suspicious when she started bailing on him? I know I sure as hell would’ve.”

Kenley shakes her head. “No. Finn did not do this.”

“Ken,” I say, “I don’t want it to be true either, but he hasn’t been honest with us.”

Her face pales. “What about…”

“What about what?” I ask.

Her bottom lip trembles. “He told me that he liked me this whole time. That he didn’t care that she wasn’t into him anymore because he’d been thinking about me.” She swallows back a sob. “We kissed. At Rose’s house. Maybe it was all just to keep me from finding anything.”

Ezra swears under his breath. I think I hear the word, “Bastard.”

I take her hand, trying to think about her kissing Finn. I tell her the truth, “I have no doubt Finn has feelings for you. Unfortunately, that doesn’t eliminate the possibility that something happened with him and Rose. If anything, it gives him more motive.”

A whistle screeches on the field. Ezra winces. “Look, I have to go. Coach is going to freak about Holloway being gone, and I don’t want him to take it out on me for being late.”

Ezra runs off, leaving me and Kenley alone. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. This whole thing is a roller coaster—topsy-turvey—but every fast-moving ride has to have an end. I just hope we’re off of it before it crashes.

34

Kenley

“I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Finn turned out to be an abusive asshole,” Alice says, fidgeting with the radio.