My face contorted in confusion. “What are you talking about?” I turned to face Liam, who still sported that murderous look in his eyes. “Liam, what’s she talking about? What’s going on?”
Liam heaved a sigh and moved to sit on the couch while I continued to stand with Tiffany, still hidden and shivering behind me. “She saw me kill Gina last night, that’s why she’s such a pain.” Then he picked up my father’s picture and stared at me with disbelief. “This is your Dad?”
“Yes, Liam… but what do you mean by you killed Gina? Are you high?”
He ignored me and continued to stare at the picture. “He was wearing a blue shirt and jeans the night he died.”
I froze. “How do you know that?”
“Because I killed him…”
Tiffany gasped behind me as I tried to comprehend everything that was going on.
“Listen, Kat; I didn’t me
an to. It was an accident.”
He came to stand before me. Tiffany ran to stand behind the kitchen counter with a knife gripped in her hand, but Liam took no notice.
“Explain yourself, Liam,” I found myself yelling.
He began to talk.
“My father took me on vacation in LA for the summer, and one night he said he had a business deal to sort out, and I was to stay in the car. We drove to a clearing, and then things got a little bit physical. Your Dad was winning, and he was so close to killing mine, so I got out of the car and hit him with the largest rock I could find.”
I inhaled a sharp breath.
“It was an accident, Kat,” he continued. “I didn’t mean to kill him; I just wanted to stop him from hurting my father. When we realized he was dead, we covered it up and came back to Redwood; no one knew what we had done.”
“And those girls?” I asked, feeling so numb and out of it.
His face suddenly changed from remorseful to murderous once again.
“They hurt you, Kat, they had to be punished,” he said and nodded at Tiffany. “This one saw too, so I have to kill her. It’s a shame. I actually really liked her.”
He began to approach us, and I took a step back, ready to protect her with my life when out of nowhere, Jake came out from the passage that led to my bedroom and rammed into Liam. They struggled for dominance while I pulled Tiffany into my arms as we both held the knife tightly.
A few seconds later, the door flew open, and the cops ran in.
We ducked behind the kitchen island; tears blurring my vision. How could I not have known that Liam was the killer? He had robbed me of a father, too.
I felt arms around me, but I didn’t panic because I knew whose arms they were …
My boys … and I was safe in them.