The detective didn’t even look up from his clipboard when he said it. “Dylan Wilson. There’s been an allegation of assault made against you. ”
“Assault?
No. It wasn’t. We didn’t. It wasn’t enough to—”
“I need you to come with me to the station.
”
I felt the world tilt. This was about Betsy. My Betsy. The girl I loved.
The girl lying in a hospital bed after a stroke that everyone was suddenly convinced I had caused. It wasn’t true. I kept telling myself that. I kept telling anyone who would listen.
But no one wanted to hear it. Lauren, Betsy’s mother, stood at the hospital entrance like a guard dog. She wouldn’t let me past the doors. “She told me to stop you from visiting her,” Lauren said.
“It’s not easy for her to say out loud, so she meant it. ”
“Lauren, I love her. ”
“Don’t you dare say that. You don’t love her.
You don’t even know what love is. If you love her, you’ll go now. You’ll do what she says, and you’ll go. ”
I looked past her, toward the ward where Betsy was.
I couldn’t see her. I couldn’t reach her. All I could do was leave a message. “Tell her I was here.
Tell her I love her. ”
Lauren just snorted and turned away. Meanwhile, my own family was falling apart around me. My stepbrother Ty was being dragged into the mess.
My stepfather, George, had finally started to see the truth about my mother. And Cassie was whispering in the wrong ears, planting poison wherever she could. The pub was buzzing with it. Word had spread fast.
Someone said I’d been in a fight. Someone else said the police had arrested me. Nobody knew the facts, but everybody had an opinion. I walked into the Rovers and found Lauren at the bar with her sister-in-law, Maria.
“I hear you called the police on my Dylan,” I said. “No, my mom did. Wish I had. ”
“I’m not serving you,” Maria added.
“Since when were you crowned landlady? ”
“Sorry. Shall I just outline to the police exactly what he did to Betsy? ” Lauren’s voice was sharp and cold.
“You choked her, and she had a stroke. ”
“What me and Betsy did couldn’t have caused that. ”
“You choked her. She had a stroke.
”
My hands were shaking. I felt the anger rising in my chest, but I couldn’t let it out. Not here. Not with everyone watching.
“Brody’s been after her for ages,” I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them. Brody. My best mate. The one person I trusted more than anyone.
Lauren’s eyes narrowed. “Brody? You’re seriously going there? You’re saying that he—?
”
“Betsy was fine the last time Dylan saw her, right? ” Ty said, stepping in. “Right,” I said. “She wasn’t,” Lauren shot back.
“And it wasn’t until the next day that anything—”
“Hang on,” someone interrupted. “So you’re saying that Betsy cheated? Is that it? ”
I froze.
That wasn’t what I meant. I didn’t want to hurt Betsy. I never wanted to hurt her. But the seeds had already been planted.
And now everyone was pulling on the same thread, unraveling the whole story into something darker than I ever imagined. Ty pulled me out of the pub before it got worse. I called my friend Kit, the cyber guy. He was handling the data on my old phone.
I had cash stashed away, transfers to sort out, and I needed the evidence wiped before anyone else got their hands on it. “Don’t wipe it yet. I’ll need a download,” I told him. “You better find what I need, or I’ll be coming for a refund.
”
That night, I went to see Betsy’s brother, Ryan. He was the one who found her after the stroke. If anyone could get me in to see her, it was him. “She’ll see Brody, but not me,” I said.
“Why? ”
“Brody’s been to see her,” Ryan said carefully. “So has everyone else except me. ”
Ryan sighed.
“Look, Mate. Can I ask you something? And I need you to be straight with me. ”
“Yeah.
”
“Did you have sex with Betsy the day before she had the stroke? ”
I didn’t answer at first. The memory flashed through my mind. Her body.
My hands on her throat. The pressure. Her face. “It was a bit of a squeeze,” I said finally.
“She was fine. Wasn’t even the same day. ”
“Well, exactly,” Ryan said. “So that proves there was enough time for her to have been with somebody else.
”
“What? No. ”
“I’m just following the logic. Someone’s hurt her.
You’re telling me it’s not you, so therefore it must be somebody else. ”
“She wouldn’t cheat. ”
“Oh, how many times have I heard that across the bar? ”
“She wouldn’t.
She’s not like that. ”
Ryan studied me for a long moment. “You’re telling me she’ll see Brody but not you? ”
“Brody’s been after her for ages.
”
“Yeah, but didn’t you say that Brody had seen her the day that she’d had the stroke? ”
“Yeah, but it was Ryan that found her. ”
“Yes. But hadn’t Brody seen her earlier in the day?
”
“Yeah. He said he popped round to hers. ”
“Right. So what does that tell you?
”
The question hung in the air. But I didn’t want to follow that line of thinking. Because if I did, it would mean the person I trusted most in the world had betrayed me. And I wasn’t ready to face that.
The next day, Ty came to find me. “I spoke to the police,” he said. “They’re not charging you with anything. Not yet, anyway.
”
“They’re not charging me because I didn’t do anything wrong. ”
“Dylan, I know you’re upset. But you need to be careful. Lauren’s not going to let this go.
She’s convinced you hurt Betsy. ”
“I didn’t. ”
“Then who did? ”
I didn’t have an answer.
Not a good one. Later, I found out that Brody had been spreading rumors about me. He was telling anyone who would listen that I had cheated on Betsy. That I had admitted it.
That I was the bad guy. When Betsy heard what Brody was saying, she collapsed in the hospital. Her brother Ryan had to calm her down, holding her close and telling her to breathe. “It’s okay,” Ryan kept saying.
“I’ve got you. Breathe. I’ve got you. ”
I couldn’t be there.
I couldn’t comfort her. And that was the worst part. I found Brody at the Rovers and confronted him. “Why are you telling everyone I cheated on Betsy?
” I demanded. “Because you did. ”
“With who? ”
“You know who.
”
I stared at him. My best friend. The man I had trusted with everything. “I never touched anyone else,” I said.
“You know that. ”
“Do I? ”
“Betsy was fine the last time I saw her. The doctor confirmed the stroke happened the next day.
Someone was with her that night. And it wasn’t me. ”
Brody’s face tightened. “What are you saying?
”
“I’m saying that you were at her house that day. You said you popped round. And then she had a stroke the next morning. You were the last person to see her before it happened.
”
“Don’t you dare. ”
“It’s never you, is it? Someone gets half strangled for your own pleasure, and it’s never your fault. ”
His hand shot out and grabbed my collar.
The whole pub turned to look. I didn’t fight back. I just stood there, staring at him. “I’m not doing this,” I said.
“You’re barred. And so are you. ”
“You can’t bar me. I work here.
”
Brody’s mother, Tracy, had been watching the whole scene unfold from the corner. She walked over and put a hand on his arm. “Come on, son. Let’s just go.
”
“You can’t buy me. I work here,” Brody repeated, his voice trembling with rage. “Dad, come on,” his son said. “Let’s just go.
”
Brody let go of my collar, and Tracy pulled him out of the pub. But the damage was done. Later, I went to see Betsy’s mother again. I needed to make her understand.
“I didn’t do this to her,” I said. “I love her. I never would have hurt her. ”
Lauren’s face was hard.
“You choked her. She had a stroke. That’s what the doctors said. That’s what happened.
”
“I didn’t cause the stroke. ”
“Then who did? ”
I took a deep breath. “I think it was Brody.
”
Lauren stared at me. “Brody? Your best friend? ”
“He was at her house the day before.
He was the last person to see her before it happened. And now he’s spreading lies about me to anyone who will listen, trying to make himself look innocent. ”
“You’re grasping at straws, Dylan. ”
“Am I?
Ask yourself why he’s so desperate to pin this on me. Ask yourself why he was alone with your daughter the night before she had a stroke. Ask yourself what he was doing there. ”
Lauren was silent for a long moment.
Then she shook her head. “Get out of here, Dylan. Before I call the police again. ”
“Lauren, please—”
“Get out.
”
I left. There was nothing else I could do. That night, I sat outside the hospital, looking up at the window where Betsy’s room was. I couldn’t go in.
Lauren had made sure the staff wouldn’t let me past the doors. But I couldn’t leave. I pulled out my phone and dialed Kit again. “Did you find anything on the phone?
” I asked. “I’m still working on it. The data’s encrypted. But there’s something you need to see.
”
“What? ”
“There’s a message on Betsy’s phone. Sent the night before her stroke. I think you need to see who it’s from.
”
My heart was pounding. “Who? ”
“It’s from Brody. ”
I gripped the phone so hard my knuckles went white.
“Read it to me,” I said. Kit hesitated. “Are you sure? ”
“Read it.
”
And then I heard the words that changed everything.
