“When I took you to see her at the creek. I thought she was still breathing. That she’d moved. I thought—” Kyle and his father faced each other. “But you—you took that rock and—”

Matt lunged for the weapon in Noah Brawn’s hand, thinking it was his last chance. He felt the cold metal in his grip as he tugged to get the gun away from him.

Noah kneed Matt in the gut. Matt held on, the air stolen from his lungs.

But Noah managed to release Matt’s hold.

The gun fired.

Matt was on the ground. His shoulder burned white-hot. He touched it, and his hand came away covered in deep red blood.

Noah stood a few feet away, standing over Matt, the gun pointed at his face. Matt lunged for the weapon, violently heaving Noah’s arm, running on only adrenaline and rage. The world was a blur, and then the gun discharged again.

When Matt reopened his eyes, Kyle was on the floor.

“No!” Noah Brawn ran to his son. Red seeped through Kyle’s shirt, his eyes distant.

“Noooo!” Noah wailed, cradling his son now.

Matt was still on the ground, the blood loss and pain making him light-headed. He needed to get out of there. Matt reached to pull himself up, when Noah’s head snapped over to him.

“You and your fucking family. You just couldn’t let it go.” Noah picked up the gun from the floor next to his dead son.

“So you killed them? A six-year-old boy? A teenage girl? The woman you claimed to love?” Matt clutched the bookshelf and pulled himself to his feet. His head was spinning, his shirt soaked in red.

“None of that was supposed to happen. When the video appeared, I just wanted your father to let things go. Then your sister found him, saw his face, took a picture of him in Mexico. He said he had no choice. I would’ve never hurt your mom. I just wanted your father to…” He let the words die.

Noah wanted Dad out of the picture. Maybe Mom would come back to him. Or maybe he wanted to end the Pine investigation once and for all by killing the driving force behind it.

Sirens wailed in the distance.

Noah looked at his lifeless son, still cradled in his lap. His eyes turned dark. He gently lowered Kyle’s body to the floor with one hand, pointing the gun at Matt with the other. He rose to his feet.

It was over. Matt could see it in the man’s face.

Noah said, “I want you to die knowing that your brother will rot in prison for the rest of his life. And that the world will know you confessed to hiring someone to kill your parents for the insurance. That you killed my son.”