“You knew your dad was dead all this time, but you told me you had no idea where he was?” He nods his head slowly, remorse clouding his blue eyes. “Why did you lie to me, Ezra?”

“I was protecting my mother, June.” Like mother, like son, I think to myself.

I pull my legs up under me and cross my arms over my chest, tucking myself away from him, the betrayal sitting large between us. “Protecting her from what?” He doesn’t say anything. “I will walk out of here right now, Ezra Keen, if you don’t tell me the truth. I just confessed to you that my own sister was responsible for my father’s death. You can’t get more vulnerable than that.”

He gives a nod of concession, then sits up from the couch, leaning his elbows on his knees and staring out at the lake. “It was one night quite a few years back. She was having one of her episodes. Calling out, saying that she saw angels, that they were coming for her. When I went in to console her, she thought I was a priest.” He gives his head a shake, as though he can’t even believe he’s telling the story. “She asked if she could confess her sins so that she would go to heaven. Of course I told her she could. I just wanted her to calm down and go back to sleep.”

He gets up and goes to get a glass of water, bringing one for me as well, even though I’d like something much stronger at this point.

“So, she confessed to you?” I encourage.

He takes a long drink of water, then takes his time setting it down carefully on the coffee table. “I guess you could say that,” he says, still looking unsure about what he’s about to reveal. “My mother said that she had made a plan to blackmail your mother for money, only because she was worried West would never work again. She and my dad arranged to meet your mother at Avril Island. They told her they were going to go to the police with the truth if she didn’t pay them.”

“Wait,” I interrupt. “So all this time you knew what the truth was and didn’t tell me?”