Ethan's POV
"NO!"
I launched myself at Mac as the gun fired.
The bullet missed Vivienne by inches, slamming into the wall behind her. Plaster exploded everywhere.
Mac and I crashed to the floor. The gun skidded across the room.
"You idiot!" Mac punched me in the face. Pain exploded through my jaw. "You're going to die for her? For the sister of the girl you killed?"
"You killed her!" I grabbed his throat. "I didn't know! I thought I—"
He kneed me in the stomach. I gasped, losing my grip.
Mac scrambled toward the gun.
But Vivienne got there first.
Her hands shook as she pointed it at Mac. The drug was still in her system—I could see her swaying, fighting to stay standing.
"Don't move," she said. Her voice was stronger now. Angry.
Mac froze. Then he smiled. "You won't shoot me, Vivienne. You're not a killer."
"Neither was my sister." Tears ran down her face. "Lily never hurt anyone. She was walking home from the library. She was going to call our mom when she got back to her dorm. She had a chemistry test the next day."
"I know," Mac said softly. "I watched her for three weeks before that night. Sweet girl. Always smiling. It's nothing personal—"
"NOTHING PERSONAL?" Vivienne screamed. "You murdered my baby sister for money!"
"Fifty thousand dollars," Mac corrected. "Plus another fifty from Rachel. One hundred thousand total to solve all our problems. Seemed like a good deal."
I stood up slowly, my whole body aching. "Mac, we were friends. Best friends since college. How could you do this to me?"
"Because you had everything." Mac's face twisted with anger. "The job, the girl, the perfect life. Meanwhile, I was drowning in law school debt, taking cases I hated, watching you celebrate promotion after promotion. When Claire came to me with her plan, I thought—why not? Why shouldn't I get paid for once?"
"So you framed me for murder," I said quietly.
"Manslaughter, technically. And you did hit her with your car. That part was real." Mac looked at me like he was explaining something simple. "I just made sure she didn't survive it."
Vivienne's finger tightened on the trigger.
"Wait!" I grabbed her arm. "Don't. He's not worth it."
"He killed Lily!"
"I know. But if you shoot him, you'll go to prison. And he'll have won." I looked into her eyes. "We need him alive to confess. To tell the police everything."
"The police?" Mac laughed. "You think they'll believe you? I'm a respected lawyer. You're a broke drunk with a dead-end life. And Vivienne is the revenge-crazy sister living in your house. Who do you think they'll believe?"
He had a point. A terrible, awful point.
"Plus," Mac continued, "there's no evidence. The photos Rachel had? Gone. The black sedan? Sold years ago. Claire's phone records? Deleted. It's your word against mine. And my word is worth a lot more."
My heart sank. He was right. We had nothing.
"But there is one piece of evidence," a voice said from the doorway.
We all spun around.
Detective Sarah Chen stood there, holding up her phone. "I've been recording this whole conversation. From the moment you said 'Hello, old friend.'"
Mac's face went white.
"How—" he started.
"I put a tracker on Ethan's car after the warehouse. When he raced home from his interview, I followed." Chen walked into the room, her hand on her gun. "I heard shouting. Heard a gunshot. Called for backup and came upstairs. Got here just in time to hear your full confession, Mr. Donnelly."
"That recording won't hold up in court," Mac said, but his voice shook. "I'm a lawyer. I know the law. You need consent to—"
"I don't need consent when I have probable cause that a crime is being committed. Which I did, the moment I heard that gunshot." Chen looked at Vivienne. "Ms. Ashford, please lower the weapon."
Vivienne's arms were trembling. For a moment, I thought she might shoot Mac anyway.
"Vivienne," I said gently. "Please. Let the detective handle this."
Slowly, she lowered the gun.
Chen took it from her and handcuffed Mac. "Marcus Donnelly, you're under arrest for the murder of Lily Ashford, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted murder of Vivienne Ashford."
"This is insane!" Mac struggled against the handcuffs. "I want my lawyer!"
"You are a lawyer," Chen said dryly. "Congratulations—you're representing yourself."
Two uniformed officers appeared in the doorway. They took Mac away, still shouting about his rights and how this was all a mistake.
When they were gone, the room fell silent.
Vivienne collapsed onto the bed. I sat down next to her, not touching, just being there.
"Three years," she whispered. "Three years I blamed you for everything. And you were just another one of his victims."
"I still hit her," I said. "I was still drunk. I still ran away."
"But you didn't kill her." She looked at me with red, swollen eyes. "Mac did. Mac and Claire and Rachel. They used you. They used both of us."
Detective Chen cleared her throat. "I'll need full statements from both of you. But that can wait until tomorrow. You've been through enough today."
She started to leave, then stopped. "Mr. Cross, I'm sorry. I suspected you for three years, but I never imagined it was this complicated. If that recording hadn't captured everything—"
"But it did," I said. "Thank you."
When Chen left, Vivienne and I sat in silence. The smell—that terrible rotting smell—was gone. Like it had never been there at all.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
Before she could answer, her phone rang.
She looked at the screen and her face went pale.
"It's Rachel."
She answered on speaker.
Rachel's voice was cheerful, almost singing. "Hi, cousin! I heard the police arrested Mac. Such a shame. But don't worry—I'm already on a plane to Mexico. You'll never find me."
"Rachel—" Vivienne started.
"Oh, and Vivienne? One more thing. Mac wasn't lying about everything. But he was lying about one thing. Something important."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"Lily didn't die that night." Rachel's voice turned cold. "She survived. And I know exactly where she is."
The line went dead.
Vivienne's phone slipped from her hands.
We stared at each other in complete shock.
Lily was alive?