Tangled Web: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 6) by Giulia Lagomarsino (an ebook reader txt) 📕

Dammit, I hadn’t planned on admitting anything in front of the police. This was going to seriously mess up what I had to say. “What I have to say, I’m only saying to Andrew and his family.”

“And since you’re out on bail and you have that nice tracking anklet on, that tells me that you’re not off the hook yet. So, if you’re really innocent,” Jack said, “you have the chance to convince me.”

I didn’t like that option, but I could tell that he wasn’t going to budge on it, and it didn’t look like Andrew would either. Sighing, I gave in. “Fine. Where to?”

“Let’s go down to the police station,” Jack nodded down the street.

Great, now they could lock me up if they wanted. But I didn’t have much choice. It was either this or never get the opportunity to tell my side of the story. We walked down the sidewalk to the police station and made our way inside. It was a little crowded for all of us, considering this was a small town and there was no need for a huge police station. After the ladies took their seats and the guys all had their spots, I stood there uncomfortably as they all stared at me. But there was one thing I needed to know before I spilled everything to all of them.

I walked up to Andrew, hating how he shuffled back slightly, but I had to know. “So, hypothetically, we’re walking down the sidewalk…and we’re about to cross the street—”

“I hope you’re at a crosswalk and not jaywalking,” Jack cut in. “Andrew already found out what happens when you jaywalk.”

Andrew glared at Jack. “You were saying?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued. “So, the little guy is white and we go to safely cross the street, in the crosswalk, and a guy comes running at us, swinging an axe.”

“Are you that guy with the axe?” he asked.

“Do I look like a guy?”

He shrugged. “Just thought I’d ask, since this is hypothetical and all.”

“Anyway, the guy is swinging an axe and I step in front of you, because I don’t want you to get hurt. Do you shove me out of the way or do you tackle him to the ground and hope you don’t get hit by the axe?”

His eyes flickered back and forth between mine. “I think that depends on what you have to tell me.”

I shook my head. “No, Andrew. It really doesn’t. Decide now or I walk out that door.”

It was quiet as he decided, but then I heard Joe ask, “Is this some weird kind of foreplay?”

“Andrew?” I asked quietly. “What’s your decision?”

I could see the internal struggle. His eyes were asking for answers, but his body language was screaming for me to back off. Taking that as my answer, I dropped my eyes and turned, heading for the door. My hand was on the door handle when he finally answered.

“Option C.”

I didn’t dare turn around. I was afraid he would say that he would take the axe and shove it in my chest.

“Seeing as how we’ve already had a run-in with a speeding car and a massive bear, I would be prepared and have a gun. I’d pull it out and shoot the guy.”

I smiled slightly, turning to face him. He looked slightly more relaxed and even had a little twitch going on with his lips.

“I don’t get it. What are they talking about? Bears and cars and a man with an axe?” Joe asked.

“Maybe it has something to do with her being a killer,” Robert said.

“Either that or it’s the most twisted way of asking someone how you feel about them,” Will muttered.

“I don’t know,” Josh shrugged. “It sounds like something Carly would do.”

“My point exactly,” Will said.

I walked back into the room and turned to Corduroy and Jack. “All I ask is that you let me tell my story before you call McDowell County.”

“Shit, this is bad,” Corduroy muttered. “I should have known she was a killer. She’s too hot.”

“Hey, that’s my killer,” Andrew cut in. “Don’t talk about her that way.”

I smiled at him and cleared my throat. “So, to know what happened, I have to go back to when I was a kid.” He nodded, so I continued. “How much exactly do you know about me?”

“Pretty much everything about your life growing up, along with everyone else in your town.”

I nodded. “So, you know that things weren’t always bad at home. That is, until several mines in the area shut down. I don’t think I have to tell you what happened to the people in the community. Poor would be a massive understatement. People literally had to drive hours away just to find employment, and then send money home to their families. But for a lot of families, it wasn’t enough.”

Andrew nodded. “I remember you told me about that.”

I nodded and continued. “My dad was too stubborn to leave. So, he just stewed around the house, getting angrier and angrier every day. He wasn’t a very nice person after that. The person that raised me wasn’t there anymore. And then my mom got sick. She had cancer years before, so when the signs showed up again…We couldn’t afford to take her to the doctor. So, she slowly just started slipping away from us.”

“So, your mom did die of natural causes,” Andrew said.

I looked up at him, tears in my eyes, and slowly shook my head. “No, she didn’t. She was in a lot of pain and most days she could barely do anything. I knew she was miserable, so…so I talked to a friend of mine and he said that he could help me. He was a friend of the family…”

“Was this Matthew?” Andrew asked.

“No, and I’d prefer not to say his name. He was just trying to help me. He hated seeing her like that just as much as I did. We both knew that