Not Who You Say You Are

Chapter Fourteen

I stare at Peter's body, lying motionless on the ground. Most of the family gathers around too, while some others stay with Maggie. However, judging from what we all saw Peter do to her, I don't think there's a point in staying with her. Miles lets go of my hand and begins surveying me for any injuries. He touches my whole head, checking for any blood. He pats me down like he's airport security and I just stand there and let him do it. He comes across the cut on my forearm and panics a little.

"Are you okay?", he says, stressed. "Do you need to sit?"

I had honestly forgotten about that cut. The adrenaline of accidentally pushing someone down the stairs and killing them is making it easier to ignore. 

"I'm fine, Miles", I say honestly. "I can't feel it".

He stares into my eyes, trying to see if I'm lying, and when he's satisfied that I'm telling the truth, he hugs me.

"You shouldn't have done that", he tells me, his voice is soft but the message is firm. "You could have died".

I hug him back tighter. "I know. I'm sorry".

It seems that this Christmas has just been a collection of evocative silences, but this one is slightly different. Although we all saw the body of Vernon and what Peter did to him, we actually witnessed Maggie being murdered. That's something else. She was killed so brutally that I'd already forgotten the image of my dead grandfather, and that was something I thought would never leave me. 

I keep looking down at Peter. The man I killed. That's something I never thought I'd say. Did he have a family? A wife? What he did was so awful that it doesn't matter, but I would feel bad for them if he did. I guess he doesn't however, because why is he here? On Christmas. He said he wanted money but how would that happen? He's not a Quinn and murdering us wouldn't leave him entitled to any of my grandfather's fortune. 

"Who is he?", my Dad asks me. I grudgingly let go of Miles and we both turn to him.

"He was our Uber driver", I tell him. I am met with blank faces from the family that tell me I need to elaborate. "He drove Miles and me to LAX the other day. He was acting strange when he heard I was a Quinn".

"Then he said he was coming to Miami too", Miles adds.

The faces don't change. Fair enough. I don't even fully understand it. I was suspicious of him when he dropped us off at the airport but I never in my wildest dreams thought this would be the outcome. That he would arrive on the island and attempt to kill us all for our money. I don't know what else to say to make myself even clearer. Thankfully, Otis speaks up.

"I recognise him too", Otis admits, leaving Maggie and joining us. "He was the captain of the yacht".

My eyes widen. I had forgotten about that too. When I saw him on the boat, that same chill occurred. The same one he gave me in the Uber. The same one I got when I saw the fox in the headlights and then the fox by the motorboat. He's been too close to us this whole time. Inside the house, watching us on cameras, listening to our conversations.

"So", Ivy says breaking the silence. "Should we move her?"

She gestures toward Maggie, now lying flat thanks to my mother who is still sitting with her, and she reminds me of that fox. Bleeding out on the ground, killed by someone who believed they had the right to kill her. Like she was just meat. Ivy doesn't want to move her just to get her out of the way, she wants to move her for the same reason mom returned her to her original position. To get her off the stone floor is to give her back a sliver of dignity that was taken from her. To prove to the evil bastard that killed her she is more than just meat.