The Edge

Chapter 20

"Leave him alone!" I propel myself towards the lip of the cavern, immediately reaching for my gun, but he's quicker and better prepared.. The point of the crossbow swivels to fill my line of vision. "Not so fast!" yelps the punk blocking the entrance. "Put your hands up! Put them up now!"

Gritting my teeth, I show him my palms. Wes is out cold, but his head wound doesn't look severe. I mean, his skull isn't caved in and he isn't spraying blood everywhere at any rate. He's breathing consistently too. Taking that as a good sign, I command myself to remain composed. Our attacker gives my brother a once over and promptly disregards him.

Speaking of attackers, I'm a little irritated to note that our aggressor is most definitely not Dominic. I'd thought my instincts had been improving. Worse still, I'm dealing with an irrational teenager, one I've run into before. Why hadn't he ever crossed my mind as a suspect? I'd run into him at two different points during the investigation – on the day I'd met Luke and again in the woods behind the Wilder house. My brain tears through its recesses of memory, grasping for a name. Apparently my mind is full of embarrassingly useless synapses, because I'm coming up with nothing.

"Tyler," I gasp, taking my best guess. "Let's take a moment to consider this. You don't want to be too rash."

The kid's mometarily taken aback. "Huh?"

"Is it...Hunter? Tanner? Colton?" He's got one of those Southern boy names common in the region. It's said that establishing a personal rapport with an aggressor makes it less likely they'll violently murder you, but considering he's gone full Norman Bates on at least one other person in his social circle, I'm not holding out much hope. It's worth a shot, though.

His eyes grow hard. "Austin."

"Austin!" I seize upon the name. "How about we...we discuss the situation. Calmly."

He ignores my suggestion, flickering his attention between me and Wes. "Thought the two of you could ambush me out here, didn't ya?" he mumbles. "Big mistake, bitch. Should have brought the cops along."

"Ambush?" I repeat blankly. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you weren't the one sending me notes, huh?" He mimes a girlish tone. "I know it was you. Give me the knife and you're off the hook. Meet me at the lake or else. Stupid slut, what did you think was gonna happen?"

Flabbergasted. That a nice, fitting word for my reaction. "Alright," I reply slowly. "Say I set all this up. What makes you think the police aren't on the way?"

"Because you came by yourself."

"I wanted to take a peak before they showed up. They're definitely coming. Probably right on my heels."

"No, I've been following you. You're not working with them. You're out to help Wilder." He laughs shakily. "Well, you wanted to save his skin, didn't you? They'll probably let him go after this, unless they manage to pin Willoughby on him. You've kinda ruined the setup I had going on. Now I'll really have to be careful."

We stare at one another warily, but he doesn't fire the weapon. I'm careful not to make any sudden movements that could trigger a freak out. "Long as we're having a friendly chat, tell me this. Why did you kill Hannah?"

He snorts derisively. "I dunno, Detective. You tell me."

Alright, probing his whacked out psyche wouldn't get me anywhere. I keep my tone soft and pleasant. It's not an easy task. "Austin. Kiddo. Listen to me...the police will take your age into consideration if you turn yourself in."

"I'm not a kid," he snaps. "And I don't think we're on a first name basis yet, babe, but we're about to be." He licks his lips nervously, then commands, "Take off your clothes."