I nodded and released my bottom lip from between my teeth to continue. “Well, thank you. But you were right about him. And before you say anything, let me get this all out. You were right, Drew. He was responsible for what happened to your family. And it seems my grandmother was the girl they fought over. Because he was a Bennett. That was his mother’s maiden name—Tisdale by marriage.”
“I know all of this, Kenny. I did a little research after I got home and found all that out. I mean, I never found anything conclusive that said he had something to do with my family’s disappearance, but I knew all the rest.”
“Right, okay. Well, then I guess the only thing left to tell you is what happened to them.”
His eyes widened for a split second before his brows knitted and his jaw clenched. “Did he tell you what happened?” Doubt filled his tone, as well as pure hatred.
“No, actually. I never saw him again, and my mom said he never woke back up. We learned the details from his dad—my mom’s grandfather. The patriarch of the Bennett family. He showed up at the hospital the day after you left and told my mom everything.”
“So he knew what his son did? He’s known this whole time?”
I placed my hand on his chest, hoping to calm him down long enough to get this out. “The night of July fourth, our grandfathers fought over my grandmother. Based on the things written in the diary—that I now know for certain belonged to her—she and your grandfather had made plans to sneak off in the middle of the night to start a life together. Long story short…they had been together for about a year but had to keep it a secret; otherwise, her family would’ve done everything in their power to separate them. Anyway, it seems that my grandfather found out about their plan and confronted Andrew.”
I don’t think he blinked once the entire time I spoke.
“A physical altercation broke out, which ended with Andrew hitting his head on the corner of a rock or something. So he wasn’t murdered, per se. But it’s what happened afterward that shifts the entire thing from accident to criminal.”
“What was that?” Well, look who was just as impatient as I was.
“Rather than call for help, he moved the body so he’d have time to talk to his dad about what to do without anyone finding him. Keep in mind, all of this was told to my mom by her grandad.”
“The one who was involved in a major coverup of a crime.”
I nodded, not wanting to get into that too much. “Anyway, because the body was moved, going to the authorities would pretty much ensure my grandfather’s incarceration. That wasn’t something they wanted attached to the family name, so they arranged for the dam to open early to keep anyone from finding the body.”
“I knew it,” he mumbled under his breath.
“However, he said he has no idea what happened to the rest of the family. He swore that my grandfather had nothing to do with their disappearance. And while it’d be easy to assume he was lying, he did make a very compelling argument—he’d already confessed to one death, there was no need to lie about what happened to the others.” There were aspects of this that I had a hard time believing, but that pretty much came down to not wanting to face the fact that, for five years, I’d slept under the same roof as a killer. And more importantly, he was my blood relative.
“Well, I guess we know the truth now, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess we do. I just remember you telling me how your family has stayed here, hoping the lost loved ones would one day return. And while I know I can’t bring them to you, I felt as though this was the best way to close that book for you all.”
Drew raked his short nails over the harsh stubble on his jaw. “Is this your way of justifying what your mom did with our lease?”
That took me by surprise. Not only was his anger unexpected, but so was the accusation. “I assume you haven’t heard.”
“Heard what?”
“The only reason she even tried to change things was because she needed the money to help pay for my grandfather’s care. But he’s dead now, so I don’t foresee him needing much care, meaning my mom no longer has a reason to sell the land or increase your payments.”
He eyed me skeptically, as if not trusting a word I said. “When did that happen? My dad hasn’t mentioned anything since the lawyer first dropped off the papers—the day I showed up at your house.”
“Well, he died two weeks ago. Mom had to deal with the burial and everything, so I imagine it was sometime this week. Who knows, maybe your dad doesn’t know yet. I don’t have a clue how all that works. But I do know that my mom canceled the demands on the property. So it’s back to being all yours to do with as you please.” Technically, it still belonged to my mom, but that was neither here nor there.
He stared intently out into the distance, lost in his head for a moment before saying, “What I don’t understand is, if your grandfather killed mine, why would he lease this land to my grandmother? He had to have known why she wanted it. And worse, why would he lease it out for pennies on the dollar?”
The sun began to sting my unprotected skin on my shoulders, but I pushed past it and continued the conversation. He still had no desire to get more comfortable, and based on the anger and resentment he’d displayed since we began talking, I didn’t imagine this was something he cared to drag out for much longer.
“Well, from what I gather, it originally belonged to his dad—the guy who shared all this with my mom. And after what he’d done, his dad put the property in my grandfather’s name as a punishment.”
Drew barked out a sardonic laugh. “Punishment? He killed a guy, and the asshole gets a major piece of land worth a ridiculous amount of money?”
“There’s more to it than that, but basically, yeah. He was cut off financially and removed from the will. All he had was this land. It was meant to be a constant reminder of what he’d done. And I might’ve misunderstood, but I think he told my mom that your grandmother and my grandfather had dated prior to her moving away.”
Disgust crinkled the bridge of his nose. “There’s no chance of him having fathered my dad, right?”
“As far as I’m aware, no. But I have to assume that’s why he leased it to her. And maybe his dad’s the one who came up with the ridiculously cheap terms as part of the punishment, ensuring he never made much from it.” I nibbled on the inside of my cheek, running through all the key points I had planned to tell him. “My mom’s pretty sure that’s why he started drinking in the first place—guilt.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t give a shit about his guilt. I don’t care how rough he had it afterward. My dad had to grow up with half his family missing, never knowing what happened to any of them. So I don’t care how bad he felt. He deserves everything he got.”
Drew took a step back and focused on regulating his breathing. It was clear that this whole thing had really gotten to him, more than I had expected it to. Then again, this entire mystery had basically been his family’s obsession for the last forty-something years.
“So, is that it?” he asked, fisting his hands at his sides. “Is that what you came all this way to tell me?”