Tobias’s voice came from behind me.
The water was almost at his mouth.
For fifteen years, my brother hadn’t been able to move his legs. Not since the accident that killed our parents.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered through tears. “I’m the one who brought him into our family.”
I closed my eyes and waited for the end.
Then I heard a heavy bang.
And another.
My eyes flew open.
Tobias wasn’t in his wheelchair anymore.
He was standing.
On both legs. Inside the sinking SUV.
He pulled a small cutting tool from inside his jacket and sliced through the wire on my seat belt in one motion.
“Your legs…?” I stared at him, unable to breathe.
“I’ll explain later,” he said.
He kicked the rear door open with all his strength and pulled me out into the river.
I tried to swim straight for the surface.
He grabbed my arm and stopped me.
“No.”
“We’re going to drown!”
He pressed a small emergency breathing mouthpiece into my hand.
“Garrett is watching from the shore,” he whispered. “If he sees you survive, he’ll try to kill you again.”
We stayed under and swam beneath an old pier until we reached a narrow gap between two concrete pillars, hidden from the road.
The moment I could breathe again, I shoved him against the wall.
“Fifteen years!” I cried. “You’ve spent fifteen years pretending you couldn’t walk!”
He didn’t argue. He didn’t defend himself.
He just looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Because Mom and Dad’s accident wasn’t an accident either.”
My blood ran cold.
“What are you talking about?”
“Garrett’s family has been trying to take control of the shipyard for fifteen years,” he said. “He never married you because he loved you.”
And then he told me the real reason Garrett tried to kill me today.
