Page 231 of Good Boys Don’t Bite

“Didn't what?”

Ronan stared toward the storage room. Then back.

“You know exactly what.”

Elliot felt something inside him go cold. Not fear. Decision. There were moments when lying preserved everything. There were moments when lying only delayed the inevitable. He didn't know which this was yet. So he said nothing. Ronan’s face changed.

“Fuck.”

“No.”

“Tell me.”

“Ronan.”

“Tell me you didn't put a fucking mask in our house.”

Elliot swallowed. Silence. Vance’s voice came through the speaker.

“Ronan, step away from the storage-room door.”

Neither moved. Ronan stared at Elliot.

“Tell me you didn’t.”

Elliot opened his mouth. Nothing came. And Ronan finally understood that silence could be an answer.

Chapter Nineteen — Which One?

RONAN

MONDAY · 9:19 P.M.

Ronan did not remember ending the call with Detective Vance. One second her voice was coming through Elliot’s phone, telling him to step away from the storage-room door. The next, the screen was dark in Elliot’s hand. Ronan stood in the middle of the carriage house staring at him. Elliot stared back. Neither moved. The narrow door beneath the stairs sat five feet away. Closed. Ordinary. Ronan had walked past it hundreds of times. Winter coats. Boxes. Tools. Christmas decorations. Paint thinner. Model supplies. That was what lived behind it. That was what was supposed to live behind it. Not a mask. Not that mask. Not the white porcelain face Bellweather had been staring at for weeks. Ronan’s mouth felt dry.

“Open it.”

Elliot said nothing.

“Open the door.”

Still nothing. Ronan laughed once. The sound came out wrong. Thin. Almost breathless.

“Elliot.”

His stepbrother’s face had gone completely blank. Not confused. Not offended. Not even frightened anymore. Blank. The expression Ronan had once thought meant Elliot was shutting down. Now he understood it differently. Control. Elliot was deciding what happened next. That realization made Ronan’s stomach turn.

“Open the fucking door.”

Elliot looked toward it. Then back.

“No.”

Ronan felt something inside him snap. He crossed the room. Elliot moved immediately. His hand caught Ronan’s forearm.

“Don’t.”

Ronan jerked free.