The Sixth Kind Chapter 07

The Sixth Kind Chapter 07

“I saw you on the surveillance footage. You were careful–but that old camera outside the

corner store? You didn’t notice it.”

“You knew what my father was doing to Lily from day one.”

“And the video of her dying? You shot that with a hidden camera. You made damn sure I’d see

it.”

“Because you wanted me to know–my father killed my sister.”

“Am I right?”

Vincent let out a long sigh. A bitter smile.

“Grace–you’re too smart for your own good. No wonder Edmund took you on.”

“All these years–you’ve been chasing the truth. And your father’s been hiding from it.”

“I was stuck in the middle. It was hard. On one hand, I wanted you to know the truth. Your

sister deserved justice.”

“On the other hand–I didn’t want to expose him. He was my teacher. My friend.”

“Why confront him like this? Now he’ll hate me forever.”

I laughed. No humor in it. “Is that really what happened, Vincent?”

“On my way here–I got the background check from Detective Greer.”

“Two people were on Raven Ridge that day. Two people with ties to my family. Two people

my sister knew well.”

“What were you doing on Raven Ridge, Vincent? And why were you on the search team that

found her–on the fourth day?”

“Two minutes ago–I was sure my father killed her.”

“Then you tried to defend him–but you also made damn sure I saw that video. And right

then–I thought of something from criminal psych. ‘Involuntary leakage.”

I put my water glass down on the table. Hard. Water sloshed over the side.

Vincent flinched. “Grace–you’re being paranoid.”

I smiled. “Am I? A minute ago–you told me not to assume my father was a murderer just

because he killed a cat.”

“But here’s the thing, Vincent–the police report from my sister’s death only said

‘multi-organ failure from severe dehydration.’ The public thought she got lost in an

abandoned mine and died of thirst.”

“That detail–about the canteen being full? About her mouth being full of food? That she

couldn’t swallow? Professor Stone only pieced that together last week. It was never in any

official report.”

“So–when I accused my father of killing her that same way–why didn’t you react with

surprise?”

“Why did you immediately say her death and the cat’s death were ‘the same way’?”

Vincent froze. The color drained from his face.

“When everyone thinks you’re guilty–only two people know you’re innocent. You. And the

real killer.”

“My forensics professor said that. First week.”

“For ten years–everyone blamed me. Everyone abandoned me. Except you. You never

judged me. Never turned your back.”

“Nothing wrong with that, on its face.”

“But put it all together? And it starts to look a little strange.”

I stared at his bloodless face.

Vincent was quiet for a long time. Then the light in his eyes went out. He laughed–a dry,

humorless sound. He pointed at my father, slouched on the floor.

“I tell you he’s the killer–and you don’t believe me?”

“If it wasn’t for him–I never would’ve killed your sister.”

“Ask him. Ask your father–why he knew I was the killer and covered for me for ten years.”

Thomas’s face went from red to white to something in between.

I yanked the gauze out of his mouth.

It hit the floor with a soft thump.

“Talk. Is what he said–true?”

I stared at the man I’d called Dad my whole life. This stranger. My voice was ragged.

No rage. No denial.

Just silence.

But that silence was deafening.

“Why? She died in agony. Why would you protect her killer?”

“You knew exactly how she died–and you watched me waste ten years chasing my own tail

I looked at this pathetic, lying man.

And I went cold. Everything I’d believed for ten years–every ounce of guilt–crumbled.

My voice cracked. Raw with rage and despair.

“Because–he was too much of a coward to come clean!”

Vincent started laughing. Hysterical. Tears streaming down his face. Pointing at Thomas.

“You–with your holier-than-thou teacher act–you’re just a sick bastard who preys on his

own students!”