"The last person to see the journalist alive... was me."
The words hit harder than any confession before them.
Nobody spoke.
The lake behind us seemed to grow darker.
Colder.
More dangerous.
Lucas lowered his head.
For twenty years, we'd believed he was the victim.
The missing child.
The boy who survived.
The boy who suffered.
Now, for the first time...
We realized there was much more to his story.
"What happened?" I asked softly.
Lucas swallowed.
His eyes never left the water.
"The journalist wasn't supposed to be there that night."
Ethan frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"He ca