He needed a plan. Reasoning with Matt was out, that had become obvious. What was left? Charge in, guns blazing?

It sucked. It was all he had.

"Time's up, Avery. Are you with us or against us?"

Hunter tensed, waiting for the right moment, praying for it.

"Please, Matt," she begged, "listen to me. You're in the grip of some sort of paranoid delusion. There is

no war. Your generals are corpses, victims of murder. You need a doctor, Matt. A psychia-tri-"

He cut her off. "So be it."

Hunter launched himself into the doorway, .357 out, aimed at his brother's chest. "Drop the fucking gun,

Matt! Now!"

Avery cried out his name. He didn't look at her, didn't take his eyes off his brother.

"The cavalry arrives," Matt said, then laughed, moving neither his gaze nor his aim from Avery. "In a

last-ditch effort to save his true love's life."

"Drop the gun."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because it's over, Matt. Because I'll kill you if you don't."

"And I'll kill her. So I guess it comes down to who's the better, faster shot."

"I'll take my chances."

"That's your right, of course. But how are you going to feel watching her die? Always wondering if

maybe, just maybe, you could have saved her."

He was right, dammit. Every minute could be the difference between life and death. Avery's life or death.

Hunter's gaze flicked to Avery, then back. Matt saw it and laughed. "Reading you like a book, bro.

Always could."

"Cherry and Mom are going for the police."

"Bullshit."

"They know you killed Dad."

"You're grasping at straws." His features tightened. "Let's stop fucking around. Lay down your piece."

"You won't get away with this," Hunter warned. "Too many people have died. After this, you won't be

able to cover your tracks." "I already have, actually. You're crazy, Hunter. On a murder spree. You hate Cypress Springs and your family. Everybody knows that. Tom Lancaster's Tulane student ID will be found in your apartment. As will Luke McDougal's class ring and Elaine St. Claire's crucifix. You discovered Elaine St. Claire's body and McDougal's vehicle. Your voice is on Trudy Pruitt's recorder...thank you, Avery, for alerting me to that. And to the paper with Gwen Lancaster's name and room number on it."

Fury rose up in Hunter. "Everything nice and neat, just like Sallie Waguespack."

"Just like," he agreed.

Hunter tried another tack. "I just realized why you went into law enforcement, Matt. So you can hide

behind your gun. The badge."

"If that helps, believe it."

Hunter laughed. "You never fought unless you knew you could win. And you can't win without the gun."

"I could always take you. I still can."

"Prove it, then. You throw yours, I'll throw mine. Just you and me, no hardware. Winner takes all."

Matt narrowed his eyes. "You think you can take me, bro? You think you're that tough?"

Hunter bent, laid his gun on the floor. He took a step toward his brother, hands up. "I'm willing to give it

a try. How about you?" When his brother hesitated, Hunter clucked his tongue. "Or when it really counts,

are you just a yellow-belly chicken?" The tension crackled between the two men. Matt glanced at his silent generals as if for their okay, then nodded. "All right." He crossed to the table and laid his gun on top, then faced his brother, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Come on, let's dance." They advanced, circled each other, both waiting for the right moment to throw the first punch.

"Don't chicken out now, Matt," Hunter taunted. "Hate to have the cops arrive and see you're both yellow and crazy."

Matt lunged. Only then did Hunter see the knife. Avery did, too, and screamed a warning. Hunter threw himself to the right. But not fast enough to avoid contact with the blade. Matt buried it in his shoulder, lost his grip on it and his footing. A shot rang out. They both went down. Cherry stood in the doorway, a shotgun to her shoulder. She had it aimed at them, though even at this distance Hunter saw how unsteady she was. That she was crying.

Hunter silently swore. She hadn't gone for the police. Secrets had won again.

Matt's expression went slack with surprise. "Cherry?" he said.

"You killed Dad, Matt." Her voice broke. "How could you do that? You shouldn't have done it."

"Dad turned on us, Cherry. He turned on the family.He sided with an outsider against us. He had to be eliminated."

She shook her head. "Family sticks together. They always stick together."

"That's right," Matt murmured, tone coaxing. "I taught you that." He got to his feet slowly. "You're my baby sister, but you always took care of us, of all of us."

He took a step toward her and she took a step back. "Don't come any closer."

"He's trying to trick you," Hunter said to Cherry, following Matt to his feet. He grabbed the knife and yanked it out of his shoulder. He went momentarily light-headed at the pain, at the whoosh of blood spurting from the wound. "He's out of his mind. Look around-"

"Don't listen to him." Matt's expression became pleading. "He's not one of us. He left us, remember? He broke our hearts."

"I remember," she whispered. "The two of you fought that night. Something about school. And Avery. It always scared me when you got like that, Matt. When you got like....this."

Her gaze flicked to Hunter. "Dad was working. Mom had been on edge all day, then had gone out. I went to bed but couldn't sleep. I was scared. It felt like...everything was falling apart"

She drew in a broken breath. "That's when I heard Mom. She was crying. I crept out of bed...I saw the blood. Heard everything. About Dad...his girlfriend...that Mom had...hurt her. Matt told her not to worry, that everything would be all right. I saw him get his car keys.

"I sneaked outside, climbed into the bed of his pickup. Pulled the tarp over me. There...I sneaked in after Matt. I saw what he did."

She'd only been ten at the time, Hunter thought. He imagined her terror. Her confusion. If only he had been home, she could have come to him.

It all made sense now. The way they had withdrawn from him, shut him out. They'd all been a part of the same secret club.

It all made sense.

"I kept quiet." She shifted her gaze from Matt to Hunter. "I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid. I didn't know what would happen if I did. They'd split us up. Send Mom and Matt away." Hunter ached for his little sister, alone with her terrible secret. Frightened and vulnerable. No wonder she had been so angry with him.

"I'm so sorry, Cherry," he said. "I didn't know. I didn't know you needed me. If I had, I would have been there for you. I promise." "But he wasn't," Matt said sharply. "He abandoned you. Abandoned us. While I stayed. What I did was for all of us."

Cherry turned the shotgun on Hunter. "It wasn't his fault, Hunter. Don't be angry with him. I was there, I

saw. He was pushed into doing what he-" Her words cracked on a sob. "That woman was awful. A cheap whore who had stolen my daddy.

"When Avery came back, I was so happy. I thought, if she and Matt got back together, if she would just

stay and love him, everything would be okay. The way it was before. But now...I wish she'd stayed

away. I wish you had both stayed away. You've ruined everything!"

"It's not true," Hunter said quickly. "Nothing's been okay since that night. And nothing could be. You've been living a lie, all of-"

"It's all their fault," Matt cut him off. "They're outsiders. Traitors to the family. To Cypress Springs."

"Ask him about Karl," Avery called out, voice high, desperate-sounding. "He didn't go to California! He's here, in this room. Ask Matt if it's true."

Cherry looked at Matt. "What's she talking about?"

"I need you, sis. You take care of me. Of all of us. Don't abandon me now, not when I need you most."

"He killed him, Cherry!" Avery struggled against her restraints. "Like he's going to kill all of us. Ask him

about Karl and the cause."

"Matt?" Cherry whispered, voice shaking.

"He put the cause before love, sis." Matt held a hand out. "You can't hold that against him. The cause is

everything."

Matt glanced toward the table as if for verbal confirmation from the other man. Cherry followed his gaze

to the circle of the silent, a look of horror crossing her face. She took a step back, her hold on the shotgun slipping.

"No." She shook her head; her voice rose. "No!"

Matt used the moment and leaped forward. Hunter shouted a warning and dived for his own gun. Avery