Be Honest

Dave thought about Bethan's question. Could he be honest? Yes, he could but he wasn't prepared for the fallout from that grenade and the damage that it could do him. Not a chance. Could he give her pieces of honesty? Yes, he could. There were things he could tell her that would give her bits of the picture he wanted her to see.

He had a moment where he was struck with how futile this all was, trying to prevent the truth coming out. But he convinced himself that there was a chance for damage limitation, if he could only play this right. After all, he'd kept another life secret for how long? Years? And neither Bethan nor Christine had known anything about it.

He could handle this too, he was sure.

But he never got the chance.

The woods were beginning to thin a little and the path to widen. Ahead of Bethan and Dave was the start of open fields, grassy expanses on the sides of hills, hills riddled with stone.

As the landscape opened up, Bethan breathed in the view and launched herself into the moment. Like Dave, she could deliver emotive arrows with sharp tips when required.

"I know about the camera," she ventured, still slightly behind him. It had not been her plan to mention it but being out in the open now, rather than the closeted mustiness of the woods had made her feel brave. Perhaps it was as simple as being seen. What could hurt her here?

Dave's worst suspicions were confirmed but he didn't want to let Bethan know that he'd read her texts to his daughter. Could he play dumb about his knowledge of the camera? There was a lot of power in denial.

But again, Bethan beat him to the punch. Before he had a chance to utter anything, she said, "I know who sent the photos. Remember I asked you for the boys' names?"

He did remember. It was that call from Bethan that had started this whole chain of events and the squirming angst of discovery.

Bethan's last question was the killer:

"How did you get it, Dave? How did you get Laney's camera?"

***

366 words

How will Dave respond?

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