Bree acknowledged his comment. “I know.”
Dylan’s mouth turned up in a sneer. “I thought the video was funny.”
Matt nodded. “You also sent the harassing emails to Sheriff Taggert and set up the threatening graffiti at the farm next to hers.”
Dylan shifted his gaze to Bree. His eyes glowed with sick glee. “Did you like the drawings? I enjoyed painting them.”
Bree didn’t respond.
Matt moved on. Dylan was almost gloating, and Matt let him. “How did you meet Stephanie?”
Dylan cocked his head. “She approached me at a bar. She was hot. She didn’t tell me who she was until later. By that time, I was pissed at Oscar. He was going to rat me out in Kenny McPherson’s civil lawsuit.”
“Why did you and Oscar target him in the first place?”
Dylan rubbed the edge of the sheet between his fingers. “Kenny was the first dude Oscar’s ex dated after their divorce. I think they only went out one time, for coffee. Oscar used to follow her. He thought it was hilarious that Kenny and his ex were oblivious to the connection.”
“And after you helped him, Oscar was going to put the blame on you.”
“Yeah. That’s what Steph said. I was the one who planted the drugs. Oscar was making a deal with the DA. He’d get immunity, and I’d get screwed. He was always looking out for himself.”
The DA was not aware of any potential deal with Oscar. Apparently, it had never occurred to Dylan—not even now that Stephanie had betrayed him—that maybe she’d lied about that to get him to help her.
“So, you killed him first,” Matt said.
“I didn’t do it.” Dylan looked away. “That was all Steph.”
“She might have pulled the trigger, but you set the whole thing up, didn’t you?”
“I helped her get them tied up.” Dylan swallowed. “That’s it.”
That was enough, thought Matt.
“She wanted to do it. Couldn’t wait. Coldest bitch I’ve ever met.” Dylan pressed his lips flat. “I was stupid. She used me. She never really wanted me. I was a means to an end. She wanted to kill Oscar and his mother, but she couldn’t do it by herself.”
Matt tamped down his disgust and focused on his poker face. “Take me through their deaths, step by step.”
Dylan stared over Matt’s shoulder. “We stopped at the farm under the guise of telling them we were dating. Then I distracted them so she could sneak upstairs and get Oscar’s gun. When she came back down, she held them at gunpoint while I tied them to chairs. Once they were secured, I went outside. I knew what was going to happen, but I didn’t want to watch.” His pale face flushed. “I knew it was gonna be messy.”
So he was squeamish, but he didn’t care if people died.
Anger hardened Dylan’s face. “And then the bitch shot me when I was a loose end.” He clearly hadn’t expected her to turn on him even though she’d killed members of her own family.
The irony hit Matt hard, but he pressed on in a nonjudgmental tone. “Why did she want her cousin dead?”
“She hated him. She blamed him for the brother’s suicide. Her brother, Robby, was a weakling. He stuttered really bad. She said Oscar teased the hell out of Robby until the kid hung himself.”
“But that happened a long time ago,” Matt said. “Why kill him now?”
“Steph and her sister and father all went to the farm to ask their aunt for money. They took the sister’s kids to try and win over the aunt. Oscar picked on the kids. Stephanie said he was a real dick, calling them ugly and stupid, insulting them for their father’s dumbass financial mess. He made them cry. The aunt didn’t care at all.”
Stephanie might not be talking, but Dylan sang like he was in the choir.
“Oscar hated kids,” Dylan said. “He always did.”
“Oscar teasing the kids was enough for Stephanie to kill him?” Matt asked.
“Steph got weird whenever she talked about Oscar or his mother. I think her hate for them had been stewing inside her since she was a kid. Then the aunt refused to help with the money.” He wet his lips. “Steph figured if she killed them, her dad would inherit the farm. They’d sell the property and bail out the family. Oscar and his mom would finally pay for Robby’s death.”
“Who shot Jim Rogers?” Matt asked.
“Steph. Rogers came over, all pissed off. He said he was done covering up for me. He was going to the DA.” Dylan shook his head. “I wasn’t all that worried. Rogers hadn’t actually seen anything that night, and he’s been unstable. But he saw Todd in the back of my truck, so he had to go. Couldn’t trust him anymore. He got ethics or some shit lately.” Dylan paused. “I was arguing with him, and Steph shot him in the back.”