Everyone in Alex's room stared over in shock at the man standing in the doorframe.

"Dad? What are you doing home so early?" Alex asked in a panicky tone as he shifted away from Charlie.

"Well, it's a Sunday." His dad said, taking off his hat and placing it on one of Alex's dressers.

Alex facepalmed, "Oh shit. I've been so stressed, I completely forgot you don't work on Sundays."

Tony cursed silently, "I knew I shouldn't have looked away from the window."

"How much of that conversation did you hear?" Justin nervously asked.

"Enough to know you need my help." Deputy Standall said as he walked further into the room. Winston, Estela, and Diego followed him.

Everyone who was already in Alex's room looked over at them. Some were looks of anger, some of confusion, and some of fear.

"Why are they here?" Jessica gestured to the three people standing behind Deputy Standall.

"Because they're as much a part of this as all of you are." Deputy Standall supplied.

Zach scoffed, "Like hell they are."

"We may not have killed anyone or tried to cover up a murder by framing someone innocent, but we still have every right to be here." Diego said. Everyone froze, silently thinking about how he could possibly know all of that. Plus, it wasn't good that he was repeating it in front of Deputy Standall.

"Monty wasn't innocent." Clay spat out.

"You're right, Clay." Winston spoke up, "He's done some terrible things, but that doesn't mean he deserved what happened to him."

"Maybe not, but it doesn't change the fact that what's done is done." Ani said.

Estela rolled her eyes, "What's done is done? Really, Ani? As if you didn't lie to the police and tamper with evidence."

Ani's eyes shot over to Deputy Standall to see if he had any reaction to that, but when she saw he had none, she started to put the pieces together.

"You knew I was lying during my testimony the whole time, didn't you?" She asked Deputy Standall, who nodded.

"Yes, I knew. And I wondered how could someone lie with such ease, knowing that they were destroying someone's life."

"Monty destroyed his own life, it's not our fault he died." Justin defended her.

"Yeah, and it's not our fault that he was a fucking rapist." At Clay's words, Tyler tensed beside him.

"So was Bryce, but Ani gave him a chance." Winston pointed out.

Ani shook her head, "It wasn't like that-"

"It wasn't?" Winston countered, "Explain the difference then. Tell us all what made Bryce such a better person than Monty."

Ani looked as if she was trying to think of something to say, but ultimately came up with nothing. Winston nodded, satisfied.

"Why are you doing this?" Justin asked. "Monty was a monster."

Winston looked at him with a sad expression, "Because I saw him for the things that made him human and not for what made him a monster."

Everyone was silent at that. They slowly began to understand where the others were coming from. Estela had lost her brother, Diego had lost his best friend, and Winston... He had lost his everything.

"Contrary to what you all may think, were not here to take you down. We're here because we can help you all." Diego said.

"How could you possibly help?" Jessica asked.

"I told you, I have a plan." Deputy Standall repeated.

"What's your plan then?" Zach asked, in a somewhat annoyed tone.

Winston, Estela, and Diego glanced at each other before turning to Deputy Standall. He looked as if he was about to say something, but Alex beat him to it.

"Dad, there's no need for a plan. I'm already going to confess." Alex felt no need to hide anything from him anymore. It was obvious he already knew everything.

Deputy Standall nodded, "You are going to confess, son. Just not how you think."

"What does that mean?" Alex asked.

As Deputy Standall relayed the plan to the paranoid group, he saw each of their emotions go from fear to confusion.

"What's the point of reopening the case? If Alex confesses and gets a year in jail, what good does that do?" Jessica questioned.

"He's your own son. How could you even think about letting him do this?" Zach added.

Deputy Standall thought for a moment about how to answer their questions, "Alex said it himself, he can't live with the guilt anymore. I know my son and once his mind is set on something, there's no going back. None of you would be able to stop him from confessing."

"Everything had fallen into place. The dead was supposed to bury the dead." Ani reminded them.

"I'm not sure if that can be the case when the dead isn't as dead as you think." Winston said.

Everyone in the paranoid group shared a worried look, "What are you saying?" Justin asked.

Winston paused, glancing over at Deputy Standall. When he received a nod from him, he took it as an okay for him to tell them the truth, "Monty.. He's still alive."

No one responded to that for a moment. Most everyone's eyes went right to Tyler, who had gone rigid beside Clay. When Clay tried to put a comforting hand on Tyler's shoulder, he was quick to flinch away from it.

"How is that possible? Deputy Standall, you told me he was dead." Ani asked in shock.

Deputy Standall shrugged, "Well you didn't tell me the truth, so why should I have?"

"That's different-" She tried to say, but Deputy Standall didn't let her.

"Is it? I could lose my job and you could go to prison."

"Just for lying to the police? There's no way anyone would go to jail for that." Tony was quick to jump in.

"Actually, yes there is a way. Depending on how high profile the case is." Deputy Standall informed them.

"Oh god." Ani sat down on Alex's desk chair.

"If that's true, then most everyone here is going to prison because we're either accomplices or we tampered with evidence." Clay reminded them.

"I never put the cassette in Monty's locker." Charlie spoke up.

"You didn't?" Zach asked, in surprise.

Charlie shook his head, "I couldn't bring myself to do it. I know he's done horrible things and I'm sorry, but he was my best friend. At least at some point he was." He looked over at Diego.

"Wait a minute. If Monty's still alive, then where is he?" Justin asked.

Deputy Standall shook his head, "It would be best if we didn't discuss that. No one else can know he's alive, at least not yet."

After a brief period of silence, Deputy Standall began to tell them what was going to happen.

"There's going to be a trial. Alex will plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He'll tell them that he was alone at the pier." Deputy Standall saw Jessica's eyes go wide. "And that he slipped and accidentally let Bryce fall into the river."

"Will a jury actually believe that?" Tony asked.

"You'd be surprised at what you can convince people is the truth." Deputy Standall confirmed.

"When Monty is revealed to be alive, he'll be handed into police custody once again and probably will still have to serve time for his previous crime." He added.

Alex had his head in his hands, but it wasn't because he was nervous. It was because he still felt guilty.

"I'll only be there for a year, you said?" He asked his dad, who nodded.

"That's the minimum, but they'll most likely shorten it because of your brain injury."

They continued to discuss parts of the plan for a few more minutes, before deciding to wrap up their so called meeting.

As Winston and Estela walked out of the house together, Winston felt a finger tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Charlie standing behind him, a nervous expression on his face.

"Hey..." Winston said tentatively. It sounded more like a question than an actual greeting.

Charlie scratched the back of his neck and looked toward the ground, before making eye contact with him.

"I know that Mr. Standall said we weren't supposed to know where Monty is, but I think it's pretty obvious you both do."

"What's your point?" Estela asked.

Charlie let out a deep breath, "Do you think maybe..." He trailed off. "Could I see Monty?"

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