by Marlie May
I’d befriended Alex and shown her I was willing to listen. I’d made it clear I understood the horror she’d suffered.
I’d trusted Brianna. We’d been friends since third grade.
Had our entire friendship been a lie?
I must’ve made a sound. A gasp. A cry of pain. Or maybe I screamed.
Because she turned.
29
Her beautiful eyes—now, without glasses—met mine. Even if I hadn’t seen the tattoo, I’d know my friend anywhere by her eyes.
“Janie,” she said softly.
My dismay must’ve shown on my face because her hands flew up to cup her garment-covered cheeks.
I gaped at her while a billion questions swirled around inside me unspoken. Only one found its way out. “Why?”
Reaching into her locker, she pulled out her wig. Glossy, dark brown and wavy, like Brianna’s hair. She flipped it up and onto her head, shifting it until it settled into place. After putting on her glasses, she pulled out a white terry robe and tucked her arms through the sleeves, wrapping it snugly around her waist and securing it with the tie. Her feet, she tucked into red flip-flops. Armor in place, her chin lifted. “It’s not what you think.”
With my heart in ashes, I took one step forward. “You have no idea what I think.”
“Oh, I do.” Her half-smile held no joy. “I know you better than anyone. And I can see you’re judging me already.”
My bag slipped from my fingers and smacked on the floor. Fists forming at my sides, I put everything I had into my words. “You lied!”
“I couldn’t tell you everything.”
“How did you live?” Pleading came through in my voice, though I didn’t know why I begged her for answers.
“I was knocked unconscious but I woke up. Swam to shore like you did.”
“They found me.”
“They found me, too, and drew their own conclusions. Because of…things, I let them. I had to.” Her hair brushed her shoulders when she shook her head. “Not that I remember much. You know what it was like. The pain was excruciating. They sedated me for weeks. I needed surgery, skin grafts. When I finally found myself again, my mom was calling me Alex.”
“You’re not Alex.”
She shrugged. “I was by then. I had a mom who’d nursed me through the worst nightmare in my life, someone who loved me. And I love her. You don’t know how wonderful it was to have her beside me, begging me to live. A parent who loved me, not a foster mom who was too tired to offer a pop tart to yet another kid in her house. My mom was there with me night and day, telling me over and over that we would get through this together.”
“My mom died.”
She flinched. “I’m sorry. Don’t you see? Brianna died that night too but a new Alex lived.”
“I still don’t understand. Sean and I have mourned you. Died a little more inside every day we’ve been without you.”
Her lips thinned, and she yanked on the robe tie, twisting it around her fingers until it cut off the circulation. “I know you have, but has he? Truly?”
“He’s been a wreck,” I grumbled. “You know what I thought? I thought you—Alex—had a crush on Sean. That you were worried he’d never see you for who you truly were. A girl who liked him. But I guess you must’ve been worried he’d see you for who you truly are. Why haven’t you told him?”
“You don’t understand.”
I’d never understand. How could I? It made no sense. Why had she done this to us?
“You have to let this go,” she said. “Please.”
My chest split wide open and grief poured out like bloody fluid had poured from my wounds that morning as I stumbled along the beach. Almost all the details of that night had come through. The morning after, I’d been blinded with pain from my burns and my loss and not knowing if my parents had made it off the yacht or if Brianna had lived.
No wonder I’d blocked out everything. When they told me the boat had gone down and I was the sole survivor, I couldn’t live with the agony. So, I shoved the events into a dark corner of my mind, locked them up, and threw away the key. Moving forward was bad enough. I couldn’t drag the shock of what happened behind me.
Only one final memory remained from that night but I knew it would shine through in due time. Nothing would keep it from floating to the surface. Wisps of it clung to the edges of my mind right now, elusive, yet almost within reach.
The moment when Brianna opened her gift.
I grabbed my bag and spun for the door.
“Janie, wait,” her hoarse voice cried out. “We need to talk.”
We were past that. The truth needed to come out.
“Wait!” Her footsteps hit the tiles behind me as I raced from the locker room. I reached the hall outside at a dead run and flew to the other end, took the corner without slowing, and plunged across the lobby and through the front door.
“Janie!” Alex’s—no, Brianna’s—cries grew softer as the door banged closed behind me.
My heart pumping fire through my veins, I ran, putting more distance between us.
I unlocked Mom’s car when I hit the lot, yanked open the door, and jumped inside. Key to ignition. Foot to the gas pedal.
While Brianna limped down the path from the school, I flooded the engine and drove the vehicle from the lot and out onto the street.
I growled as fury charged through me.
Brianna, her arms reaching toward me—pleading—faded in my rearview mirror.
30
The car flew up my drive. I slammed to a stop in front of the door and rushed from the vehicle, barely remembering to lock it behind me.
I keyed in the code to open the front door and scurried inside on shaky legs. After locking the house behind me, I collapsed on the foyer floor and pressed my back against the wall.
The sound of my gulps echoed around me. I pressed my fists against my eyes before slamming them onto the floor.
Tears streaming down my face, I sent Sean a text. You need to know about Alex. And Brianna.
Brianna. Damn her.
Sean didn’t reply.
Standing, I hurried to Dad’s office and sat at his desk. Chloe strolled into the room. She jumped up on the sofa and started to groom.
I unlocked the middle drawer where I’d put the police report and flipped back the top with frantic hands, knocking over the ceramic pen holder I’d made Dad in fourth grade. I’d painted yellow flowers on the side and been so proud when he used it. After righting it, I dumped the photos from the accident report onto the desk and sorted through them.
Four bodies. How had I missed the fact that there were none of Brianna?
I skimmed the report and discovered why.
It wasn’t easy finding remains on an ocean floor, especially when the ship burned before sinking. As Bettina at the Coast Guard said, nothing sinks through water without scattering.
The report indicated they’d looked for Brianna’s remains but had been unable to locate them. ‘A common occurrence,’ the report said. And that it was ‘rare to find all the bodies after a marine accident’.
Next, I pulled my phone and searched for articles about the fire at Alex’s house. The Fire Marshall reported they’d found the remains of five bodies. Alex’s dad, her little brothers, and Alex. But her mom had insisted Alex was alive and mentioned something about their basement window being broken, that they’d suspected a stranger had recently entered. She was adamant the fifth remains must be that person. As far-fetched as the idea was, the coroner was trying to match the remains with missing persons.
I’d have to tell them they never would.
After dropping the report on the desk, I called Manuel. I’d fill him in on who Alex was once he got here. But I needed him. Needed someone to tell me this was going to be okay.
“I’m hanging out with my sister, but I’ll come over ASAP,” he said. “I can stay tonight if you want.”
“That would be wonderful.” I couldn’t imagine being alone in
my empty house. Pretty soon, we were going to have to come up with a better excuse for his early morning absences.
The front door swung open and banged on the wall.
“Oh, wait,” I said, frowning that way. “Someone’s here.” Weird that they’d let themselves in. I’d locked the door, hadn’t I?
“Who is it? Wait a minute. Your aunt is in jail. Aren’t you alone?”
I should be alone.
Chloe hissed. She jumped off the sofa and scurried behind it.
My pulse leaped. “I’m in Dad’s office. I’ll creep over to the door and see who it is,” I whispered.
“Just lock the office door. Call 9-1-1. Climb out a window. I’ll get there as fast as I can.”
“Okay.” I slid Dad’s chair back, being careful not to bang it into the wall. With the phone held close to my thigh, I treaded on soft feet toward the foyer. Fear spiked down my spine and made my skin flash with sweat. The police had promised they’d make sure my aunt never came back here.
I peeked through the narrow opening and gasped. Alex—Brianna—stood motionless on the carpet runner. Her glasses were gone, and her eyes burst with terror. Sean stood behind her, clutching her upper arm.
“What’s going on?” I stepped out into the entry. “Sean? Br—Alex?”
Sean lifted a gun and pointed it at Brianna’s head.
Tears streamed from her eyes.
I staggered against the wall as a memory crashed through me.
I stood on the yacht’s upper deck after placing the plastic cups and champagne bottle on a table by the rail.
Where was Brianna? She should’ve been up here by now. She’d better hurry or my dad would find out I’d stolen the champagne before I could hide the evidence.
Tiptoeing over to the skylight that looked down into the main cabin, I peered through the glass.
Brianna stood near the narrow couch, the box Sean had given her held up in front of her smiling face.
Recently, Sean had won our school science fair and had been invited to present his project at a competition in Portland. Because of the timing, he’d miss Brianna’s birthday. He’d met us at the marina and given her his gift early, begging her to wait to open it until the day she turned seventeen, saying it was extra special, something she needed to see when she was completely alone.
I, of course, could never wait for anything. I’d encouraged her to retrieve it from her bag, and had nearly talked her into opening it early.
Brianna looked up at me and, seeing me spying on her through the glass, grinned. She waved the box in the air and I knew she’d do it. I wouldn’t be beside her when she opened it, but I’d still get to see.
She struggled with the tape he’d used to secure it, giggling because he’d wrapped it so tight.
Her grin widening, she lifted the lid.
And the box exploded.
“All this time,” I said, pain and disbelief ringing out in my voice. “It was you, Sean. You did this.” Rage shot through me. “How could you? My parents died.”
He flinched but anger flared in his eyes. “Your parents weren’t supposed to be involved. You either. All of you were collateral damage.” He yelled at Brianna, “It was your fault.”
She sobbed. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to me.
Sean wiped the sweat off his face. “It doesn’t matter. We don’t have time for this.”
“What are you planning?” I asked. It was doubtful he’d let either of us go.
“We’ll return to the original scene of the crime.” He shoved the gun against Brianna’s head hard enough she flinched. “It’s time to take a final boat ride.”
31
The phone slipped from my fingers, smacking onto the carpet.
Sean growled and stepped forward. He crushed it underneath his heel, cutting off my last link to help. “No chance of making a call now, is there?”
He didn’t know that Manuel had heard…had Manuel heard enough?
Sean shoved Brianna toward the door. “If only you’d waited to open the gift until your freakin’ birthday, when you were alone.”
Some gift.
Her arms trembled. Tears trickled from her eyes, darkening her burn garment. “Alone? So I could die by myself? You killed Janie’s parents. You hurt her. All because you wanted to kill me.” She shuddered. “And you killed our baby.”
“What baby?” I asked, glancing at her flat belly.
She’d been my best friend. Why hadn’t she told me?
“That was why you did it, wasn't it?” Brianna’s hoarse voice deepened, pain shooting through in her words. “You wanted me to die. I thought you loved me but you never did, did you?”
His arm holding the gun lowered but he stiffened and raised it again, pressing it against her ribs. “I wanted to be with you. You said you were on birth control, that you wouldn’t let anything happen. But you lied.”
“It failed.” She shook her head.
“You knew I needed that scholarship to go to college.” His sneer showed a Sean I’d never seen before. My friend. How could he do this? All these years, I thought I’d know him but he’d been hiding a part of himself I never could’ve imagined. “You think the Upstanding Citizen Award will go to a teenage father? Without it, I can’t make something of myself. I’ll end up working crappy jobs with a kid on the way. It would ruin things for me.”
“A baby doesn't ruin anything. I didn't ruin anything.”
The Award. He’d only had competition from one other student. Chris, who’d had a table saw accident recently because the saw’s guard had malfunctioned. Or had it? Sean hadn’t done it, had he? I guess if he was ruthless enough to kill Brianna, he’d have no problem eliminating his competition.
Sean was willing to do anything to achieve his goals. Even murder us.
“Let’s go.” Gun pressed against Brianna’s temple, Sean pushed us out to Mom’s car. Under his command, I drove out to Big Berry Island.
I thought of hitting another telephone pole but Sean had refused to let me buckle up. A crash could kill me.
And they sat in the back seat, Sean’s finger on the trigger of the gun pointed at Brianna. I doubted I could pull off an accident without one of us dying.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” I gulped out as I drove. “We’ve been friends forever. You mourned with me, held my hand all through my hospitalization.”
All the time asking if I remembered.
“Would you have killed me in the hospital if I’d woken up and accused you of murder?”
“Shut up,” he yelled, slamming the gun into Brianna’s side. She whimpered.
When we reached the beach, night had fallen. No moon or stars winked above to light our way.
He’d planned this in advance. Had he been thinking about how he’d kill me for days? Or had my text triggered this last series of events?
“I made this happen,” I ground out.
Sean grunted. “I finally figured out what was familiar about Alex when I got your text.”
“I’m sorry.” My eyes found hers in the rearview mirror.
“You couldn’t know.”
If she’d confessed who she was earlier, could we have avoided this moment?
“As long as you didn’t remember what happened,” she said. “You were safe. He wouldn’t come after you.”
But the memories had been determined to crash through.
Sean leaned forward and pointed to the parking lot. “Pick a spot where no one will see us.”
His words came out cold. Had he always been like this and I’d never seen?
He’d guided me to an ironic location since they’d found me wandering this part of Big Berry Island.
Brianna squinted around, but she needn’t bother. I’d already looked and there was no one near who might be able to help us.
I put the car into park and shut off the engine. How could I delay this from happening? There had to be a way.
Sean wasn’t my friend. He was a monster.
&n
bsp; “Get out,” Sean said. He directed us to the northern part of the beach with the gun underneath the back of Brianna’s shirt, out of sight. A small boat lay on the rocky shore ahead. To anyone seeing us, we’d look like three teenagers out for a walk. Not two being led to their death by the other.
My panic grew inside me. I needed to find a way out of this. If we got into that boat, our odds went down even further.
Now would be a good time to scream. Although, there was next to no one around except people some distance down the beach, out of shouting distance. A mom and a dad and little kids. Did I dare risk them to save myself and Brianna? I shook my head, unwilling to take that chance. I’d have to find a different way.
“The boat.” Sean pointed to the small aluminum craft.
I thought of running, but he held Brianna’s arm in a grip so tight, her skin blanched from his fingers. Even if I could break free, she couldn’t. And he’d probably shoot me in the back if I tried to get away. The gun had a silencer. Would anyone hear the sound of the bullets hitting my flesh? Or would they think we were just a bunch of kids fooling around?
No one would know until they found us lying dead tomorrow.
“Push it into the water and climb in,” Sean said.
While he held Brianna, I shoved the aluminum boat away from shore and climbed inside, settling on one of the two bench seats. Sean nudged Brianna in, and she sat beside me. He jumped in and took the back seat, facing us, the motor behind him.
“Okay, now,” he said. “Let’s get this over with.”
Let’s not.
“Start the motor.” He trained the gun on me while Brianna pulled the cord. The engine hummed to life and in moments, we were zipping away from the shore with the beach eclipsing behind us.
I could jump overboard. If I whispered my intention, Brianna would bail along with me. Would Sean shoot us in the water? At this point, it hardly mattered; we had to escape before he made this permanent.
“I’m sorry.” Brianna’s voice trembled. “I should’ve told you what he did.”