by Marlie May
“Why didn’t you?”
“I was afraid. And I thought, if he believed I was dead, he’d let it go. At least until I could prove he’d done it without revealing who I was.”
“I would’ve let it go,” Sean said loudly, over the roar of the motor. His eyes slid to me. “But you had to go snooping.”
Snooping.
“You sent that text.” Anger and grief jumbled around inside me. All this time, I’d directed my hate at Mr. Somerfield and then at my aunt. While Sean stood beside me, nudging me in that direction.
“I did it all,” he said. Did he actually look satisfied that he’d been able to hide his actions? “I stayed by your side in the hospital, hoping you wouldn’t implicate me. Waited to see if you’d remember anything. And then I framed your aunt, using her handwriting for the suicide note. And roped in Mr. Somerfield to make it more interesting.” He snickered. “You know what’s actually cool? Those chemical formulas you conveniently shared? I was curious, so I looked into it. Your aunt and Mr. Somerfield are designing apps for the government.”
“The CIA?”
His eyes widened. “How’d you know?”
I shook my head. My aunt must’ve given Mr. Somerfield the formulas as part of their agreement and he’d stored them in his file cabinet. If that was the case, I not only needed to find a way out of this for me and Brianna, I needed to survive so I could stop whatever my aunt was planning with Mr. Somerfield. If Dad wanted out of the government contract, I did, too.
“These apps will make your Dad’s company incredibly wealthy,” Sean said. “You, too, I suppose.”
“I don’t care about money,” I said. “It won’t bring my family back.”
He shrugged. “I guess your father wasn’t happy about your aunt working for the company. Something about her having problems?”
Maybe on that day when she came to the dock and they argued, it hadn’t been about money. Had she been trying to tell him what she wanted to do for the company? It didn’t explain why Mr. Somerfield had been on our yacht before we left shore but there was probably a good explanation for his presence, too. One that didn’t involve murder.
To think I hadn’t believed my aunt. No wonder she’d acted bewildered. Scared. If only I’d been willing to look at this from other angles.
If I lived through this, I’d apologize to them both. Brandon, too. It hurt to realize Aunt Kristy had been true to me all this time and I’d doubted her. I’d called the police to arrest her.
“The brake lines,” I said. “You rode in my car and didn’t want to buckle up.” Had he been daring something to happen?
“I didn’t cut them fully, which meant there was still brake fluid in the lines.” Sean snorted. “Enough for a few stops, anyway.”
Not enough to get me home. To think he’d endangered Manuel, too.
“Don’t do this,” Brianna said. “Someone will figure it out.”
“I doubt they’ll suspect me. I’ll be the mourning friend who’s just lost another.”
“They’ll find our bodies,” I said. “What are you going to do? Shoot us and dump us in the ocean? We’ll float and someone will connect the boat rental to you.”
“I rented it in your name.” The moonlight highlighted the pure evil on his face. The boat slowed. “After the last suicide attempt, they’ll think you succeeded this time.”
I squinted toward the shore. Had we gone a mile? Two? Houselights winked in the distance. No one would hear us scream.
Sean shut off the motor, letting the boat drift. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out something that glinted.
Handcuffs.
“I won’t need to shoot you,” he said. “And no one’s going to find you.” Reaching forward, he snatched up Brianna’s hand. In seconds, one side of the cufflinks encircled her wrist.
“Attach the other end to the boat,” he told me, the gun pressed against Brianna’s skull. “A few shots, and it’ll take on water. When it sinks, you two will go down with it. No one will think to look for you here.”
“You’re going to drown us.”
He tapped his temple. “You’re smarter than you think.”
It burned that he’d mock the fact that he always did better than me at schoolwork.
“Give me the other set of cuffs.” Brianna held out her trembling hand. While I don’t think Sean noticed, I did. She hadn’t yet attached herself to the boat.
“Nice of you to cooperate.” Sean pulled them from his pocket. When he extended his arm, Brianna grabbed his wrist and yanked.
Sean grunted as he tumbled forward.
Brianna cried out and leaped on him. They struggled for the gun, making the boat rock wildly as they fought. I grabbed the side and held on, but inched forward, trying to get to them. If I could reach the gun before it—
A crack rang out, followed by a second, a third, and a fourth.
Both Brianna and Sean slumped.
“Brianna!” I scrambled forward and pulled her off Sean. Blood. Oh, my, so much blood. On her shirt, her face garment, her hands.
Her eyes stared up at me but she blinked. “It’s okay.” She sat up, rubbing her shoulder. “I wasn’t hit.”
We both turned to Sean, who lay half propped against the back of the boat. A wide circle of red spread across his chest. He coughed, gurgled, and pink foam dribbled from his mouth.
A lethal shot?
The gun lay beside his hand that twitched. Opening and shutting. Straining. Still reaching for a way to end our lives even as death hovered over him.
Leaning forward, I snatched it up. I threw it as far as I could, watching until it was swallowed by waves.
“The boat’s taking on water,” Brianna said, pointing.
We eased Sean to the side and she tried to start the motor, but it wouldn’t catch.
“It must’ve been hit.” Brianna flopped onto Sean’s seat. She’d lost her wig in the fight, and her smooth head shone in the glow of distant lights.
We both stared at Sean, whose chest rose and fell. Rose again. With all the blood around him, he wouldn’t live long. Something vital had been hit.
Water slowly covered the bottom of the boat, rising to drown us. Even if we had paddles, we’d never be able to row to shore.
“We have to swim,” Brianna said.
“Sean?”
She shrugged. “I’m not helping him.”
His eyelids slid open, and his gaze focused on me.
This boy had killed my parents and tried to kill me. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to settle this in my mind. Tears welled in my eyes. After all he’d done, I hated that I could still feel pity for him.
“Janie.” Brianna’s spine stiffened. “We’ve got to swim for shore before the boat sinks.”
Giving him one last look, I grabbed Brianna’s hand, and we jumped into the sea.
32
Cold water rushed over me, sucking me down into its inky depths.
Legs kicking, I rose to the surface and pulled in a deep breath of briny air.
I floundered, overcome with the same emotions that had filled me when I’d jumped off the yacht. In my mind, the boat still burned. I was drowning.
Mom. Dad. Brianna!
“Here,” she said a short distance away, making me realize I’d shouted their names.
Swimming over to me, she grabbed my hand.
“Swim!” Releasing me, she started that slow crawl she’d used successfully in multiple long-distance events. I’d never been able to match her time.
I couldn’t do it now, either.
The shore seemed light years away. My wet clothing yanked my body down and waves crested my head. Death awaited me.
The boat listed sideways, making me believe it would capsize soon. I couldn’t tell if Sean was breathing, and I hated that I still cared. He deserved the death at sea he’d planned for us.
“Janie.” Brianna swam back to me. “We’ve got to get to shore. If we hurry, we might be able to get Sean help.”
<
br /> Teeth chattering, I nodded.
“I know I messed things up by not telling you and I’ll explain. But we need to save ourselves.” She squeezed my shoulder and nudged her head toward the beach. “We’re going to do it together this time.”
I struck out for shore beside her and with each stroke of my arms, I knew I could do it.
The water would not win this time, either.
Again, I’d defeat the water.
We made our way to the beach where we staggered from the water and flopped, exhausted, on the sand. We lay there for a while, catching our breath.
Eventually, a man walking past loaned us his phone to call 9-1-1, who said they’d notify the Coast Guard. I also called Manuel, who was nearby, searching for us, and would be here in minutes. Frantic when he’d heard Sean’s intentions, he’d called his father. Sirens screeching in the distance told me help was on the way.
Brianna called Alex’s mother.
As we sat on the beach waiting for everyone to arrive, we stared toward the sea. Was Sean dead? The boat could’ve sunk, taking him down into the inky depths along with it.
“Now that I know who you are,” I said. “Will you tell everyone else?”
She picked at the small rocks between us, sifting them with her fingers, tossing larger ones at the foamy waves lapping the shore in timeless motion. “I don’t want to.”
“But you stole Alex’s life.”
“Did I really? Or did I give my mom and me a new life?” Her hand stilled, and she stared at me, maybe trying to read my intentions in my expression. She’d removed her pressure garment, leaving it lying in behind us on the shore like a discarded skin.
Other than those eyes, she did not resemble my old friend.
“Alex is dead,” she said. “But Mom needs to believe she lived. If I tell her, she loses me and I—” A sad sigh slipped from her lungs. “I lose her. You know what it’s like to have no one.”
I did know. It was an aching cavern that would never be filled.
Although, that wasn’t quite true. I still had Aunt Kristy.
“It’s wrong,” I said.
“I’m not sure it is.”
“Why hasn’t she figured it out? She must be able to tell you’re not her own child.”
Brianna shrugged. “If she’s had doubts, she never mentioned them. Not after I woke up in the hospital. Maybe she thought I’d been through enough already without dealing with questions about my identity. I guess she wants to believe.” She coughed and when she spoke, her voice had grown huskier. “I want her to believe, too.”
“Tell me what happened. Why you kept silent.”
“I swam to shore, stumbled up onto the beach, and saw a fire. I ran toward it, knowing I could get help. Because I needed them to go to the boat, to save you, the crew, and your parents. But when I reached the burning house, I passed out.”
“And you woke in the hospital.”
“I wasn’t truly aware of anything until weeks had passed. I’d lived through a nightmare. Not just Sean trying to kill me and maybe killing you, but the burns. The pain.”
My memories of that time haunted me, too.
She cleared her throat, and her voice grew even deeper as if each word had to be forced out through her tight throat “I told her I wasn’t Alex, but Mom said I was sleepy from the meds, confused from the pain.” She lifted her arm. “Mom wouldn’t see that I was different. She didn’t want to see because that would mean admitting Alex was dead. While my build is about the same, I wasn’t sure my pretending to be Alex would hold up. That’s why I pushed the old friends away. I was afraid they’d see through what my mom refused to believe, that I was someone other than Alex.”
“I still don’t understand.” How could a mother not know her own child? I’d known the second I saw Brianna’s eyes.
“When I told Mom, she said to me, ‘You…could be Alex?’ She said it slowly, with hints of doubt but endless hope in her voice. As if she was desperate to make it come true. I nodded, and at that moment, I became Alex. We never mentioned it again after that. But it hasn’t been easy. I doubt my decision all the time.” Her gaze slid away from mine. “Maybe I was wrong to give into that ache I had for a mom who loved me. Who needed me. A real family. You probably think I should’ve pushed back more, insisted I wasn’t her daughter. That would’ve been the right thing—no the honest thing—to do, but I…couldn’t.” She lifted her chin. “Do you understand? Mom and I were both barely hanging on. It would’ve broken us to admit Alex was gone. And…I didn’t want to be Brianna anymore. No one loved her.”
“I loved you.” Still do.
Alex nodded. “Other than Sean…” Her voice broke. “You were all I ever had. Please tell me you understand.”
I did understand. A little.
If I could believe with all my heart that my parents still lived, would I grab onto that belief and hold it tight?
I would.
“So, you decided to keep silent,” I said. “Why not go to the police anonymously? He killed my parents. He tried to kill you.”
“I was scared of him and afraid they wouldn’t believe me. And I was selfish. I couldn’t lose this new life.” She took my hand and held tight. “But I missed you and our friendship. And as long as Sean thought I was dead and you didn’t remember that night, you were safe. I thought I could have Alex’s life and you as my new friend while finding a way to make him pay.”
“He killed my parents. I had to know why.”
“I didn’t know you were looking into it. The police ruled it an accident.”
“I didn’t believe it, and I couldn’t stop investigating until I found out who killed them.”
She sighed. “Please don’t tell them about me. Let Brianna stay dead.”
I wasn’t sure I could do it. The truth needed to come out, didn’t it?
“The baby. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’d just found out. I was going to tell you that night but I didn’t get the chance.”
“You lost it.”
“Yeah, it’s gone.” She placed her hand over her abdomen. “I wasn’t far along when I miscarried. They probably thought I got heavy periods because the nurses never mentioned it.”
“Janie!” I pivoted to see Manuel rushing down the beach, his sneakers kicking up rocks and sand. I stood when he approached, and he bowled me over, swooping me up in his arms and spinning me around. He cupped my face. “I tried to find you but I wasn’t sure where he’d taken you.”
Brianna rose and brushed at the back of her jeans. Soaked through, she’d never get all the sand off. I expected her to put on her burn garment or turn to hide her network of scars, but she just smiled.
Chief Sancini puffed up and stalled beside us. He braced his palms on his thighs and his lungs heaved as he caught his breath. After he’d recovered from his run, Brianna and I explained how Sean had kidnapped us at gunpoint and taken us out to sea to kill us. Manuel corroborated our story. He’d heard most of Sean’s conversation through my phone.
I left out Alex’s true identity. At this point, it wasn’t my secret to tell.
“Sean, huh?” Chief Sancini squinted south, where a Coast Guard boat chugged along, searchlight sweeping the sea. His phone chirped, and he pulled it and spoke. “Yeah? Okay. Yup. Sure.”
I lifted my eyebrows as he put his phone away. “So?”
“They located the boat,” he said. “Full of blood. Wow. No one could live through that. Sean…well, he didn’t make it. They did CPR, but it was too late.”
It was finally over.
Knowing my parents could rest in peace, I should feel free. Why didn’t I?
I held Manuel’s hand and stared toward where I’d seen Sean last. The boy I’d called my friend was gone. No, Sean had been gone for a long time. I’d lost him months ago when he decided to kill. Forgiveness for him wouldn’t come easy. Why should it? He’d stolen my parents from me and he’d nearly taken my life.
But could I forgive Brianna?
Chief Sancini walked over to stand beside me. “Why did he do it?”
“Brianna was pregnant. He didn’t intend to harm her that night. He gave her a gift but she opened it early—a bomb. It killed my parents, the crew. When he learned I was investigating and could see I was getting closer to the truth, he had to kill me, too. Alex…well, Alex was with me at the time and he forced her to go with us.” That wasn’t all of it, of course, but hopefully, it was enough to satisfy the police.
I squeezed Manuel’s hand. He stared down at me, and while I couldn’t find the peace I sought, I could see a promise in his eyes.
“Imagine doing that to friends,” Chief Sancini said.
“Imagine,” I echoed.
He scratched his head. “There’s nothing else you can add?”
“That’s it.”
“Hmm.”
Leaning around him, my gaze met Alex’s. “With Brianna dead, I’m not sure we’ll ever truly understand what happened.”
33
Ten Days Later
“You lie back on the sofa.” I pushed Manuel gently down into the cushions and nudged my head toward the book lying on the coffee table. Another of my favorites. To think Manuel had never read the story about a boy who became a wizard. “I’m going to read to you this time.” I couldn’t stop grinning. Partly because he cooperated with my intentions. Mostly because he was cute.
Rising up on his palms, he gave me a quick kiss. “Sure you don’t want to make out?” That twinkle was back in his eyes, the one that created havoc in my belly.
“They’re just across the hall!”
My aunt and Mr. Somerfield were holding a meeting in Dad’s office. The last thing I wanted was to have them walk out and find me and Manuel wrapped around each other on the sofa.
I settled beside him and lifted the book onto my lap. But I’d only flopped back the cover when Dad’s office door opened. Mr. Somerfield strode out, and his eyes met mine.
Filling the living room doorway, he paused. “Your point is well taken.”
One of the first things I’d done after apologizing to everyone and assuring my aunt I wanted her to come home was speak up about the dangerous apps Dad’s company was developing. I’d met kick-back because designing them could bring the company a lot of money. But integrity had more value to me, and they said they’d take my wishes into consideration.