The Scholarship

by Jaime Maddox

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jeremy said, and he and Josh walked to the bank of chairs arranged for them to complete their paperwork.

  Ella watched their exchange closely, knowing how difficult the charade was for Reese. Yet she agreed it was best. They still had no proof of Josh’s guilt, and Reese had no reason to be angry at him unless she betrayed Bucky’s confidence. If she did that, it might cost him the election. So, they’d both pretend and hope they didn’t have to face the senator until the election was over.

  As other donors walked through the door, Ella decided to ease the tension she knew Reese was feeling. “Hey, Reese,” she said.

  “Hmm?” Reese asked.

  “I just thought of something else we have in common.” When Reese looked at her, she smirked. “We’re both looking for donors.”

  Reese sniggered but then turned serious as she sought Ella’s eyes. “As a matter of fact, I think we have a few other things in common, too.”

  Before Ella could respond, the Nathan brothers returned to the table. “I’ll take it, Jeremy,” Cass said, and he handed her the clipboard.

  “Okay. It looks perfect. Oh, you are allergic to penicillin. I have that too, and so does Ella.”

  “I’ve been allergic to penicillin since I was a little boy. I was so sick, I had to get my tonsils out.”

  Reese, who was scanning Josh’s paperwork to ensure completion, had just reached the allergy section. She read it once, and then again, and looked from Jeremy to Josh.

  “It says you’re allergic to lidocaine, Josh.”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  Reese looked at Josh, watched as his face fell for a moment, and then the mask returned to its place. It all made sense now. Two consent forms. Josh had consented to give the bone marrow, but his allergy to lidocaine prevented it. Jeremy had given his mother the bone marrow, and his penicillin allergy, and his brother had taken the credit, using his experience as the alibi he needed to cover him for the time Steph was murdered.

  “Jeremy is allergic to penicillin. He gave your mom that bone marrow. But you somehow falsified the medical record so you had an alibi. The police thought you were in the hospital that night, but you were really here. You killed Steph.”

  She could see him swallow, then look around to ensure no bystanders overheard their conversation. “Reese, don’t be crazy,”

  “I’m not crazy, Josh. Just stupid. I trusted you. I thought you were my friend, Steph’s friend.”

  “I am. I was. This is ridiculous!” Again he looked around as he laughed nervously.

  “No. I don’t think so. Steph told you she was going to PMU and taking the scholarship. Dick Price told you you’d still get financial aid, but it wouldn’t be a free ride. You were desperate, and you didn’t have money for a phone call to talk to her. You came home and murdered Steph so you could keep the scholarship. Then you came to the park—who knows why?” Something suddenly occurred to her. It had been a brutal attack, one that surely soiled the murderer with blood. “Perhaps to get rid of some bloody clothes in the trash. And since you were a lifeguard at Nay Aug, you knew the park well. You slipped in in the dark, but Cass saw you and ruined your alibi. So you came up with the story about the gas money and paid her to keep quiet.”

  “Reese, this is insane.”

  “You’re insane, Josh. You killed Steph, and then you tried to kill Cass so she couldn’t tell anyone you were in Scranton that night.”

  He laughed. “Even if this is all true, you can’t prove anything,” he said. “There’s no evidence.”

  Reese stepped out from behind the table. “My sister has given a statement to the DA. It’s videotaped. You don’t have any reason to hurt her, Josh. Do you understand?”

  Josh paled again and stepped back. Reese saw him swallow. “I…I understand.”

  “Now get the fuck out of here before I break your face.”

  Chapter 30: Celebrity Cruise

  “Let’s go back to the cabin,” Ella suggested. “I don’t want to watch it in the bar. What if it’s noisy and we can’t hear?”

  “True,” Reese said, “but if we’re in the bar, we can see how people react.”

  Ella pondered Reese’s point before nodding. “Well, I do like being out with you when you look so spiffy.” It was the second evening of their cruise, and Ella and her traveling companions had been invited to sit at the captain’s table, along with Chef Vito, and Reese had dressed in a smartly tailored tux for the event. She wore a white shell under the champagne jacket, and with the tan she’d perfected at the booth, she looked radiant.

  Reese smirked as she checked her watch. “If Cass asked me why I was dressed like a man one more time…”

  “You do not look anything like a man. In fact, I might ask you to conceal that cleavage, or I won’t be able to keep my hands off you in the bar.”

  “You won’t have to suffer long. It’s a quarter to nine. The show’s starting in fifteen minutes. Let’s go find a seat.”

  The lounge area was crowded, and since it was a Sunday night during football season, every screen showed the games. There was a long bar and twenty tables for two and four, all of them with a view of one of the many televisions. “Maybe not such a good idea, huh?” Ella asked.

  “No. I think we’ll just have to wait until one of the games is over. Look.” Reese pointed. “Fourth quarter.”

  They ordered drinks and were seated at a table near a television broadcasting the appropriate channel.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Ella said.

  Reese nodded. “Me either. It’s been an unbelievable few months.”

  Ella gently touched Reese’s fingers. “It has been, and it was a good idea to get away, especially with the election coming up.” Reese had decided to take Cass on the cooking cruise she’d been saving for, but instead of Cass using her own money, Reese had splurged and treated her entire family. Sophie had joined them on the cruise as well but, like Reese’s parents, had retired to her room for the evening.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cass so happy,” Reese said, smiling around her drink.

  “Can you believe Chef Vito made her the sous celebrity chef today?”

  “It doesn’t surprise me. He’s a good guy, and he really likes her.”

  “And I think everyone on the ship knows her name now.”

  Reese laughed. “Does that surprise you?”

  Ella looked around at the richly paneled room, filled with fifty or so travelers. Many were from Scranton, here to eat wonderful food and drink good wine, all while learning a few tricks from Chef Vito. Others were strangers, here for the same reason, and some, she suspected, were interested only in eating the food, not preparing it. All of them, though, were friendly to Cass and encouraged her in her unofficial role as Vito’s assistant, making suggestions about the menu and even sharing cooking tips.

  Cass had been looking forward to this trip for years, and after only a day, Ella knew Cass was making memories she’d talk about for the rest of her life. “You’re a good sister,” Ella said as she playfully tapped Reese’s nose.

  Reese wasn’t feeling playful though.

  Staring into her drink, Reese’s face betrayed the emotions Ella knew she was trying to hide. She squeezed the fingers. “This is a good thing, Reese.”

  “Hmm,” she said. “I wish I could feel good about it.”

  “Nothing about this can possibly feel good.”

  “It’s right, though, even if it feels bad. If he can’t be tried in the court, at least he can be tried by the people. Everyone will know about who they’ve elected to the Senate.”

  One of the football games ended, and suddenly, several of the televisions in the room showed a very familiar scene, with the word PROBE. The word faded, and a picture of Cass filled the screen for a second, followed by pictures of Steph and then Josh. As the clip faded to a commercial, several people around the bar pointed at the television screens and commented.

  Ella could barely hear them
above the football games, but she heard enough to realize they recognized Cass.

  “Whew,” Reese said. “This is really happening.”

  Ella remained silent as they sipped their drinks, their eyes glued to the television. After several ads for must-have items, the PROBE logo reappeared on the screen, and Ella’s heart pounded in time to the deep base of the television show’s soundtrack.

  The camera zoomed around the park and then focused on a familiar face.

  “I’m Pip Pearl, and this is Nay Aug Park, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the scene of a recent brutal attack on a local handicapped woman, Cassidy Ryan. What makes the crime so intriguing is its connection to a twenty-four-year-old murder of a high school student. Local police say Miss Ryan may be the key to solving the mystery of Stephanie Gates’s death at nearby Lake Winola on the night of May twenty-first, 1993.”

  The camera panned out to show more of the park, and Miles Jones stepped into the picture beside Pip.

  “Even more peculiar—the key person of interest in both cases is a United States senator.”

  “Turn it up!” someone yelled as the scene shifted, showing Cass and Pip walking with Bijou near the gorge.

  “It’s Cass! The little chef!” someone yelled, and Ella watched, amazed, as eyes shifted from the screens of football to the investigative piece put together by Pip and Miles. Within a minute, every television in the bar had been tuned to the show.

  “They’re watching,” Reese said as she scanned the room, amazed.

  “Yes. And with Miles at the head of this investigation, so is the rest of America. Josh Nathan may have gotten away with murder and assault, but his career is going to be over, Reese. He’s done.”

  “I hope so.”

  They watched the entire thirty-minute piece, saw the crimes unfold on screen and how seamlessly Miles and Pip filled in the circumstantial evidence that pointed to Josh Nathan. Steph’s decision to attend PMU, taking the scholarship away from Josh, giving him motive. The lie about donating bone marrow to his dying mother, destroying his alibi. His appearance in Scranton on the night of the murder, giving him opportunity, and his bribery of Cass to keep quiet about his presence at Nay Aug Park that night. His attempts to turn the DA’s attention toward Reese. His presence at Nay Aug on the day Cass was attacked.

  When it was over, the people watching shook their heads in wonder, making comments about justice and injustice and expressing their hope that the DA would shift the focus in both investigations toward the senator.

  “It doesn’t matter if they convict him. I just hope all the publicity convinces him he shouldn’t try to hurt Cass again.”

  Ella nodded in agreement.

  Reese’s worry was unfounded. The following morning, the news show was featured on Good Morning America. And that night, the eve of the election, it replayed on every major news station and show in the country.

  “I’m glad we got out of Dodge,” Reese said as they watched the news from their bed that night.

  Television vans lined Arthur Avenue, and reporters interviewed neighbors and joggers while they waited for a glimpse of Cass. Meanwhile, she charmed the guests on the ship and was invited to be the permanent sous chef on all of Chef Vito’s cruises.

  After watching another segment on the investigation, Reese looked at Ella. “Had enough?” she asked.

  Ella took the remote from Reese’s hand. “Of that,” she said, nodding toward the television. “Yes. Of you—not quite yet.”

  They helped each other out of their sleepwear and then spent the next hours exploring each other. Each time they made love, Ella was delighted to know how smooth their coupling was, how easily they blended spirits and hearts and bodies. Reese was a perfect fit for her, but not only that. Ella fit perfectly with Reese, and her family, and the community she called home. Ella had given up on love when she took the job at PMU. Who would have thought she could find such a wonderful woman in a small town like Scranton? Yet she had, and Ella was grateful for the new journey she’d started with Reese and the Ryans.

  “I love you,” she said as she nestled into Reese’s arms after her first orgasm of Tuesday. She felt Reese still beside her and wondered what it meant. Fear? Relief? A little of both? The answer came quickly, carried on small kisses dropped along the trail from Ella’s forehead to her mouth.

  “I. Love. You. Too.”

  Ella smiled into Reese’s kiss, pulled her in, and consumed her mouth as her hands sought to know every inch of Reese’s flesh.

  When morning came, they were both exhausted, but they forced themselves out of bed and socialized with the people who hadn’t spent the entire night having sex, and they tried hard not to follow the election news on their phones and iPads.

  Shortly after the polls closed, all the major news outlets broadcast live from Senator Josh Nathan’s headquarters in Scranton, and it didn’t take them long to declare him the loser in the race for his seat in the Senate. All the reporters talked about Josh and Steph, and how Josh had lied about his alibi. How he’d gotten Steph’s scholarship when she died. How Cass had seen him in the park on the night of the murder, and how Josh was seen in the park on the day someone attempted to kill Cass. It seemed that none of the other elections were as important as the one for Josh’s seat in the Senate. His opponent, who’d been virtually unknown prior to the PROBE investigation, was suddenly hurdled into the spotlight. The race, like so many, became more about the scandal than the issues. But, of course, that was exactly why Ella had suggested the feature piece to Pip. America can’t get enough of a good scandal, and the whole drama in Scranton was as juicy as it gets.

  Deep down, Ella knew Josh would never stand trial for Steph’s murder. The evidence was all circumstantial, and it would be difficult to convince Bucky or any prosecutor to move ahead with it. But he would also never run for president of the United States. He’d stolen a life, deprived the world of the opportunity to benefit from all the goodness Steph would have brought to it, and in return, he’d lose the thing most precious to him—his career.

  Instead of a night of passion, Ella and Reese had a quiet one, holding each other and talking. When the sun began peeking in around the curtains, Ella slipped out from under Reese’s arm, dressed, and made her way to the promenade deck. A dozen other passengers were there as well, awaiting the full glory of the sunrise over the Atlantic. Ella recognized one of them and took her place beside Sophie.

  “The greatest peace I’ve ever felt is watching the sunrise. You would think it would be opposite—the day’s just beginning, the world is awakening. I should feel all excited. I don’t, though. I feel calm and confident. Strengthened, like it’s charging me.” Sophie didn’t take her eyes from the amber orb floating on the edge of the earth.

  “I don’t know what it is about the water,” Ella said, “but it is magical.”

  “I would imagine you heard the election results,” Sophie said a moment later.

  Ella moved closer, put an arm around her.

  “It will never make any sense to me that such a smart young man, such a good boy, could do something so horrific.”

  Ella agreed. What more could she say?

  “I feel blessed again, though. For so many years, I’ve just wanted an answer. Now I have one. I knew it would never be a good answer, so this is no worse than any other. But at least I know what happened. Thank you for helping to put the puzzle pieces together. And for Pip. Josh will never hold an office again, and there’s some comfort to be had in knowing that.”

  “This will follow him forever, Sophie.”

  “Yes. Do you know what I’m most grateful for now?”

  “What?”

  “I see you and Reese together, and it reminds me of Steph. I know that Reese loved her. And I know Steph loved Reese. She was much too young to die, and she missed out on so many things. I’m grateful that she didn’t miss out on love.”

  Ella was speechless. How could she say a word without betraying Reese’s confidence?

 
; She was startled to hear the voice behind her saving her from a decision.

  “You’re right, Sophie.”

  Ella turned to find Reese, her bed-head flipping in the breeze and a sad smile on her face. She slipped into the space between them and slid her arms around them both. “I loved her very much.”

  “It was obvious to see, if only I’d been looking.”

  “Steph wasn’t ready for you to see.”

  Sophie, who was never anything but solid and strong, began to cry. Reese folded her into her arms, and Sophie pulled Ella in, too.

  “Thank you both. For finding her killer. For making this scholarship that will keep her memory alive. For being her friend.”

  Ella wiped away a tear. “She was a good friend.”

  Reese nodded.

  Sophie pulled back and steadied herself against the rail. “I’m not getting any younger,” she said, completely off topic. “And I don’t want to burden anyone. But I’m wondering if you would like to live in your grandparents’ house again. Then I can see more of you.” Sophie winked. “And Reese can visit.”

  Ella was confused. “What do you mean? People live there.”

  “I know. I found out a few weeks ago that the husband is being transferred. I’ll need a new tenant.”

  It would be perfect for Ella. She could live at the lake without having to come up with half a million bucks for a house. Provided she could afford the rent.

  “How much will you charge?” she asked.

  Sophie gave her a scolding look. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re like another daughter to me. If you want to stay there, it’s yours. For free. It’s a little far from Reese, but closer to your work, I think.”

  “Oh, no. I couldn’t take it for free.”

  Sophie sighed and shook her head. “Oh, fine. How’s a thousand dollars a month?”

  The price was affordable. And Ella had actually driven to the lake after work on a few occasions, so she knew Sophie was right. “It is closer. It would be perfect. When is it available?”