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“Turn around,” the voice growls.
We slowly turn. Theo stands there staring back at Emmett with flaring nostrils, but his face softens when he looks at me.
“Ophelia!” he shouts, seeming surprised. We stare back at him blankly, unsure of what to do next. “I…I’m so sorry! I thought…I thought you were Bridgett.”
“Bridgett!?” I exclaim in confusion.
“When I saw a girl in the backseat of Emmett’s car, I thought for sure it had to be Bridgett!” he explains. “If I had known it was you…I would have never…Come here,” he reaches his hand out suddenly. “Come here to me.”
“Don’t do it,” Emmett begs with a deep, commanding voice. “Don’t listen to him, Ophelia. What the hell are you trying to do, Theo!?”
“You,” his voice turns dark again. “You’re the one I wanted. Not her.”
“What’s going on?” I plead, feeling my heart being ripped in two again.
“I can explain everything,” Theo insists. “But I don’t want you to fall. Come to me so I can make sure you’re safe.”
“Don’t, Ophelia!” Emmett yells more urgently.
I start to run towards Theo, thinking that getting away from this slippery edge is the most important thing. I can figure the rest out after that. But as I stare at his face, my old feelings of mistrust bubble up. I look down at the gun in his hand and I’m frozen in fear.
“No,” I decide out loud. “I won’t come to you until you explain all of this. Were you the one who drugged me? And what were you going to do to Emmett out here if I hadn’t been with him?”
“When I heard he was released from jail, I went to the school to see if he’d be there,” he insists. “I pulled up just as his car was driving out of the parking lot, so I followed him. I had no idea you were in the car with him. What do you mean…drugged? Someone drugged you!?”
I nod my head in confirmation, still unsure if I can believe him or not. “Why did you go looking for Emmett? Why did you bring him out here?” I ask again.
His face twists with rage as his gaze turns back to Emmett. “Did you drug her!?” he barks. “Did you try to hurt my beautiful daughter!?”
“Cut it out, Theo!” Emmett cries. “We both know you’re full of shit. Tell her the truth! You’re the one who framed me, aren’t you!? And you were going to frame Ophelia too, weren’t you!? But you panicked when I got released and started to worry that wouldn’t be good enough to cut us out of the picture for good. Admit it!”
“You’re crazy!” Theo laughs before turning back to me. “Ophelia don’t listen to him. You remember everything I said? You remember everything I told him?”
I shiver from the cold rain and start to cry. I repeat his story in my head again. “It was Emmett’s idea to kill his father,” I spout off, telling him what he wants to hear, but I don’t know what to believe anymore.
“That’s right!” his voice is shaky and high-pitched, as if he’s speaking to a scared dog.
He’s desperate but I don’t know if it’s to save himself or to save me.
“But Emmett didn’t kill Malcolm,” I remind myself.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Theo says. “What I do know is that I was not about to let Emmett weasel his way back into your life. I trusted him once and I refuse to do it again. After I saw how hurt you were when I told you the truth, I hated myself for ever pushing you into his arms.”
I think back to our talk on the swing set and almost want it to be the truth. I don’t want to believe that Emmett is truly evil or menacing, but if I’m honest with myself, I don’t want my father to be those things either. Am I only choosing to believe Emmett because of how much I love him? If Theo had been around for me to know and love while I was growing up, would it be easier for me to trust him instead?
I feel overwhelmed again and all I can do is scream. I bury my face in my hands, wishing I could be anywhere but here in this dark, wet nightmare, being torn between these two men. But I am here. And if something doesn’t happen soon, we’re all going to slide off this drop off into the watery pit of shredded metal below. I take a deep breath and try to cling to any ounce of strength left inside so I can calm down enough to figure this out.
“So…what were you going to do?” I ask for the third time, steadying my voice. “Bring Emmett out here and kill him? Shoot him the way you shot Thomas Jameson?”
His face drops, and he suddenly looks crushed. “I have so many regrets,” he starts sobbing suddenly. “I don’t know what to do any more than you do, Ophelia.”
“Shut up, Theo!” Emmett yells, but I hold out my hand to silence him.
“It’s true,” he continues. “I’m a desperate and lost man. I have been ever since the day your mother walked out on me and took you with her.” He stops crying suddenly. His face turns to stone and he looks back over to Emmett. “It’s all your fault. Your fucking Elite family. You’re the ones who destroyed my life! You made me think Lala had cheated on me and it was all a lie!”
“Emmett didn’t do that!” I argue. “His father did! Your problem is with Thomas and he’s gone now…so let’s just go home! Please!” I grow more frantic as the water around us rises. I feel my feet sinking more, and I’m almost afraid that any attempt to move away from the edge will only cause me to slip.
“You really think he’s so different?” Theo questions. “Wake up, Ophelia! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Emmett is just as awful as Thomas was. All he cares about is being the king of Jameson, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen and line his pockets along the way. Especially now that everything has been ripped away from him…just like it was from me. Trust me, I know what it feels like. And I can see the desperation in his eyes.” He wipes his hand across his eyes, and I can’t tell if it’s to brush away rain or tears. “Don’t make the same mistake I did, sweetie. Please. Don’t waste any more time trying to see something in him that’s not there.”
