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I’m the one in the right here. Emilio’s the one that killed my sister.
“Guys,” Nathan says, perking up, and looks toward the back door. Dirk appears and slips outside, a sheen of sweat on his forehead.
“What’s happening?” Lesley asks, turning her attention from me like I’m suddenly forgotten, but my heart’s racing, and adrenaline’s burning through my veins. I’m ready to fight this girl right now and I’d better calm down.
Dirk gives her a sideways look. “Not much.”
“Dude, you were just out there. What did you see?” Nathan sounds like he’s on the edge of falling apart.
Dirk rubs his face. He’s an odd one and I can’t get a read on him. Everyone seems to think he’s strange and shady, and I don’t know why they keep him around.
“Emilio wasn’t there,” he says slowly. “We looked all over. There were rescue crews down at the boat, and a few campus security guys were scouring the path at the edge of the cliff, but Emilio wasn’t anywhere. He wasn’t on the boat or with the crews, at least that we could see.”
“Did anyone tell you anything?” Lesley asks, sounding as desperate as I feel.
“Nobody would talk, especially not the security guys. I got the feeling that they were trying to keep the whole thing quiet. Nobody on campus knows what happened yet.”
“Were they students?” Dom slugs back his drink and turns to face Dirk. “Who was on the boat?”
He looks uncomfortable and shakes his head again. “I don’t know.”
I curse quietly. I want to get up and start pacing like Nathan but I don’t want to draw attention to myself. Dirk slips away back inside, and we’re left alone to stew in our anxiety. My confrontation with Lesley is over for now as everyone digests what Dirk just said, but that won’t last. She’s suspicious of me and she won’t stop until she knows all my secrets.
I need to be careful of her, or I need to find a way to keep her distracted.
The group’s alone for only a few minutes of tense silence until the sound of a Jeep crunching over gravel draws our attention. A car door slams and I jump to my feet and hurry around the house toward the front gate with Lesley on my tail.
Emilio’s standing next to a campus security truck talking in low tones to the dean of students. I recognize him from the walk. Both of them look disheveled and tired, like they were actively involved with the rescue. Emilio’s still damp and wearing a towel around his shoulders and there are red scrapes on his arms and back, like he’d been dashed into the rocks more than once trying to get in that boat. Finally, he finishes saying something to the dean, and both men look exhausted but angry. He shakes his head and walks toward the house.
The dean sits there frowning after him for several seconds before driving away.
Lesley hurries from the house first. She doesn’t say anything, only throws her arms around Emilio and hugs him tight. I stand a few feet away, watching the moment with trepidation and surprise. I’ve never seen Lesley looking so raw and vulnerable before, and even Emilio seems a little shocked. I didn’t think she was capable of actual emotions.
She pulls back, glares at him, and punches him on the shoulder. He grimaces. “Don’t do something so fucking stupid again,” she says, turns around and storms off.
She brushes past me and disappears inside.
He watches her go with a slight smile before his gazes falls on me. I step back, heart racing, and his expression hardens. “Pet,” he says.
“You’re okay.”
“I made it. You seem disappointed.”
“The people on the boat?”
He hesitates for a moment. “One dead. The rest should survive. I don’t know how the hell they managed to fuck up so badly but—” He stops himself and walks to the house. “Come with me.”
I follow him inside. Nathan and Dom are there, and they assault him with questions. He brushes them off, swears he’s okay, and marches up the stairs, gesturing for me to follow. I give the guys a sheepish smile and hurry after Emilio. Both of the boys roll their eyes like they know what we’re about to do, but at least they’re happy and relieved Emilio’s back.
He storms down the hall and turns into his room. I pause on the threshold, not sure if I want to follow him in. This is his space, his room, his private sanctuary. I was forbidden from going inside, and now I’m being invited by the man himself.
It feels like a trap. Especially after what happened up on that path.
Do I really want to be alone with him right now?
But what did happen? I mean, really, what happened? I had a panic attack. I nearly fell over the edge, but he pulled me back. I convinced him to do the right thing and save the people down in that boat. Would they have survived if we hadn’t found them? I don’t know, but I doubt it. Why did he save me? Why pull me back from tumbling over and why listen to me when I begged him to go?
It might’ve been easier just to let me drop.
