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He rolled his eyes upward and cut me off. “How could you possibly have any more questions about what happened that night?” he asked. “I’ve told you everything.”
“I…” I scrambled for an excuse to keep the conversation going.Anything.“The spike pit!” I blurted out. “Who did that?”
Mr. Blythe frowned. “What?”
“On the senior trip to Lake Tahoe. Someone lured me out in the middle of the night and tried to kill me. I thought it was Cerina, but she always denied it.”
“Oh,that.” Mr. Blythe chuckled, eyes crinkling at the corners. “I almost forgot about that. It was so long ago.”
“So it was you?”
“Me and some of the other teachers, yes. We set it all up.”
My mind was whirling now. “But…. that doesn’t make sense. You said the initial plan was to frame me for Cerina’s murder. Not kill me.”
“Yes, but this wasbeforewe decided on that whole plan,” he said. “Besides, the pit wasn’t designed to kill you. It was designed to scare you. Maybe maim you a bit.”
“Why?”
“It was a message of sorts.”
“From who?”
“George Kingsley. He was in prison at the time, remember? Because of your sexual assault case against him,” Mr. Blythe replied. “He asked a few of his fellow PTO members to scare the living shit out of you. He thought it might be enough to make you drop the case against him and leave town.”
“God,” I muttered. “I should’ve known.”
Mr. Blythe dragged me closer to the edge of the outcrop, where the rocky surface was slick with rainwater and foam from the ocean. One wrong move and he could tumble over the edge. I just had to extricate myself from his grip so I didn’t go with him.
Before I could try to figure out a way to get his hands off me, he spun me around so that I was standing right on the edge. My stomach plummeted, and I tasted an acid wash of fear. “Stop!” I shrieked. “Please!”
“Sorry, Kinsey,” he replied. “You know it’s time.”
“No!” I screamed, struggling to push him away. “Don’t!”
“Kinsey!” The rain-soaked wind carried a familiar masculine voice to my ears. “I’m coming!”
My heart soared. It was Jax. Somehow, against all odds, he’d found me. He was coming to save me.
No,a little voice in the back of my head told me.You’re hearing things. It’s a coping mechanism. Just a primal part of your brain trying to inject a last bit of hope into the situation.
“Any last words before you go?” Mr. Blythe asked, eyes narrowed on my face.
“Please,” I choked out in a last-ditch effort to change his mind. “Don’t do this!”
“Kinsey!” The familiar voice rose out of the gusting wind again. “I’m here!”
Mr. Blythe whirled around, keeping his hand fisted in the fabric of my jacket. “What the fuck was that?”
My eyes bulged. I wasn’t hearing things. Jax was really here.
I craned my neck to look over Mr. Blythe’s shoulder. My heart lifted again at the sight of Jax dashing through the rain, heading straight for the promontory. Erin was there too, several yards behind him.
“Help!” I screamed. “He’s going to throw me off!”
Mr. Blythe scrubbed his free hand across his face, wiping the droplets of rainwater away. “What the fuck are you doing up here, Jax?” he shouted.
Jax was at the base of the promontory now. He slowed his pace and lifted a palm. “I just came to return your phone,” he said, patting his jacket pocket with his other hand.
