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I’d already known it when I heard the last name. This felt like strike one.
Maybe it shouldn’t have been. Maybe Benjamin just hadn’t had the time to tell me about his sister.
Or what had happened to her at East Harbor.
At any rate, I couldn’t come to any conclusions until I knew more.
“Go on.”
“She was a damn good student. From what I found out, Emma had a pretty troubled past. Her mother was all over the news back in their hometown. Socialite gone crazy, essentially. It was widely thought that she'd poisoned the dad.”
I let out a little gasp.Benjamin. What would it have felt like, growing up in a house like this? I’d known parental discord, but for his mother to poison his father?
My heart broke for Emma and him.
“Can’t say he didn’t have it coming, though.” Chelsea’s face was grim. “He was already facing the possibility of doing time. Had a history of abuse, drugs, violence. You name it. He was into manufacturing guns. You can guess the rest.”
I could.
“So Emma’s mom never really visited her when she was studying at East Harbor. I think Benjamin was the only one who cared.”
“Did she have any friends?”
“With that kind of history? I don’t think she trusted anyone, Rory. But yes, she was a brilliant student. She published good papers—papers that would really help understand the psychology of child abuse and what it does to kids. And that’s how she caught the attention of...”
I didn’t want to think about it.
I’d shared so much about what had happened at the school with him.
Why couldn’t he just tell me? Why?
“Noah Evans,” I whispered, knowing my gut instinct could not be wrong. This was sixth-sense at its finest. Right when I wanted it to go bury itself in a cemetery.
Chelsea bobbed her head.
“Not just him. She also got on very well with the school’s counselor. In fact, they did a paper together, and she referred her to some great pro bono cases. Good stuff where she got to work with Social Services. Emma had a way with kids, too.”
“Who was the counselor who helped her?”
I was sitting there, knots in my stomach, tying two and two and just wishing the intrusive thoughts in my head would stop.
“Rory?”
“Yeah?”
“I know this is like an avalanche of information falling on your head. I want you to remember this isyou.You can listen. You can be objective. Take a deep breath.”
Three-two-five-nine.
Three-two-five-nine.
I exhaled.
“Good girl. The counselor was already working on a pretty important case. The school didn’t know about it. It was very hushed up because it involved the same demon who’s been making your life hell.”
Emory Abbot.
“There’s a bit of a story there too.” Chelsea got up and came back with a paper. “Ali had to go back and forth a lot for this. I almost thought he’d fail. Pretty scary stuff.”
