Chapter 30
30
W hen Susan said the boys were here, she meant all of them…which surprised me. Or maybe, I justified in my mind, they were just here to see Nate and got swept up in our family therapy session unintentionally. Regardless, it quickly became hard to breathe under the intense stares from all four boys.
Royce just seemed bored and somewhat curious, Heath and Carter were intense and I avoided eye contact with them both, but Nate was unreadable as ever. Still playing nice guy for our parents, I guess.
“Okay, so clearly something unpleasant is going on with you all,” Max started. “Ashley made some pretty serious allegations about DB pranks going wrong and is quite convinced that Nate set up her kidnapping with the intention of her dying in that forest.”
“And by all accounts, it’s a miracle she didn’t,” my mom added, her brow pinched.
Max nodded his agreement. “And I know the four of you well enough to know that if Nate was involved, you all were. So…what do you have to say for yourselves?”
The boys were all silent for a moment with some degree of shock on their expressions—except for Nate, who just looked irritated.
It was Royce who spoke first. “You think we tried to kill you, Squirrel? For real?”
I wet my lips, forcing myself to back myself. “Yes. I do. This wasn’t a silly prank for initiation, Royce, look at my face.” I gestured to where my cheek had been stitched, and the bruising around it. “I just spent two days in the hospital being treated for dehydration and hypothermia, not to mention the fact I can barely walk thanks to hiking barefoot through a forest.”
He stared back at me with laser-like intensity. “Not disputing the nearly died part, Ash. Just that you think we would do that to you.”
I pursed my lips, flicking my gaze to Nate. “Yeah well, can you really blame me?”
Royce blew out a long breath. “Fuck.”
“Language,” Mom scolded, and Royce shot her a sheepish smile.
“Sorry, Carina. I meant fork .”
Heath leaned forward, catching my peripheral attention even as I refused to make eye contact. “Ashley…you think I had something to do with this?”
No . But then again… “I don’t know what to think, Heath,” I admitted in a small voice. “The evidence points to Nate, and considering everything else I would be an absolute fool to trust any of you.” Against my better judgment, my eyes flicked to Carter as I said that, and saw his flinch as my words hit home.
“I see,” Heath murmured, giving a sad nod.
I hated that I wanted to immediately take those words back and tell him that he was the exception. But it wouldn’t be true. Just because I fell for his charm for a few hours didn’t change the bullshit with Jade or the fact he lied about us sleeping together.
“What would you think if roles were reversed?” I asked softly. “If I’d done and said everything the four of you have?”
“Doesn’t it seem a little convenient?” Max asked, and I startled a little. I’d forgotten he and Mom were sitting here, listening to everything. Thank fuck no one had outright addressed the tension in the room.
Carter spoke for the first time since walking into the room. “How so?”
Max gave me a small apologetic smile. “Sorry to jump in, honey. This might sound like I’m biased and I assure you that’s not my intent. But doesn’t the evidence seem too convenient for Nate to be involved? The note, the DB masks, the messages…couldn’t it be someone trying to sow distrust and isolate you from the very people who could protect you?”
My lips parted but no words formed. Because no, that hadn’t occurred to me. I was thoroughly convinced Nate was behind everything.
“You think someone is imitating DBs, Max?” Heath asked, thoughtful.
Max shrugged. “It’s a possibility, isn’t it?” The question was directed at me, but I was still at a loss for words. Was it?
“How, though?” Royce asked, clearly pondering the notion. “They’d need to know about Nate’s, um, very incorrect opinion of Ashley to leave that note.”
Nate shot him a sharp glare. “Very incorrect? Did you forget?—”
“Stop it,” Heath snapped. “That never happened. I lied .”
Well, shit . I could have been knocked over with a feather if I weren’t safely seated.
Nate’s expression of shock and confusion was nearly worth it, though. He started to draw a breath to speak, but Carter cleared his throat.
“I think that’s a conversation for another time,” he interjected, giving a not so subtle nod toward my mom sitting right there listening intently.
She grinned, waving a hand. “Oh, don’t mind us, sweetheart, you just pretend like we aren’t here. Max, hon, do we have any popcorn?”
I rolled my eyes, amusement tugging at my lips. “Yeah…that’s not relevant right now. What would even be the point of framing Nate, though? If I died out there…why would it matter who I thought was responsible?”
“But you didn’t,” Nate pointed out. “Why?”
I scowled, anger rising in my chest. “Sorry to disappoint, Essex. I guess I’m just a cockroach.”
He rolled his eyes. “Not what I meant, Layne. By all accounts, it’s a miracle that you made it out. So how did you ? You’re not local, you’ve never been in those woods, you have no hiking or survival experience whatsoever…so, how did you get out alive?”
A chill raced down my spine as the answer slapped me in the face. The diary was the reason I made it out alive…but I no longer had the diary. Which meant someone else did. Maybe someone who was responsible for Abigail’s death?
My head swirled and I reached a shaking hand for my coffee to try and refocus my rapidly building anxiety. It wobbled so badly in my hand that I sloshed it on myself, though.
“Shit,” I whispered, putting the mug back down and picking the wet fabric away from my chest to see the coffee stain on the cashmere knit. “Sorry, Max.”
He flapped a hand to indicate he didn’t care, and I peeled the coffee-soaked sweater off with a mental note to handwash it for him later. No sooner had I taken it off than a replacement hoodie smacked me in the face.
“Ow, what—” I complained, grabbing the offending clothing.
Nate just sighed. “Just put it on, drama queen. You look cold.”
I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but I was already shivering again and his hoodie was warm…fuck it. I put it on, but I didn’t say thank you.
Mom broke the incredibly tense silence—within which Heath stared at Nate like he wanted to gut him with a fork—by handing me a slice of cake on a plate. “You need some sugar.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I replied, accepting the cake and little fork she offered.
“Okay,” Max redirected. “So…I’m not sure what you just thought of, Ash, but is it fair to say you’re not quite so sure Nate is the one trying to kill you?”
I ate a bite of delicious cake—banana with cream cheese frosting—and licked my lips as I offered the tiniest of nods. Because as much as I hated to admit it, there was now doubt in my mind.
Max accepted that admission, though, with a nod of his own. “Good enough. For what it’s worth, I’ve known these boys their whole lives and been legal guardian for these three misfits since they were twelve. I like to think I’m a decent judge of character, and to put it straight, whoever dropped you in the woods is straight-up evil. That’s not these boys, and it’s not my son.” He said it gently, not defensive just…factually sincere. “Now, that’s not to say they’re faultless. Whatever else has been going on needs to stop, Nate, immediately.”
Max’s tone hardened dramatically with that and Nate hung his head as he nodded silent agreement.
“I mean it. All four of you. I don’t know what the hell caused this tension with you all and Ashley, but it reeks of childish bullying and I won’t stand for it. Do you hear me?”
They all murmured a chorus of yes, sir and I stared in wonder. Max had more than just authority over them…he had their respect. That much was evident in the shamed slouch to their shoulders and downcast gazes. A bunch of children being scolded by their favorite adult.
That reaction, more than anything that’d been said, created more doubt in my mind about who’d been responsible for my kidnapping. It didn’t make sense, but my chest ached with uncertainty nonetheless.
“Ashley, I do feel strongly that someone is trying to drive a wedge between you all—as if these boys weren’t doing enough of that already—and that is very concerning.” Max frowned, clearly thinking something over. “Maybe you could consider transferring to a different school?”
That suggestion rocked me and I sat up straighter. “No.”
Mom seemed bewildered. “No? Honey, why not? Someone tried to kill you and?—”
“And you told me never to back down to bullies.” Another pointed glare in Nate’s direction. “Besides, I hardly think scholarships are transferable.”
Max and Mom did another one of those psychic looks and I knew what was coming before they even said it.
“We could—” Max started.
“Absolutely not,” I cut him off firmly. As if I needed Max offering to pay my postgrad tuition and housing right there in front of the boys who’d been accusing me of prostituting myself. “Not even remotely an option. I’ll stay at Nevaeh and simply quit the dumb secret society so I should be of no further interest to…whoever it is pulling strings.”
Mom bit her lip, giving Max a worried look. “Is that possible?”
Max sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know. But given the circumstances…Nate, I trust you can sort that out?”
My archnemesis jerked a nod.
“If I might,” Royce spoke up, “offer another suggestion? Perhaps it would be safer for Ashley if she isn’t alone so much? That way, for one thing, she can’t be grabbed like she was, and for another she’ll know for a fact that we aren’t responsible because she can keep an eye on us personally. Keep your friends close and enemies closer and all that.”
I wrinkled my nose, attempting to process his idea. “You want me to stay in your apartment?”
Royce shrugged. “Why not? I’m sure we can make space.”
A very unladylike snort escaped me, even as my insides flushed warm with the idea of sharing a bed with Heath…or Carter…or both. Shit.
“No,” I managed to choke out.
Royce seemed undeterred. “Okay, well I’m sure we can work something else out.”
Max and Mom were already nodding their heads, and I knew he’d won them. Royce did sort of have a good point, though. If they were responsible for keeping me safe…then none of them could hurt me. Right? So even if Nate did orchestrate the kidnapping, he wouldn’t be able to do anything more without stitching up his friends.
With a tired sigh, I mumbled a half-hearted agreement, then placed my barely touched cake down on the coffee table beside my mug. “I’m actually not feeling so great,” I told my mom, turning up the sad panda eyes. “Is it okay if I lie down for a bit?”
“Of course!” she gushed, hopping up from her seat and extending her hands for me to grip onto as I gingerly stood. My feet were cut and bruised so much that even through the painkillers, it hurt to put weight on them.
The boys just stared. Fucking stared like I’d just whipped my pants off and started pushing a baby out right there on the sofa.
Heath was the first to snap out of it, thank fuck. He sprung up and smoothly took over for Mom, looping his arm around my waist and supporting me as I gritted my teeth and hobbled out of the room.
We were halfway up the stairs before he spoke to me.
“Do you think we could talk alone?” he asked softly, watching my steps like an eagle as I laboriously climbed the stairs.
I shook my head. “Not now,” I replied, slightly out of breath. “I just really, really need sleep. And time.”
He nodded. “Got it. Sleep and time.”
He didn’t push the issue, just silently helped me get to the guest room Mom had told me was mine the first time I visited, and pulled back the blankets for me to climb inside.
“Can I get you anything?” he offered once I was comfortably horizontal. “Water? Medicine? Pajamas?”
I smiled, my eyelids already heavy. “No. But thank you. Um, for what it’s worth…I never thought you were in on it. I’m annoyed about other things, but I don’t think you want me dead.” Unlike your friends.
Heath said nothing to that, just sat on the floor beside my bed and stroked his fingers through my hair until I drifted to sleep.