Chapter 56
Carson seems to know what he’s talking about. If he says you shouldn’t call the police, you’re going to trust him on that.
“So what should we do now?” you ask.
“There’s no electronic record of you ever being here,” he says.
“They made sure of that, so it wouldn’t get tracked back to them when you disappeared.
The best thing to do is to go home and pretend like none of this ever happened.
Since everyone is dead, I’ll be able to unlock and open the gates so we can get out. ”
You hold out your hands, which are still shaking terribly. “I don’t think I can make the drive right now. I’ll probably go careening off the edge of the mountain.”
Carson looks at you thoughtfully with his gray eyes. “I can drive you home in your car. My car is a loaner from Mr. Wentworth anyway.”
You promised Blair that you wouldn’t let anyone else drive her car, but you’re pretty sure Carson will be a good driver. After all, he’s so handsome.
You make your way to the front door. With each step, you leave behind bloody footprints. You wipe your shoes really well on the welcome mat, knowing Blair will be furious if you track blood into the car. You unlock the front door, and when you step outside, Carson hesitates.
“What’s wrong?” you ask.
You follow Carson’s gaze to the sky. There’s a full moon out, although there’s still a bit of mist keeping it from being as luminous as full moons can sometimes be.
“Pretty, isn’t it?” you say.
Carson lets out a grunt. There’s an expression on his face that seems almost pained. He rakes a hand through his thick white-blond hair, and for a moment, it looks like his hand is shaking as badly as yours are.
“What’s wrong?” you ask him.
“Nothing,” he says in a gruff voice. “Let’s get to your car. Hurry.”
He seems to be struggling to walk as the two of you make your way to Blair’s Audi. When you get there, you see four deep slashes across the passenger’s side door, which resemble claw marks.
“Oh man!” you moan. “Blair’s going to kill me!”
Carson seems utterly uninterested in the claw marks on the car. He fumbles to get the driver’s side door open, then collapses into the seat. Once you are both inside, he takes a few deep breaths, gripping the steering wheel.
“Okay,” he says, “let’s go.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Now I am.”
You’re not quite sure what that means, but you still don’t think you’re up for a drive, so you let him take the lead.
Sure enough, after you get on the road, he seems a lot better.
You sit together, listening to the sounds of the pop station on the radio while you try to figure out what the hell you’re going to tell Blair about her car.
“Did you know?” you ask him. “I mean, that they were…?”
“Cannibals?” Carson finishes for you.
You try to smile, but your lips feel like rubber. “Yeah. That.”
“I didn’t know for sure,” he says. “Not until tonight. But I did know that…”
“Know what?”
“I knew they were bad people. Really bad people.”
“So if you knew that,” you say, “why did you take a job as their butler?”
Carson glances at you out of the corner of his eye, as if deciding whether or not to trust you. “Something had to be done.”
You don’t quite know what he means by that. Was he somehow responsible for the carnage that took place this evening? In some ways, he seems just as frazzled as you are. But in other ways, he was so calm at the house and knew exactly what to do.
But he couldn’t have been responsible for all that. You can’t imagine Carson letting a wolf loose in the house. After all, if he had done that, the wolf could have easily killed you both, in addition to the Adventurous Eaters Club. You’re sure he wouldn’t have taken that chance.
But are you actually sure? The truth is, you hardly know this man at all.
Turn to Chapter 57 (page 141)