Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
Fifteen Years Ago
1:31 a.m.
Mia
“What’s wrong with Sarah?” Jason asked, looking worried.
“What do you mean?” Alex asked, taking another sip of whatever was in his glass. Vodka, Mia figured. Or, maybe tequila. She wasn’t sure. And didn’t really care. But the glass bothered her. Normally, at parties, people walked around with red cups. But that wasn’t good enough for Phil. People were drinking from actual glass tumblers. Cut crystal, Mia had heard somebody say. As a result, broken glass was everywhere. Several people had cut themselves. Phil Richart didn’t care. He could afford to buy new glass tumblers, so …
“I saw Grace taking Sarah upstairs,” Jason said, leaning closer to Alex.
The three of them were huddled in a corner. Backed into a corner was more like it, Mia thought. The chalet was swarming with people. There was hardly room to move. If she wasn’t somewhat drunk, Mia might have panicked. Might have started feeling claustrophobic. Like she couldn’t breathe.
“Why?” Alex asked in between mouthing the words to the song that was playing.
“I don’t know,” Jason said. “Sarah seemed like she was stumbling. Having trouble walking, or something.”
“Maybe she’s not feeling well,” Mia suggested, a wave of relief washing over her. She’d been wondering when Sarah would pass out.
Mia hadn’t thought it would take nearly an hour for the GHB to take effect, but she knew shit about dosing, so maybe she hadn’t put enough in the shot glass for a quick reaction. She’d put one or two drops into the shot of tequila, figuring it would be enough, but mainly because she didn’t want to overdose the bitch. She wanted Sarah to go to sleep. She didn’t want to kill the girl. She just wanted her out of contention. Out of Alex’s reach. And yes, she was well aware that Alex could find other girls to hook up with besides Sarah, and she was sure he already had. Several times tonight, he’d disappeared for long stretches of time, only to reappear, attentive and thoughtful, too affectionate and expressive. Guilty as hell. Mia didn’t care about girls she didn’t know.
But Sarah was different.
Sarah was someone in their immediate, intimate friend group. Someone Mia had to see most weekends when they all went out to bars and clubs. Mia couldn’t stand the thought of Sarah and Alex together. Couldn’t stand how Sarah pretended to be her friend when she was hooking up with her boyfriend.
Suddenly, viciously, Mia allowed herself to imagine what would happen if she had put too much GHB in Sarah’s tequila. Mia had heard stories about guys using it to rape girls. And stories about guys who woke up with no memory, missing cash, and expensive personal items. But she’d never heard of anyone dying because of too much of the drug.
Could Sarah overdose?
Could she actually die?
The idea sent a thrilling jolt through Mia. She didn’t want to kill Sarah, but if Sarah accidentally died, then …
The thrill turned to apprehension. Could she be accused of murder? If Sarah died, would the police figure out she’d been poisoned with GHB? Could the cops find out how the GHB had gotten into her system? Could they find out that Mia had put the GHB in Sarah’s tequila shot?
Mia took a deep breath, her heart slamming. She couldn’t go to jail. She wouldn’t survive it. The cops could not find out that she had?—
“Don’t tell me you’re worried, too,” Alex said, his tone annoyed, accusing.
Startled, Mia stared at Alex. “What?”
“You look upset,” Alex said. “Don’t be. I’m sure she’s fine …”
“But if she’s not?” Jason asked.
Alex frowned. “What the fuck do you care?”
Jason shook his head but said nothing .
Wary of the tension, Mia said, “Probably too much tequila. Don’t worry. Sarah will be fine …”