Chapter 59
CHAPTER 59
SARAH
“It’s Chris’s blood,” Mia said, soaping her hands beneath the stream of water in the kitchen sink.
“Is that right?” Sarah asked, glancing at Jason, curious as to whether he believed Mia’s bullshit story. Sarah wasn’t buying it. She wasn’t even sure if she thought Alex was dead. She knew Grace was gone. She’d seen her friend’s severed head in the speedboat, which was now missing. Grace believed that Alex had been decapitated, and had claimed to have seen his head, but was that true? Had it been Alex? Or was Grace mistaken?
Sarah didn’t know.
Everything was so strange and crazy.
She didn’t know what to think. What to believe.
All she knew was that Mia was lying. And Alex was a deceitful, unrepentant schemer. He’d always been a manipulative scam artist. Sarah wouldn’t put it past Alex to fake his death so he and Mia could blame it on Phil. She was more inclined to believe that Phil was dead. That Alex had killed him, then killed Grace.
Sarah closed her eyes.
She felt as though she was going insane. Her thoughts terrified her. How could she be thinking of her friends dying? Possibly killing one another. Cutting each other’s heads off. Nothing made sense. Nothing seemed real. She’d stepped onto the island and into an alternate reality.
“I told you Chris is dead,” Mia said.
“You didn’t tell us how,” Jason said.
“You didn’t give me a chance,” Mia snapped. “You started interrogating me about Alex’s plan to make sure Phil didn’t destroy us.”
Sarah scoffed. “You mean Alex’s plan to kill Phil.”
Cutting off the water, Mia faced Sarah. “Alex wasn’t going to murder Phil. He was going to kill him to protect all of us, even you Sarah, not that you deserved his protection.”
“Are you serious?” Sarah asked, staring at Mia.
“But it’s very obvious that Alex’s selfless act went horribly wrong,” Mia said, her eyes watering, expression forlorn. “Someway, somehow, Phil killed Alex. And Grace. And Chris, who I was trying to help. That’s how I got his blood on me. Not because I killed him.”
Jason asked, “What happened to him?”
Mia sneered at Jason. “What do you mean, what happened to him? Some sick psychotic bastard killed him! ”
“I meant … how ,” Jason said, clearly making an effort to remain calm. “How was Chris killed?”
Sarah asked, “Was his … head cut off?”
“How the hell should I know?” Mia snapped. “All I know is he was dead and there was blood everywhere!”
“I don’t believe you,” Sarah said. If Chris’s head had been severed, Mia would have known. There was no way she couldn’t have known. So why the hell was Mia acting as though she had no idea if Chris’s head had been attached to his body, or not? Somehow, her hysterics seemed forced. Performative. Why would Mia pretend she didn’t know how Chris had died?
A strange chill passed through Sarah.
Sarah wondered if Mia killed Chris … if she’s the homicidal psycho … she shared that very theory with Jason earlier, but he’d shot it down, claimed it was impossible. But Jason didn’t know Mia the way Sarah did. He didn’t know what she was truly capable of.
“I don’t care if you believe me,” Mia said. “I know what I saw. Just like you insisted that you saw Grace. And Grace saw Alex. And none of us lied. Phil killed Alex, Grace, and Chris. He promised to destroy us. He’s making good on that threat.”
Jason sighed. “I think so, too. We need to get off this island. Now. I’ll call a water taxi.”
Mia nodded. “I’ll go pack.”
“Pack?”
“We don’t have time to pack,” Jason said.
“I have things that are important to me, and I am not leaving them on this island,” Mia said. “So I’m going to get my things.”
As Mia walked away, Sarah glanced at Jason. “Can you believe her?”
“I can’t believe anything,” Jason said, collapsing into one of the chairs at the island.
Sarah joined him. “Be honest with me. Do you think Phil is behind this nightmare? You think he killed Alex, Grace, and Chris.”
Shrugging, Jason dropped his head. “Can’t think of any other explanation.”
Sarah took a deep breath. “They’re dead because of me …”
Jason looked at her. “What?”
“Because I told Phil that Alex wanted to kill him,” Sarah said, wringing her hands, wishing she had a drink. “I warned Phil. I gave him a heads up.”
Jason asked, “What exactly did Phil say when you told him that?”
Sighing, Sarah said, “He said he was going to make sure he didn’t get himself killed.”
“What did he mean by that?”
“I assumed he meant he was leaving the island,” Sarah said. “But now I think …”
“That Phil decided to kill all of us,” Jason said.
Sarah took a deep breath, struggling not to scream. “I should never have said anything to Phil. If I had known?—”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Jason said. “If anyone is to blame, it’s Alex. He never should have brought up the idea of Phil having an accident, even if he wasn’t serious. He never should have planned this ridiculous getaway. I knew it wasn’t going to work. I never should have come to this island.”
“I know Alex made you do it,” Sarah said.
Scoffing, Jason glanced away from her. “Fifteen years and I still don’t have a mind of my own. Still didn’t know how to say no to Alex.”
Sarah said, “I’m not talking about Alex’s idea to come to this island.”
Jason frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“The plan to blackmail Phil’s father,” said Sarah. “I know Alex forced you to go along with it. You didn’t want to do it.”
“And yet I did …”
“So did I,” Sarah said. “Worst decision of my life. But, also the best, considering…”
“Considering … what do you mean?”
“It was wrong to make Mr. Richart pay for something that Phil didn’t do,” Sarah said, feeling strangely confessional, longing to unburden, to reveal the secrets she’d kept hidden. “But I was glad for the money. Hungry for it. Thirsty for it. You know what it was like, going to a school like that. Relying on a scholarship that only covered tuition and books, not room and board. Always worrying about having a place to stay. Food to eat. Clothes to wear. And doing it all in the lap of luxury, under the critical, judgmental eye of kids whose family could buy and sell you.”
Jason said, “Just because we had it rough there doesn’t mean we should have blackmailed Mr. Richart.”
“I just feel so horrible because all these years Phil thought he was a rapist,” Sarah admitted. “I hate that it almost destroyed his life.”
“How did you know that Phil hadn’t raped you?”
Sarah shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“But—”
“Did you call the water taxi?” Sarah asked, cutting him off, no longer interested in the past.
Jason sighed, looked at his phone. “I sent a text message. They responded ten minutes ago, saying they’d be here in half an hour. Why don’t you tell Mia we need to go.”
“Actually, there are some things I don’t want to leave behind, either,” Sarah said, standing. “Can you get her? I’ll meet the two of you downstairs in the foyer.”