Chapter 18 #3
“They were terrorists.” Scarlet turned to face the reporter, narrowing her eyes.
Barry tilted his head. “Rising tides of two different wars labels them soldiers.”
“I’m aware of what happened,” Scarlet snapped.
“So, you’re aware that the military contracting company in charge of the evacuation was Code Four, and the team led by Alex Sterling.”
Barry nodded to her for emphasis. “The man now in charge of protecting you.”
Scarlet opened her mouth a couple times, unable to form a rational thought.
No, she thought. That’s a lie. Dad didn’t…
Scarlet recalled how odd her father acted at the gala.
The police are handling it while my team protects the company, Alex had said.
Because that always goes so well, her father responded.
Scarlet’s fists tightened and she swallowed back the bubbling emotional surge.
Barry’s eyes brightened in the darkness. “So, you didn’t know.”
Scarlet clenched her eyes shut, shaking her head. When she opened them, Barry’s smug face was still staring back at her.
“I’m … I’m sorry, your story doesn’t make sense,” she stammered. “Marines saved Mr. Pace and my father. They couldn’t get to Lena in time. She…”
Lena died, she thought. She died, and Dad had a goddamn heart attack.
Barry tilted his head. “No, Miss Pace,” he said.
“That’s just what the media reported. Marines were called away from the consulate to secure the surrounding protests.
Code Four was called in to evacuate the consulate.
It didn’t go as planned. The group was ill-informed, unprepared, and it cost a few Americans their lives … including Lena.”
Scarlet’s entire body began to shake. The mention of Lena’s name took her right back to the night she found out what had happened.
When her mother sat her down on the couch and tried to keep her own voice calm.
When there was nothing Scarlet could do but sit and think that she’d never see her best friend again.
No. She pushed the memory away, refusing to think about it. Her grief already cost her a couple years of depression.
“Alex and a few of the other men left Code Four, and now work for Sterling Protection,” Barry went on. “I guess it’s good they moved on, but … fact remains that Edward North hired Sterling knowing the history involved. Doesn’t that strike you as a massive conflict of interest?”
Scarlet clenched her fists. The reporter was trying to get a rise out of her. It would work if she didn’t walk inside and lock the door. “Maybe he has no idea. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”
And the Fates laughed as Cassandra went insane.
“I know it’s not,” Barry insisted, lifting a mini recorder in Scarlet’s direction. “Just give me a statement.”
Scarlet took a deep breath as something deep within her mind snapped. She gritted her teeth.
“You know what you don’t know? You don’t know that Lena was special.
She was going to follow in her father’s footsteps.
You don’t know that her death not only ruined her father, it also ruined my father.
It almost ruined me. You don’t know, and you don’t care.
You just want my statement for your shitty paper because now I’m some big-deal set to make waves in Edward North’s pristine ballet company. ”
Barry’s eyes dropped to the ground as he lowered his mini recorder.
Hot tears burned Scarlet’s eyes. “So, no.” She shook her head. “I didn’t know about Alex’s life before I met him a week and a half ago. I guess he didn’t think it was my business to know. Hopefully that’s good enough for your article.”
With that, Scarlet walked inside, slamming the door shut behind her. Once inside, she gasped for breath, her knees weakening. She felt disjointed and dizzy—like she’d been ripped from herself as her trust crumbled into oblivion.
She placed a hand on the wall in front of her to keep her balance.
Impossible, she thought. The reporter was obviously lying. There was no way his story was true. It was too much.
“Scarlet,” Elena called. “Dinner’s ready.”
There are people close to you who mean you harm. Isobelle’s words echoed through her brain.
Scarlet had no reason to trust anything Isobelle said, but the doubts and frustration nagged at her. Maybe, out of everyone, Isobelle was the one person whose warning she should heed.
She took a deep breath as she walked into the kitchen.
“Nora,” she said. “Call your father. I need you to go stay at the mansion. I’m going home.”
Nora sat with her fork full of food halfway to her mouth. “What?”
Elena looked over at Scarlet from her spot next to the stove. “Scarlet?”
“I want to leave now.” Scarlet clenched her fists. “I don’t want to answer questions. I’m leaving with my mother.”
Nora put the fork down. “Home? Now? But you have rehearsal tomorrow.”
Scarlet walked to the doorway that led to her bedroom. “I’m not going.”
Nora stood up, shaking her head. “Wait a minute. Slow down. You aren’t showing up? What am I supposed to tell everyone? What am I supposed to tell Edward?”
Scarlet looked back over her shoulder before retreating to her room.
“Tell him I quit.”