Tell Me True (11 page)

THE ATMOSPHERE ON
the yacht settled down as we moved further out into the ocean. Everything became quieter despite the music and people talking and laughing.

Spreads of the best food had been laid out on the tables and all the decorations had been crafted beautifully by the company we'd hired. I'd hardly had to do anything, which was fine by me. Mr.
and Mrs. Davenport danced, while Bridgette and I stood at the stern where we could get away from the noise and have some privacy.

I felt her belly, which was still flat. "How far along are you?"

"Just a few months," she said.

"This is huge, Bridge. Like, really huge."

"I know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But with my mom's affair and things with Jon, I just didn't want to add to the drama, you know? I just—I can't believe my mom and Mr. Davenport were bumping uglies. It's just so gross and so… horrible. I wish I didn't know, you know? I just wish I could go back and not know."

"Really? You'd rather not know the truth about something like that?" I guess that surprised me. As a soon
-to-be lawyer, all I wanted was the truth, even if that's not really what counted in a court of law. As Professor Cavin always told me, it's not the truth that matters in court, it's what you can prove. Still, I valued knowing the whole truth, even if it hurt, so I couldn't imagine preferring ignorance.

I considered whether I should tell Bridgette that Jon really had been having an affair with Molly and it was likely his baby. I'd been plagued by this for so long, but kept holding back because I knew it would hurt her so deeply. If it was me, I'd want to know. But it wasn't me. And honestly, what could she do with the information at this point? When Jon was alive, it could have saved her from being with someone who wasn't faithful, but now all it would do was hurt her and her baby.

I chose not to tell her the truth, though the lie by omission burned a hole in my gut.

"I'm so sorry, Bridge. You know I'll do everything I can to help. Ash and I both will. Are you going to keep the baby?"

It was a delicate question, but a valid one.

Her eyes glistened with tears. "Yes. Yes, I think so. I mean, it's Jon's baby. It's all that's left of him. How could I abort it?"

I understood. If it had been Ash and me in the same circumstance, I would have kept the baby, too. How could I do otherwise, if there was the last piece of him to hold onto? "It's going to be hard, with med school and being a single mom."

"I know. But that's what
aunts and uncles are for, right?"

I smiled and hugged her. "Right."

Her phone buzzed and she checked it. "Oh, I have to go. The caterer needs to know which kinds of meat to serve first, which of course is something I told them a thousand times, but…" Her voice trailed off as she hurried to address the food crises. I was grateful she had taken charge of everything, because there's no way I could have handled it at this point.

I turned and faced
out to sea, breathing in the scent of salt water and ocean air. I loved it out here. So free and clean and alive. Maybe I could talk Ash into buying a boat for us to go out in. That could be fun. And romantic. I imagined making love to him on the deck, with the sound of waves crashing around us and the moon shining down on us.

I closed my eyes, feeling him inside me, feeling our bodies becoming one.

And then pain sliced through me.

I looked down in shock at my left shoulder.

Blood pooled around a small hole.

I'd been shot.

As the world faded away, I tumbled face first into the Atlantic Ocean.

THE WEDDING REHEARSAL
ended early and we'd managed to get through it without anyone punching anyone. So I called it a success.

I kissed Ash and smiled. "I need to use the restroom. I'll meet you at the car. Can you grab our stuff?"

"Of course." He pulled me into an embrace. "I can't believe that tomorrow I'll get to call you my wife. I love you, Catelyn."

"I love you too, Ash." His kiss sent chills down my spine and he left me breathlessly grinning like an idiot.

I used the bathroom quickly and on the way out ran into Jon, who'd been stalking the room waiting for me. One look and I could tell from the glossed expression and unsteady stance that he'd had too much to drink.

He grabbed my arm, hard, and slurred my name. "Cat, let's just leave. Tonight, right now. I got tickets for us and money. Paradise could be ours. Let's forget it all and go."

"Jon, I can't do that. Neither of us can do that. We have to stick to the plan. We have to finish what we started."

FLOATING.

Falling.

Embraced by the icy fingers of the sea. They warm
ed me, pulling out the pain and numbing me to the other world.

I floated away in a cocoon of water. Away from everything that wanted to hurt me. Away from life.

My vision blurred as I stared at the night sky, imagining stories for each of the stars that glittered like diamonds. If I made a wish right now, would it come true? I didn't know what to wish for, though.

Shouldn't there be more pain?

I'd been shot. I remembered that. And I knew that wasn't part of the plan.

Ash.

I'd left Ash.

The water suddenly felt cold, my body shivering in the dark as I thought about my wedding, my husband, my love. I needed Ash.

I choked on water, sinking into the dark unknown. No, I couldn't let myself die. Couldn't fall asleep or I'd never wake up.

But I was so tired. My body felt so heavy. It just wanted to sink.

Sink.

Sink into nothingness.

I spit out salt water and kicked my legs, flailing my arms in an attempt to stay afloat. My shoulder burned and ached and throbbed with a kind of pain I'd never known before, even after being tortured.

They say when you die your life flashes before your eyes. If I was dying, then that's not how it worked, but I did think about my life as I floated there, suspended between worlds.

I thought back to my family, to the last moments I remembered with my parents. The joy and love I felt for them. The happiness we shared.

I wanted that with Ash. We deserved that, he and I. I'd lost my family and he'd had a family that never wanted him. We'd both lost so much, but now we had each other.

And I was about to lose him.

N
o. I couldn't. He was still in danger. Bridgette was still in danger. I had to survive. Had to get back to the party.

My mind wandered again. To memories with Ash.
Memories of times spent together these last few months. Of us swimming in the lake naked together. Making love in the water. Floating together as one.

I felt his hand on me, his arms wrapping around me.

Pulling me to safety.

"Ash."

My eyes flew open as pain ripped through my shoulder. I was in a boat. Ash was here. He'd saved me.

I looked up into his face and
—

It wasn't Ash.

"Jon."

WE DIDN'T MEET
in secret. Ash knew I was doing another “brother-in-law bonding” with Jon. He hated it, but he knew.

But we did meet in private as Jon reviewed what he'd done.

"The body is handled. I bribed a guy at the morgue and got a homeless dude that no one will miss."

He said this with such glee, but all
I could think about was how sad it was that there were people in the world whom no one missed when they died. How do you live your life in such a way that literally no one even cares when you leave the earth? What was that man's story, I wondered?

But Jon kept talking, ob
livious to my inner reflection.

"There will be a bomb in the car that's weight activated
, and I will cover the seats with thermite, a pyrotechnic composition of metal powder fuel and metal oxide that should burn the body beyond recognition. I'll drive in on the day of the wedding, get out, say hi, say I forgot the rings in the car and go back to get them. I'll slip out the other side, set the bomb and the body and
bam!
No more car, no more Jon."

I nodded. "That all sounds good. At which point, you stay hidden. No credit cards, no paper trail."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm a Harvard grad. I’m not an idiot."

"Even Harvard grads can make mistakes," I reminded him. "My mother's book was clear that one of the Davenports would be responsible for her death, and the only person she could rule out entirely was you. By faking your death, the real killer, one of your family members,
will start to panic. They'll think someone is coming after them for their sins. They'll panic, make mistakes, look over their shoulder more, try to find out who knows about their crimes. They might go after me."

"And then we'll catch them."

I nodded. "And then we'll
end
them."

"CAT, YOU HAVE
to wake up. Cat!"

I screamed as someone put pressure on my wound.

"Shh… Shh... It's okay. I'm here."

"Jon. How did you…? What's happening?" I tried to sit up, confused, and he helped me.

"The bullet didn't hit anything critical. It's going to hurt, but you'll be fine." He handed me some clothes. "Put these on, you're freezing."

I didn't know where he'd gotten clothes, or why we were sitting in a small speedboat, but I did as he said, with some help as I tried to use my left arm. He'd bandaged it up, but a red stain of blood soaked through the bandages as I moved.

The clothes were too big, but I made them work and he handed me a towel to dry my hair.

"The killer is still on the yacht.
My guess is he'll shoot everyone. Maybe even sink the boat. No witnesses."

"Did you see who it was?"

"No. I just saw you fall. I got to you as soon as I could. You have no idea how terrified I was, Cat."

He leaned over, trying to kiss me, but I pulled back. "Not yet," I said. "We have to finish this first, remember? Everyone we love is in danger right now." Ash. Bridgette. Professor Cavin. Even Maxwell. The
people who mattered most to me. "Our plan, everything we've done to get here will be for nothing if we can't get back on that yacht." All the lies. All the coverups. All the pain we'd caused so many by faking Jon's death. It would all be for naught if we didn't catch the real Midnight Murderer. The bait had been set, but the murderer would win if I didn't finish what we'd started.

"I made sure there was a rope ladder thrown over the side so I could board when the time was right. You can use that to get back. I'll follow after." He turned the speedboat and took us to the darkest part of the yacht. "But it means you'll have to climb up. I have to stay hidden until the time is right. It's to our advantage for people to still think I'm dead."

"Agreed," I said, taking a swig of water from the water bottle he handed me and popping a few pain pills. God, the pain. "I'll manage." Though looking at the rope ladder, how far away the top looked, I wondered if that was true. Was I strong enough to get up there in this condition?

I thought of Ash. Of Bridgette. Of the baby. And I knew. Of course
I was strong enough. I had to save my family.

I was about to disembark from the speedboat and climb the yacht when a body floated by us in the water. I covered my mouth to muffle my scream.

The Midnight Murderer had killed Maxwell.

AT THE FIRST WEDDING, JUST BEFORE
THE EXPLOSION

ON THE WAY
to the wedding, my heart pounding with what was about to happen, I snuck into the ballroom where our smaller reception would take place immediately after the ceremony.

Where it
would
have taken place if Jon weren't about to fake his own death.

I hated defiling my own wedding this way. Hated hurting the man I loved with these deceptions, but I knew none of us would ever be safe if I didn't.

And so I took out the small vial of goat's blood I'd acquired and, using a small paint brush, left the macabre message that would be discovered after the explosion. The message that would scare the Davenports and anyone else involved into action.

Ash is next. The Davenp
orts will pay for their crimes.

My hand shook as I wrote it, blood dripping down the enlarged poster of our wedding invitation.

They would turn on themselves, the Alpha Pi Omega. And then, I would turn on them.