We sat on the couch in Ryan’s beach house. All of us who had come together this morning, and also Allie and Sasha, who were officially a couple since last night. Like Tony and me.
I nestled my head under his chin, placing my feet on the couch, enjoying his stroking my hair and neck. Strange how much my life had changed in the past twenty-four hours. Everything had fallen into place. I was relaxed, happy, and awfully in love with the guy next to me. What he’d done for me today was beyond amazing.
When Ryan went into the kitchen, Tony shouted around the lollipop between his teeth, which he’d stolen from me a minute ago, “Bring me a Coke, please, would you?”
“Sure. Anyone else want one?” Ryan replied.
Susan and Alex shouted, “Yes!” Lisa started to order something too, but Ryan’s phone buzzing on the coffee table cut her short. She looked up with her brows knitted together. “It’s Brinna,” she said.
Ryan popped his head out from the kitchen. “Put her on loudspeaker.” Lisa pushed a button and set the phone back on the tabletop. “Hey, Brin!” Ryan shouted from the kitchen then. “What’s up?”
“Hunter! You gotta help me!”
Instantly, everyone in the room straightened at her tear-stained voice. Shock traveled through my every nerve. This was bad.
Ryan strode back to the living room and handed out the drinks as he demanded, “What happened?”
“It’s Chloe. She lost it!”
“What do you mean she lost it?” I shot out.
“Samantha? Is that you?” I couldn’t identify if she was glad to hear my voice or shocked. “Oh, it’s so terrible.”
“Tell me what’s going on,” Ryan said tersely, getting her attention back.
“Chloe’s trashed. She totaled her car.”
I clapped a hand to my mouth and struggled to listen to what Brin was trying to tell us between her violent sobs. All this time, the image of Chloe squeezed in behind the steering wheel of a wrecked car came up in front of my eyes.
“She called me ten minutes ago and told me where to find her car. I’m here now. It looks so bad, Hunter. I can’t believe Chloe got out of it alive. But she’s gone.” There was more sobbing at the other end.
“Why is she gone? Where did she go?” Ryan’s demand was intense enough for Brinna to choke back her tears and speak.
“I don’t know. She won’t answer her phone anymore. But when she called me, I think she was at the beach. I heard the waves in the background.”
“Did you call her parents?”
“No. She said I shouldn’t. That everything was fine. But her car doesn’t look fine, and I don’t know what to do now. Maybe I should go to the police, or to her house and talk to her mom.”
“I don’t want her to drive in her current condition,” Ryan whispered at us. Immediately, Alex rose from the couch, pulling Simone with him. Ryan nodded appreciatively. “Winter and Simone will come and get you,” he said, louder again. “Where are you?”
As soon as Brinna had given us the location, Simone and Alex whirled out the door. I bit my nails as I listened to what Ryan said next.
“Now sit down somewhere and wait for the guys to meet you. Chloe crashed her car near Avila Beach. If she went down to the shore then we’ll find her.”
“Okay… I really hope she’s all right.” The panic in Brinna’s voice sizzled through me before she rang off.
Ryan turned to me. “Do you want to go and see your aunt and uncle? They need to know.”
Of course they did. But after everything that had happened, I wasn’t the right person to tell them. I rose from the couch, my knees suddenly trembling. “I’d rather come with you and look for Chloe.”
“I can go to your aunt’s,” Susan offered then. “With the crutches, I can’t jog down the beach anyway.”
“All right,” Hunter agreed, grabbing Lisa and his jacket, getting ready to go. “Frederickson, can you drive Susan?”
Nick nodded.
We all rushed out to the cars and headed off.
Darkness pressed against the windows. I concentrated hard on the eerie white circles that Tony’s headlights cast on the street in front of us, but my mind trailed off anyway. What if Chloe wasn’t all right? It looks so bad, Hunter! Brinna’s hysterical voice rang in my ears. Chloe had been such a mean bitch. But I didn’t want her hurt. None of us did.
A half-finished lollipop appeared in my peripheral view. “To soothe your nerves,” Tony said. “Maybe the sugar will bring the color back to your face.”
I felt cold and numb. My fingers trembled as I took the lollipop from him, put it in my mouth, and looked out the window again. I sucked the candy absently until finally I was chewing on the empty stick.
The taillights of Hunter’s Audi flashed deep red in the distance. We were there. Tony pulled up behind him, and we climbed out to meet the others.
A salty breeze wafted toward us from the sea. Cold crept under my hoodie. Tony tucked me tight against his side and spoke up. “Okay, guys, we’ll do it like this. Hunter, you and Liz walk up the beach. Sam and I will walk down. And Allie, you and Sasha search the street up here. Whoever finds her first calls the others. Let’s go.”
Without hesitation, we walked off, using the flashlights on our phones in the dark. “Chloe!” everyone called out at short intervals.
The voices behind us faded fast. At a pace that had me panting after a few hundred meters, Tony and I headed down the beach. There was no sign of her, and with the many footprints in the sand, it was impossible to tell whether someone had walked along here recently.
“Do you think she’s all right?” I asked, unable to keep the anxiety out of my voice.
“If she could walk away from the car and also call Brinna, it might not be too bad. But if she’s trashed, she might get into trouble down here. With the water and all.”
“It’s my fault she got drunk tonight.”
“No, Sam! It certainly isn’t your fault. With what happened last night, you saw that she has serious issues.” He paused. A sigh escaped him. “In fact, I think it’s actually got to do with me and not with you.”
Surprised, I looked at Tony, waiting for him to explain.
“I heard what she said to you today. About not wanting you to have me. I never told anyone, but from time to time, she still sends me messages.”
“Really?” I gasped. “What does she say?”
Tony cleared his throat, and I could be sure this was a subject he was really uncomfortable with. “Sometimes she just writes meaningless shit. Like where she’s at in that moment and if I’d like to come meet her. Other times, she asks for a second chance.”
Oh my God. My cousin was desperate. She loved Tony more than I’d thought. It must have hurt her unspeakably to see him with me now. No wonder she’d lost it. Maybe I would’ve reacted the same way, if it was the other way round.
No, I wouldn’t.
But in the end I could understand her actions and hatred toward me. “We have to find her,” I whispered with a frightened edge to my voice.
“And we will,” Tony reassured me. But the farther we got, the more hope I lost. None of the others had called yet. Where the hell was she?
“Maybe we should go back and look somewhere else?” I suggested. “If she’s really down here, we should have found her by—” The last word froze in my throat. The beam of my flashlight had landed on a pair of discarded shoes. Skyscraper-high heels.
“Chloe?” I croaked, turning around, lighting as much of the beach as I could.
“Sam,” Tony said calmly a second later, placing his hand on my forearm. When I looked at him, he pointed ahead of us.
I traced the direction of his arm and, holding my breath, I heard the sobs of a young woman. Chloe was sitting in the sand, out far enough that the waves brushed around her legs and waist. She’d buried her face in her folded arms, which rested on her bent knees.
Paralyzed, I stood and watched my cousin cry. When I found my strength again, I took a step forward. “Chloe,” I said, loud enough this time for her to hear me over the crashing waves.
She lifted her head and looked into the flashlight, squinting. A nasty cut sat over her right eyebrow and blood streamed down one side of her face. “Samantha—” she slurred. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“You crashed your car. We came looking for you.”
Behind me, I heard Tony call the others, telling them where we’d found her. I concentrated on my cousin again. As I walked closer, my heart knocked against the base of my throat. “Come on, we’ll take you home now.”
“Oh no…” she almost sang. Then she jerked up and walked away from me, backwards, into the sea. “No! Go away. I hate you!” She stumbled, falling sideways into the water, but she quickly climbed to her feet again. “I don’t ever want to see you again.”
I stopped dead, afraid to scare her even farther out. She sure had lost control over her body. In the pitch-black night, we would never find her should she disappear into the waves.
“Chloe, you’re hurt…and confused. Let us take you home to Aunt Pam. Your parents will take care of you.”
“Nooo!” she screeched, almost deafening me. “They can’t know. The car is a wreck. Dad will kill me.”
“They won’t be mad. They’ll just be happy you survived. Now come out of the water, please!” I took another tentative step toward her, but Chloe immediately lurched back, and this time, she tripped, lost her ground, and fell completely underwater.
“Chloe!” I yelled, running forward.
But she resurfaced before I reached the waves, spluttering water. “Go away, you bitch! You ass! Leave me alone! Why can’t you go back to Egypt and fuck off out of my life?”
My heart dropped to my feet. I didn’t take another step.
A gentle hand landed on my shoulder. Tony. I had completely forgotten he was there, too.
“Let me talk to her,” he whispered in my ear.
Shocked beyond words at my cousin’s reaction, I couldn’t answer, but just let him move forward.
Heartbreakingly softly, he said, “Hey, Chloe.”
“Tony?” She sounded like she didn’t trust her ears.
“Yeah.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I came with Sam. You had us worried.”
“Yeah, right.” She snorted a drunken laugh. “Like you’d ever care about how I feel.”
“Why do you think I wouldn’t?” He cocked his head and took a step forward. Either she missed it, or she was fine with him coming toward her, because she didn’t shout at him to stop. His feet were in the water now.
“Because you dumped me?” she said through gritted teeth, walking backwards again. “Because you never answer any of my calls or reply to my messages!” With clawed fingers, she raked her wet hair off of her forehead, pressing her palms to her temples, looking eerily insane. “Because you never fucking talk to me when we have practice together!”
Slowly, Tony waded deeper into the waves. This time even I almost missed it. “I tried to be friends with you after…we dated. But you made it clear that a friendship wasn’t possible for us.” Two more steps. The sea drenched his jeans up to his knees. He was only two arm-lengths away from her now.
“Yes. Because I was in love with you!” She started to sob again, her arms dropping loosely back into the water. “And I can’t make it stop, even now!”
I placed both my hands over my mouth, horrified by her confession. Trashed like this, she probably wouldn’t remember any of it later, but it still must have cost her a lot to come out with it. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and calm her. But the chasm between us had grown too deep.
“I’m sorry I hurt you so much. Let me take care of you now.” Tony walked on, and even though Chloe whined and told him no, she didn’t back away anymore. She just stood there up to her waist in water and cried in the cold night.
What happened then hurt me deep in my soul. Tony reached out, took her face between his hands, and pressed his forehead to hers. I didn’t hear what he said to her then, but I knew it was something very intimate and personal. Chloe reached up and closed her fingers around his wrists, shaking her head slowly, choking on her tears. He caressed her wet hair, then he pulled her tight against him.
At the sight of them so close in the beam of my flashlight, my heart stopped and my throat tightened. Hold your shit together, I told myself. There was a simple reason for this. But when Chloe put her arms around his neck and he let her, I wanted to drop to my knees and cry.
Tony bent and scooped her up in his arms, lifting her out of the water. Her hold on him grew even tighter as she buried her face against his throat. Turning, he carried her out of the sea.
My breath froze in my lungs as I watched them coming toward me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to shake this picture out of my mind for the rest of my life.
“Get her shoes,” Tony told me without any hint of emotion in his voice. He didn’t stop and wait for me. Heading back the way we’d come, he carried my cousin through the night.
*
From afar, we spotted the flashing blue lights of the two police cars parked in front and behind the cars of our friends. Over there, it was bright enough to alarm the entire street. Since we didn’t need the flashlight to brighten our way anymore, I pushed my phone back into my pocket and followed Tony silently across the beach.
So many people had gathered by the cars. Ryan and Jack stood face to face, having a loud argument. Ryan’s parents had also come. Jessie Hunter tried to calm her son and my uncle with soothing gestures, but they kept ignoring her.
Brinna was sitting at the curb, her face buried in her hands. A female officer patted her back and spoke quietly to her. Only Aunt Pamela stood away from the rest and gazed out onto the black sea.
No one noticed us coming at first. But then Nick Frederickson turned our way and the next instant shouted, “Hey, there they are!” Everyone else pivoted in our direction, and Nick and Alex rushed down to the beach toward us. Jack and Pamela followed.
I didn’t know what to say or do, so I just stopped next to Tony, who glared at Jack then handed Chloe over. Without a word, Jack carried my cousin to their car and helped her get inside. Pamela was at their side the whole time.
I was tired. I was cold. Exhaustion had me in a stranglehold. And I was crestfallen.
All I wanted to do was get into Tony’s car, go to Caroline Jackson’s house, and on the way, question Tony about what the hell had happened between him and Chloe out in the water. My hopes, however, were trampled when the young, female officer, who was taking care of Brinna just a minute ago, came over. Her long, fair hair was hanging in a loose braid down her back and the brim of her cap shaded her compassionate eyes. She told us we had to follow her and her colleagues to the police station, just like all our friends, to be questioned about tonight’s events.
A frightening cloud of dizziness came over me. I experienced everything—heard and saw people talk and move—through a haze. If it hadn’t been for Tony dragging me along, I’d have stood there for the rest of the night, gazing into nothingness for sure. He made me climb into his car and helped me buckle in, then he followed the police cars down the road to the station. Once there, my small group of friends surrounded me and walked with me up the stairs to a pretty new building. Their presence helped soothe me a little, which was a miracle, because not even my aunt could do that anymore.
Each of us had to make a statement, separately. The young lady officer sat down with me first and took notes when she started questioning me. Vaguely I heard her say, “You’re the cousin of the girl who had the accident tonight. Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“Were you involved in the accident?”
“No.”
“Were you at the accident location with your friends?”
“No.”
“Are you aware that your cousin drank alcohol tonight?”
“Um, I didn’t know.”
“Did you drink alcohol tonight?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
What kind of stupid question was that? “Of course I’m sure!”
“You and your boyfriend were the ones who found Miss Summers, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“At the beach.”
“Where exactly?”
“In the water.”
Again the picture of Tony carrying Chloe out of the water danced up in front of my eyes. I squeezed them shut, fighting back the tears that would have been more a result of exhaustion than pain anyway.
“Miss Summers?”
“Hm?” The officer startled me and was now looking at me as if she’d been waiting for my answer for a while now.
“I asked you if we should call your parents,” she said.
“I—ah— No. They don’t live in the States. My aunt is actually over there. I guess if you have to talk to a relative, she’s as good as any.” Rubbing my temples, I got to my feet. “Can I go now? I told you everything already.”
At that instant, Pam turned toward us. She was holding Chloe and someone had draped a dark brown blanket around them. What I would have given for such a blanket. Only now I realized how badly I was shaking.
“Of course, you can leave in just a minute,” the officer told me and held a clipboard with a few sheets of paper under my nose—most likely the record of my answers. “Would you please sign this? Then you’re free to go.”
With numb fingers, I scribbled my name at the bottom but didn’t pay much attention to it. My gaze was still fastened on my aunt and cousin across the room. Pam detached from Chloe, stroking over her wet hair one last time, then she came walking toward me. Looking after her, Chloe’s eyes soon met mine. Tears trailed down her cheeks. While she looked torn and sheepish, my expression was probably as telling as a grave right now. A moment later, she lowered her glance and slowly turned back to the Asian guy who was throwing questions at her like the blond officer had done with me.
Only when Pam had reached me and placed her palm to my cheek did I drag my gaze away from Chloe. “Sam,” my aunt said in a very low voice, and then nothing else for a really long moment.
Closing my eyes, I drew in a deep, steadying breath. When I looked up again, I saw Tony two steps behind her. He must have finished making his statement too. I more than wanted to walk to him and sink into his embrace, but Pam was in the way. And then I wasn’t even sure if Tony wanted to hold me now after all. Whatever had happened back at the beach, it had managed to build an invisible wall between us.
When Pamela said my name again, I concentrated on her instead of the closed-off face of my boyfriend.
“What?” I croaked.
“Jack and I will take Chloe home now. We think it’s best if you came back with us.”
Was she kidding? “I don’t understand—”
“Chloe just told us what really happened last night…what she did in your room.” Another long pause followed before my aunt went on. “Jack and I are unspeakably sorry that we didn’t believe you. Come home with us and we can talk about everything tomorrow.”
My gaze skated across the police station until it landed on Jack who was standing in the back of the room by a coffee dispenser. He must have drunk his coffee already, because right now he was leaning with his forehead against his arm on the machine.
So they were sorry? How nice. After everything they’d done to me, I should just get over myself and their betrayal and act like everything was fine? “What makes you guys think you always know what’s best for me?” I yelled at Pamela then. “You have absolutely no idea!”
“Sammy—”
“No! Don’t you Sammy me! I’d rather sleep under a bridge tonight than actually go back home with you and Jack!”
Since I’d finally found my voice again, I was now drawing the attention of the entire station. Jack turned with a sober expression. Had I taken this a step too far? Of course I didn’t want to camp out under a bridge, but both of them had hurt me a great deal. And not only them, but Chloe too. I didn’t feel welcome in their house any longer, even if they were practically begging me with their looks to forgive them. For the first time today, I really longed to go back to Cairo. Home, to my parents.
Suddenly someone’s hand closed around mine. It totally escaped me when Tony had stepped to my side, so I was looking up at him now, dumbfounded. He just gave me a sidelong glance then snarled at my aunt, “I guess everything’s been said. Take care of Chloe. Sam’s coming with me.” He sounded so controlled yet so angry that a cold shudder tiptoed down my spine—and he wasn’t even talking to me.
Tony didn’t give Pam or anyone else in the room time to contradict him. Instead, he pulled me through the door, down the stairs, and outside. He stopped by the car and pulled the door open for me, and all I could do was stand rigid and gape at him, wide-eyed, before climbing in—none of my unspoken questions answered yet.