“You went after her,” I sat quietly. “You climbed down and tried to rescue her.”
“Emilio did. He nearly got himself killed trying to save her, but the water was too rough and he had to turn back, and it wouldn’t have mattered. Not by the time we got down there. He tried, we both tried, but it was too late. She was gone.”
I let that sink in. My sister attacked Emilio, tried to strangle him—as much as I hate it, that sounds like something she’d do. The memory of that night, her fingers around my neck, the reason my voice is so low and raspy—it rushes through my brain like a lighting blast.
She tried to do the same thing to Emilio.
Then even after that, after she tried to ruin him and tried to kill him, Emilio still tried to save her life. He dove for her the same way he dove for me, and swam out for her, but it wasn’t enough. He tried, but he failed.
And it’s this man’s fault.
Dean Wotherspoon. This simpering, wretched, worthless piece of trash. He killed my sister with his awkward incompetence. If he’d only left them alone, Lucy might still be alive. I’m sure Emilio could’ve thrown her off him if he’d wanted to. Lucy was athletic and strong, but she was still half his size and half his weight.
“If it was really an accident like you’re making it sound, why didn’t you just tell someone the truth? Why hide it?”
He laughs softly and rubs his face. “I’ve asked myself that a thousand times. I should’ve just called for help right away. Instead, I covered it up, and by covering it up, I let Emilio take control of my life. I made things immeasurably worse. You must understand, Kaye, that Saint Parras is more than a school. There is power here, influence, money. The children of the elite come to this place to learn how to take their positions in life and their safety is left in my hands. If anyone finds out that I was even tangentially involved with your sister’s accident and that I tried to cover it up, Saint Parras will be ruined. I will be ruined. And I cannot allow that.”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “What are you going to do with me then?”
“I don’t know,” he admits but I can see it in his eyes. He’s afraid of the answer but he knows there’s only one solution.
I have to disappear like my sister did.
The truth is dangerous, and the more people that know it, the bigger that dangers gets.
It strikes me all at once.Thisis why Emilio wouldn’t tell me what happened. If I knew the truth about Dean Wotherspoon then I might become a target, and Emilio knows how dangerous this man really is. Beneath all that simpering, whining weakness, there’s a scared little child that isn’t afraid to kill to save himself.
Can I really give Emilio that much credit?
“You can’t keep me here forever. Emilio’s going to start wondering, and then what? If you hurt me, he’ll hurt you.”
“I don’t doubt that.” He sighs and shakes his head then pulls at his hair. “This is such a damn mess. How can I trust you running around, knowing what you know? But I can’t hurt you either, because then Emilio will release everything about me. There’s really only one solution, and it’s the solution I’ve been trying to avoid.”
“How are you talking like this? You’re the dean of this college. Are you seriously talking about hurting your own students?”
“It’s about so much more than you and Emilio.” He stares at me with wild panic in his eyes like a horse ready to bolt. “It’s about my life. About the lives of the alumni and everyone else that will come to this island. Saint Parras was entrusted to me by some very powerful, very vindictive people, and if I fail, they’ll hurt me in ways you can’t even imagine.” He groans as he leans up against the wall beside the doorway. “God, all this because of some stupid girl.”
“That girl was my sister.”
He grunts in acknowledgment and pushes himself away from the doorframe. He looks back with sorrow in his eyes. “And I am sorry she’s gone. Believe me, I didn’t want this.”
“Let me go then. You don’t have to make the same mistakes and dig yourself deeper in this hole. Embrace the truth, go public with it, and beg forgiveness. If you hurt me and try to cover this up even deeper, you’ll only hurt yourself even more.”
“It must be nice living in a world where things make sense.” He shakes his head like I’m an idiot child. “Stay in here while I think about what to do with you. I’ll tell Malcolm to treat you well at least.”
“Dean Wotherspoon—”
“I’m sorry, Kaye. I really am. I’ll make it quick, I promise.” He pushes open the door and closes it behind him. The lock clunks shut and I’m alone.
I’ll make it quick.
What does he mean by that? He’ll make his decision quick?
Or he’ll make sure that when he kills me, he won’t make me suffer?
I slump down to the floor and pull my knees to my chest. I have the horrible feeling that this room might be the last place I see alive. I close my eyes and feel tears run down my cheeks.
There’s no coming home from this. There’s no Emilio to dive in and save me.