Jax cast his eyes over the Dirt post. “Cerina was spotted sneaking out late at night,” he muttered, rubbing his jaw. “You think maybe…?”
He trailed off, leaving the question hanging in the air.
I nodded. “She could’ve been the one who set that trap for me, right?”
“I don’t know.” Jax slowly shook his head. “Cerina can act totally fucking crazy sometimes, and she definitely hates you. But I’m not sure she’d actually try to kill someone.”
“Well, who the hell else would want to hurt me?” I asked. “I’ve been thinking about it all morning, and I honestly can’t think of anyone else apart from her. She’s the only one at school who genuinely wants me gone.”
“I’ve been thinking about it too,” Jax said, laying a hand on my leg. “But I’m really not sure it could be Cerina. I don’t think she’s physically strong enough to set up something like that. I mean, those spikes at the bottom of the ravine were huge, and someone really hammered them into the ground there, which is totally frozen at the moment. Doing that takes a lot of muscle.”
“She could’ve paid someone to help her out and keep quiet about it.”
“That’s true.” Jax’s eyes narrowed. Then he looked at me, face softening. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I don’t believe your theory. I just don’t want to jump to conclusions and wind up falsely accusing people of shit. After—”
“After what you did to me?” I cut in.
“Yeah. Trying to be a better person and all.” Jax leaned closer and ruffled my hair. “For you.”
I smiled faintly. “It’s okay. I get it.”
“You’re right, though,” he said. “Cerina’s the most likely suspect. Theonlysuspect, really.”
“So what do you think we should do?” I asked, brows rising.
“We should find her and confront her. Ask her where the hell she sneaked off to last night. She’ll probably lie, but I think we should be able to tell.”
Erin appeared in the living area, holding a steaming mug of coffee. “Are you guys talking about that Dirt post?”
“Yeah. The one about Cerina sneaking out.”
“Do you think she’s the one who tried to hurt you?”
I nodded. “Yeah. We’re going to confront her about it and see what she has to say for herself.”
“Good. The second you guys told me what happened last night, I knew it was her,” Erin said, brows drawing together. “She’s fucking psychotic.”
“No shit,” I muttered.
“By the way, what did the teachers say when you told them what happened? Did they call the cops?”
I rolled my eyes. “Nope. The spike pit was gone by the time we told them this morning, so there’s no evidence now. They think Jax and I were just drunk or high last night and made the whole thing up, or at least exaggerated it,” I said. “Ms. Vaughn literally said to my face that she thinks I slipped and fell on an icy patch, and now I’m just being a drama queen about it.”
Erin’s jaw dropped. “You’re fucking kidding.”
“Unfortunately not,” Jax said. “They were mostly mad at us for being out of our chalets at two in the morning.”
“Assholes.”
“Yup.” I glanced at the cuckoo clock on the wall above the fireplace. “Where do you think Cerina would be right now?”
Prue called out from the kitchen. “Did you just say you want to find Cerina Vincent?”
“Yes,” I called back. “Why?”
“I ran into her earlier when I went for a walk,” she replied, stepping into the living area. “I overheard her saying she’s going skiing with Harlow and a few others later. So they’re probably in their cabin getting ready for that. Or they could already be up on the slopes.”
“Cool. Thanks.”