“Hey, what’s the matter? What did Milos do now?” I asked her.
She took a deep breath. “Can you come outside for a minute? I need to talk to you.”
I followed her out of the Athletic Complex, completely curious. “Annie, what’s up?”
She stopped when we were on the sidewalk at the parking lot. “I didn’t want anyone inside to hear. I found out something very upsetting. And I don’t want to tell you, but I have to, and I have to tell Luke too, and he’s going to freak out!”
I bit my lip. “You’re making me nervous. What did you find out?”
Annie pushed her sunglasses up on her head. Her eyes were red-rimmed. “I ran into Coach Sean’s wife this morning at the farmers’ market. They’re getting D-I-V-O-R-C—”
“You don’t have to spell it,” I assured her. “They’re getting divorced.”
She leaned forward to grip my hands. “She’s super angry, like out of her mind, that he was cheating on her with Kyra and she wants to really screw him in the D-I-V—I mean, you know. And she thought he may have been hiding other stuff from her, too. So her lawyer hired a forensic accountant to go through their finances, and he found a bunch of strange payments, like totaling a bunch of money. $2,500, $5,000, more. The latest was after he got fired, for $50,000. Sean admitted it was all from my dad.”
“What?” I was confused. “Why would your dad give him money?”
Annie took another shaky breath. “I guess he was paying Sean to run the team in certain ways. And then I think he was paying him to keep quiet.” Tears started pouring down her face again. “He’s always been like this! He used to give my soccer coach ‘tips’ so I would get more playing time. I think he bought me into the high school I went to—there’s a Whitaker Library there now. My whole life, I never knew if I got the things I got because I deserved them or because he was paying for them.”
“But why pay Sean?” I asked, then realized. “Macdara.”
Annie was nodding. “He wanted her on the relay. He wanted special treatment for her. And…it was for other things.”
“Like what?”
“He paid Sean to get you guys off the team.”
I didn’t know what to say. We stood looking at each other, until I shook my head in bewilderment. “Annie, why? Whywould he do that to Charlie?”
“No,” she said, “it wasn’t about Charlie. It was about your sister. He hated her. He was furious that day when we first met you and Charlie said that Cassie was his mom. I don’t know if he was trying to punish her through Charlie, or if he was trying to keep her and Luke apart. I don’t know. But I’m sorry!” She was sobbing, and fell on my shoulder, hugging me.
I was shaken. “I—” I stopped. How could a grown man behave that way? But I remembered what Luke had said about George Whitaker having a hand in everything when they were kids, and how he controlled his wife, and how he had even picked Milos for Annie and pressured her into marrying him. I wondered what other aspects of their lives he had manipulated.
“I’m sorry,” Annie said into my shoulder. “I’m sorry and I’m so ashamed! I went to his house and we got into a huge fight, and I said I was coming here to tell you what he did and that I never wanted to see him again!” She picked up her head. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“I’m not sure why I would have to forgive you,” I told her. “This isn’t anyone’s fault but his own. You didn’t ask him to cheat for Macdara. Or make us leave the team.” My head was reeling as I tried to take it all in. “Creepy” didn’t even begin to encompass George Whitaker.
“I should have known he’d be up to something like this!” Annie said. “But—” she broke off, then did a double take as she looked past me. “Daddy? That’s his car!”
I turned to look. A black SUV was lurching into the parking lot, alternatively racing forward as the engine revved in acceleration, then jerking to a stop when the brakes were too sharplyapplied.
“He followed me here? What is he doing?” Annie cried. “He can’t drive! He’s not allowed to!” She took a few steps toward the parking lot. “Stop, Daddy, stop!”
We both watched in horror as the car approached. Annie kept screaming at him to stop as the car headed towards us on the curb. I grabbed her arm, ready to pull her out of the way, when the doors of the Athletic Center opened and the swimmers started streaming out. “Mom!” Macdara yelled and ran over to us.
Then everything started to happen in slow-motion. George Whitaker’s car lurched forward as he gunned the engine instead of hitting the brakes, jumping the curb, and I heard Annie scream, and Macdara froze in place, and then I was moving fast, and I pushed her.
I saw the sparkles in the paint of the hood of the car, like tiny stars.
“Emily!” I heard Tara. “Call 911!”
∞
I was so dizzy, and so cold. There were voices running way too fast. I tried to speak to tell them to be quiet and instead of words a funny groan left my mouth.
The voices slowed down. “Emmy? I think she’s waking up!”
“Emily Louisa, open your eyes. Right now!” That was Tara’s voice. But I couldn’t do it.
