I turn toward Emma. Unless ... somehow ... could it be possible? If Courtneyhadsurvived being mauled by the cougar, she might’ve been horribly disfigured. Courtney was meticulous about her appearance, careful about what she ate, always making sure she never had a hair out of place. She even stayed home sick from school once because she had a pimple. Would Courtney have preferred the world think she was dead than be seen as less than perfect?
Were Courtney and Russell working together, planning to off us one by one? “No. Russell seems genuinely convinced of his sister’s death. Courtney couldn’t have written that note.” There’s a firmness to my voice, and I’m not sure who I’m trying to convince more: Emma or myself. “But I get what you mean. A part of Courtney has stayed with all of us. How could she not?”
Emma yawns. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
But I feel her presence too.“Take another drink and then you can have a rest,” I tell her.
Emma closes her eyes after lifting the can to her mouth. “Get out.”
“What?”
Emma turns on her side. “If Courtneyisdead, it’s your fault. And you’ve been lying about it all these years. Just like you lied about being the one who caused my broken ankle. I don’t trust you. One of you drugged me. How do I know it wasn’t you?”
“Emma, I—”
“Even Beth thinks you did it.”
The truth in her last statement stings. “Isavedyou. I’m a nurse, I’ve seen overdoses before. But I didn’t drug you!”
Emma sighs.
“It wasn’t me, Emma. I swear. I’m here to help you.”
She doesn’t answer. Hopefully, that means she believes me. More likely, she’s just too drugged to put up more of a fight. If it weren’t for those pills in her system, Emma would probably have me against the wall.
I lie beside her in silence, my thoughts consumed by Courtney as I stare up at the darkened window hatch. After a few minutes, I sit up, recalling the smell of Courtney’s perfume on the couch.
“Emma?” I sweep the small space with the flashlight. “Where’s the diary?” My heart beats with anticipation to read Courtney’s words but also at the implication of what the diary’s presence means: Russell is, at least in part, telling the truth.
Emma’s only response is her rhythmic breathing. I feel the inside of her wrist for a pulse. It’s stronger and faster than before. Seeing her second bottle of water nearly empty, I let her sleep, counting her respirations for a full minute before I shine the light around the bed in search of the diary.
I lift up the blanket and sheets, sifting through the fabric with my hand. But it’s not here. I shine my light over the edge of the bed, wondering if Emma stashed the diary in her bag. But she said she’d fallen asleep reading it, hadn’t she? I check her bag anyway, but it’s not there.
Whoever drugged her must’ve taken it. Probably Russell. But it could’ve been Beth.
Or Courtney,I think before forcing the thought from my mind.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Memorial Day Weekend, 2005
I rolled to a stop at the bottom of the cliffside, the air knocked from my lungs when I landed painfully on a bed of river rocks. I stared at the sky as my breath returned to my body. Slowly, I got to my feet near the river’s edge and placed my hands on my knees. My heart thudded against my ribs as I caught my breath.I should go back.
I turned, looking up at the steep eroded riverbank, doubting I could climb to the top even if I tried.And what good would I be against the cougar on my own?
I swallowed, staring down at the fast-flowing water, as it struck me that Courtney could already be dead. I didn’t hear anything after her first scream. I closed my eyes, and my mind filled with an image of the cougar tackling Courtney to the ground and gnawing on her neck.
I stood tall, cupping my hands around my mouth. “Beth!”
Maybe if she and I went back together, we could stand a chance of scaring off the wild beast. Hopefully, before it was too late to save Courtney. I moved unsteadily along the riverbank, scanning the rocky shore for my best friend.
“Beth,” I called again.
Where was she? I spun 360 degrees, but there was no sign of her. I continued along the river downstream when a branch snapped in the woods to my left.
I startled, my hand hovering over the pocketknife in my shorts. Had the cougar finished with Courtney and tracked me to the shore?
“Beth?”
