“No. Trystan did. He said Braden and that girl had a fight at a party and that everyone thought she took off but she had actually fallen over the railing and died. Trystan said he found her the next morning.”
Shayla shudders. “It still freaks me out.”
“Why? It was just an accident.”
She looks at me. “Not everyone thinks that.”
“What do you mean? They think Braden killed her?”
“No.” She looks me in the eye. “They think Jackson did.”
Chapter 25
“Jackson?” I say with a laugh. “He wasn’t even there. He wouldn’t go to a Twisted Pine party. If he showed up, they’d kick him out.”
“He was there. He went to pick up Andrea.”
“Why would he be picking up Andrea?”
“Apparently, she called him and asked him to come get her. She was too drunk to drive, and she didn’t want to be around Braden after the fight they had.”
“How did Jackson know Andrea?”
“She went to Twisted Pine. She was there when Jackson was still going there.”
“So they were friends.”
She shrugs. “That’s what they said, but everyone thinks they were more than that. Braden swears they had something going on. Andrea even admitted she’d messed around with Jackson, but she claims it was when she and Braden were on one of their breaks.”
“By messed around, you mean sex?”
“She didn’t say that, but I’m guessing that’s what she meant.”
It reminds me of Jackson’s relationship with Kristen. It sounds like he had a similar friends-with-benefits relationship with Andrea. Is that what he does? Gets girls to have sex with him without committing to anything? Is that what he’s doing withme?
I’m suddenly not feeling good. Jackson doesn’t treat me like I’m some casual fling but what if it’s all an act? He’s a trained actor. He could be playing me right now. Making me think he cares about me just to get me to go along with his plan. And get sex as a side benefit.
“Rumor, are you okay?” Shayla asks, holding my arm.
I nod. “Yeah. So why do people think Jackson had something to do with what happened to Andrea? If he was waiting for her in the car, then—”
“He wasn’t. Someone saw him get out.”
“Where did he go?”
“They don’t know. Nobody saw him in the house and the people out back by the pool were too drunk to remember if they saw him.”
“Why do people think Jackson did something to her? If anyone should be a suspect, it should be Braden. He’s the one who was fighting with her. He probably found out she’d been doing stuff with Jackson and got so angry he pushed her over the railing.”
A chill courses through me just thinking of that. I hope that didn’t actually happen. If it did, I’m living with a killer.
“Jackson said the same thing,” Shayla says. “He said if anyone killed her, it was Braden. Everyone knows how jealous Braden gets, especially when it comes to Jackson, and Braden has a really bad temper. I could totally see him losing it when he found out his ex had been with Jackson, his biggest enemy.”
“What’s Braden’s side of the story?”
“He claims he already knew Andrea was fooling around with Jackson.”
“You mean before the party that night,” I say.
