“Augie, you won’t believe it, it makes so much sense now,” Leah said.
Leah told Augie everything: how Teuta explained she’d been twenty-one that summer, bartending almost every night. She was also closing each night, which meant she was often at The Manor until three or four a.m., cleaning up. She remembered that summer, all the hockey boys. As the new owner, Joshua Mike was also there every evening, commanding the bar. That night in August started like any other, Teuta said, but as it got later, the hockey boys and Joshua Mike were getting crazier than usual. Joshua Mike had ordered bottle service and extra shots to celebrate the end of their training.
“She said she felt guilty for serving them underage, but JoshuaMike told her to turn a blind eye. She did say she refused to give them to-go drinks at the end of the night.” Leah swallowed. “Because, Augie, she heard them talking about the speedboat. She heard Joshua Mike convincing them to go, saying he would take them out.”
Leah started talking rapidly: Once Joshua Mike paid and left, Teuta continued on as normal. But a few hours later, when she was leaving around four a.m., the sky still dark, she saw Joshua Mike in the parking lot. Teuta said she’d always remember how wild he looked. He was wearing a marina-branded sweatshirt and shorts—not what he’d had on earlier—and he was ghost white and limping. She saw him stuff something in the trash can before he got in his car. It was so odd that after he left, she went to look at it.
“What?” Augie leaned forward. “What was it?”
“His clothes. Augie, they were soaking wet. He had to have been on the boat.”
“Why didn’t she say anything?” Augie suddenly pictured Teuta at twenty-one, hiding in her car, watching Joshua Mike in the dark.
“It’s like with Trey.” Leah softened. “Joshua Mike tracked her down the next day. He knew she’d heard them talking, but he wanted her to know that he’d left the bar when Trey did. Then he gave her cash. He called it a tip. Afifty-thousand-dollartip.” Leah sighed. “We should have known no one wins that much from a scratch card.”
Augie felt a flash of cold. She pictured the bulletin board.
“He had to have been the one driving, Augie. He probably got thrown from the boat, walked back, and said nothing.”
Augie still felt lost as Leah said she and her parents were going to talk to their lawyer.
“Will she, will Teuta get in trouble?”
“No. It’s been so long, I don’t think anything will happen legally. But this”—Leah paused, the silence filled with her emotion—“thisis more than I could have hoped for. I never expected... all these years later... I can’t even be mad at her. You should have seen her, Augie, I’d never seen someone so upset. She kept apologizing over and over, saying she was ready to pay for everything. But you know, Aug, I’m so relieved at this point, I’m not angry. I’m angry at everything that happened, but not at her. She was our age then. He had all that power.”
Augie understood. She knew now there were certain emotions that didn’t make sense, instincts that didn’t derive from formulas or expectations.
“She wants to see you,” Leah said. “But, Aug, I have to go. I’m about to meet up with my mom. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Augie hung up, silent, and stared down at her phone. Then, before she lost her nerve, she walked straight out the front door and headed to Hyla.
35
Chat asked if they could go to the movie theater room. He said he was hot and tired and it was his favorite place in the house. Danika was surprised, but as they pushed inside the secret door, entered the windowless room, and settled into the recliners, she relaxed, too. It was as if they were closed off from the world.
They didn’t speak at first; the only sound was the AC humming above. Eventually, Chat cleared his throat.
“Before you say anything, I want to tell you the full story. You deserve to know the truth, to understand what really happened with Trey.”
Danika leaned back and closed her eyes, listening carefully as he relayed everything he had learned. It wasn’t until he got to the part about Joshua Mike meeting Trey the day after the accident that she felt sick.
“Why didn’t he tell me?” she whispered. “That Josh Mike was on the boat? That he took that money?”
Chat ran a hand down the back of his neck. “I think he felt too guilty. Once he took the money, he realized he was complicit. He was scared, and ashamed. He was a dumb nineteen-year-old.”
Danika’s heart lurched—she’d loved that dumb nineteen-year-old—before her mind kicked into gear. She remembered how richthey’d felt that year after receiving Trey’s hockey signing bonus. Now she realized most of it had been from Joshua Mike. She’d bought a dress for their wedding with that money.
Finally, his guilt made sense. Finally, she understood.
“Did he know who I was?” Danika suddenly asked. “Joshua Mike? All this time? Is that why he’d never leave me alone?” Hearing her words aloud, she realized it was true.
Chat looked ashamed. “He helped Trey with the visa and everything. He wanted Trey settled and far away. So, yeah, he probably knew who you were.”
Danika sank deeper into the chair. She hadn’t known it was possible to hate Josh Mike more.
“But, Danika.” Chat glanced at her through the dim room. “For what it’s worth, I know Trey still cares about you. He’s never gotten over you, any of it.”
