“Yeah, I think so.”
“What happens if someone is injected with one when they’re not having any kind of allergic reaction?”
Roman was already typing on his phone. “If someone without an allergic reaction receives an EpiPen injection,they may experience temporary side effects like a faster heart rate, increased blood pressure, anxiety, dizziness, and shakiness,” he said, reading off the screen. “These effects are generally not life-threatening for healthy individuals becauseepinephrineismetabolized quickly, but it’s crucial to seek immediate medical attention after any EpiPen injection, regardless of whether it was needed, and call for emergency services.”
I swallowed thickly. “Cherry has an EpiPen,” I said, voice barely above a whisper. “If she stabbed Calista with it… she could’ve become really dizzy and weak for a couple of minutes. Long enough for Cherry to overpower her.”
Roman’s face had gone pale. “There was that puncture mark you mentioned. On Cal’s leg.”
I nodded. “They figured it was nothing because the tox screen didn’t find any drugs in her system,” I said. “But an adrenaline spike wouldn’t even register, because she went flying out of a window. So she would’ve been terrified, and—”
“An adrenaline spike would’ve been viewed as a normal biological response,” Julian cut in. “So the coroner wouldn’t have considered it notable.”
“Exactly.”
“Holy fuck,” he muttered. “ItwasCherry.”
Roman scrubbed a hand over his face. “I can’t believe it,” he muttered. “Cherry fucking Beaumont. Literally the last person I ever would’ve suspected.”
“I… I just don’t understand,” I whispered. “Why would she do something like that?”
Roman took a deep breath and wiped his eyes, which were starting to turn red from the tears he was clearly trying to hold back. “We might be jumping ahead of ourselves,” he said. “One of the other three could’ve stolen Cherry’s EpiPen, right? And then slipped it back into her bag without her seeing.”
“But then she would’ve noticed that it had been used,” Julian said. “And she would’ve said something.”
“Yeah.” My mind was still spinning like crazy. “Roman… you said you tracked all of Cal’s friends that day and night, right? Soyou could check where they ended up in case you lost track of Cal.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Do you still have access to that data?”
He nodded. “It’s on my phone.”
“Can you pull up Cherry’s tracking data and show us?”
He nodded and tapped on his phone a few times. Then he moved closer. “She was at BHU in the afternoon, and then she went up to Crescent Bay with the others,” he said, pointing to the map. “Then she left Crescent Bay and returned to BHU for that Halloween party. Then she went back up to Crescent Bay around ten-thirty. She said she went there to convince Cal to go to the party, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but Cal wasn’t there anymore.”
“The tracking data shows her returning to BHU after that, presumably to look for Cal with the others. So… I guess her story tracks after all.”
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I don’t think it does.”
Julian frowned. “What do you mean?”
I looked back at Roman, my heart hammering. “Did you get Cal’s phones from my dorm room when I told you about them?”
He nodded. “Yeah, they’re in my bag.”
“Get the burner phone for me, please,” I said. “I want to check the messages again.”
He leaned down to rifle through his bag for a moment, and then he handed the phone to me. “Here you go.”
I clicked into the first message thread on the burner. Then I reread the messages from Cherry to my sister, heart in my throat.
10:09:Hey babe, don’t be worried if someone knocks on the door soon - it’s just me coming back! Have an awesome surprise for you. See you soon! xox
10:34:OMG I am so stupid, I missed the exit to Crescent Bay and now I’m all the way up in Port Engel! I was wondering why the drive was taking so long lol duhhhh. Turning around now. Be there in 20ish mins. Hope you aren’t asleep already xox
