Page 165 of Dare To Live

Her smile is tight. “Only a couple of months, but I’m trying. Bret is helping me.”

“What about you?” Arabella’s gaze moves to Linda.

The other woman straightens in her seat. “I went to work at my dad’s company. I was on the outskirts of everything that happened, really, so it didn’t affect me as much as everyone else.”

“Jace said Evan wrote to him. Did any of you get a letter?” I watch them carefully, not wanting to miss their reaction to my words.

Bret’s eyes widen. “No! I haven’t received anything. I’m not sure I would have opened it, even if I had.”

Linda laughs, the sound brittle. “He probably contacted Jace because Evan viewed him as the weakest and most easy to manipulate.”

I look at Tina. “What about you?”

“No, and he better not even try. He’s to blame for the path my life took. I want nothing to do with him.”

Chapter 93

Arabella

As much as I want to believe them, I’m suspicious. How can we trust them after what they did? Evan’s influence over his friends dictated what happened in this school. They followed his will blindly. If he has been in contact with any of them, they could be his ears and eyes now.

I repress a shudder at the thought. That psychopath might be locked up, but he’s been ever-present in our lives. The destructive power that holds sway over each of us.

Where would all of us be now if we never met Evan?

“Are you okay?”

The sound of Eli’s voice rips me from my thoughts. “I’m tired.”

“Then we’ll head back to our room.”

Bret offers me a smile. “Good night.”

“Good night.” My attention bounces to Linda and Tina.

Neither woman smiles at me.

“Do you think Bret is sincere?” I ask Eli once we’re back in our room.

He shrugs. “Seems to be.”

“I’m not sure we can trust any of them. If Evan has been in contact with them, they’re not going to admit it.”

“Especially if they are still working for him.”

I cross to sit on the edge of the bed. “It’s terrifying to think he can still have that kind of power over someone.”

“Remember what Jace told us. Evan knew exactly what to say.” Eli turns to me. “They were all highly suggestible. He played on the whole us versus them.”

“He groomed them.”

“We started at the school when we were eleven. That’s seven years of manipulation and sinking his influence into them. And that’s without thinking about how many years he knew Jace and a couple of the others before we joined Churchill Bradley.” His brow knots in thought. “I remember a few students coming and going out of that crowd over the years. He must have been selecting those who were the most susceptible to his suggestions.”

“No wonder everyone is so fucked up. It’s mind-blowing how no one saw him for what he was for so long.”

“He adapted and learned to blend in, like any good predator.” He joins me on the bed. “Evan should be paying for everyone’s therapy sessions.”

“I doubt there’s enough money in the world for that.”

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