Page 26 of Devious Gambit

“Lise said some jock is showing you interest,” he added.

“Who was she referring to?”

“Some guy who keeps chatting you up in Stads.”

“Not sure who she means and he’s probably making fun of me.”

“Probably,” he agreed, which annoyed me. “You know I always thought you and Hayden would hook up one day.”

“Really?” I liked Hayden a lot. I had a massive crush on him a couple of years ago, but he only ever treated me like a friend.

“I think you’d suit each other,” Tris added.

“Is he still with Kerry?”

“Yeah, but it’s turned a little shaky between them.” He stopped rowing and glanced all around at the vista of deep shades of blue and green. “Do you think we’re far enough out?”

“Yes. Let’s get rid of him forever.”

“Fuck!” he cussed a little too loudly, not that there was anyone around, hopefully.

“What?”

“The rocks are still in the back of car.”

“Oh no.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’ll just push him down with the oar and hope like hell, he stays down.”

He sat behind Sweeney, slid his arms around his midrib and with a big tug, pulled him upright, while I grabbed his legs. “On three,” he stressed. “One, two, three,” and we rolled him over the side, almost tipping the boat over the process.

It was such a horridly surreal moment as we watched his body merge with the black water, bubbles floating to the surface as he slowly sunk down, disappearing from view. Tris stood up to prod Sweeney with the oar, pushing him further down. We waited several moments for Sweeney to float back to the surface again and when he didn’t, Tris turned the boat around to start back to shore.

The journey back was a silent one. I could feel anger and regret dripping off Tris as he moved the oars back and forth strongly. By the time, we got back to the shore, a streak of silver cast across the sky. Tris checked his phone to find that Lise was ready to be picked up from the car-dumping site.

“We have to solemnly swear that we don’t mention this to anyone,” Lise stated. Her mood turned dark since she was gone and I wondered if reality had finally hit her. This was a man she was involved with off and on for years, and he’s also her half-brother. I know he was violent towards her, but she must be made of stone not to feel the slightest hint of remorse.

“That’s a given, Lise,” Tris mumbled, morbidly. “Trust me. No one will say a fucking thing.”

I went to work 11am prepared for a long shift. It was so strange seeing Lise after what happened a few hours ago. She gave me a hug and asked if I was okay.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I told Gretta about what you said,” she told me.

There were a million things uttered last night, and most of them should not be repeated. “About what?”

“That you witnessed the rape.” She leaned in closer to my ear. “Now that he’s gone…” I hushed her before she had a chance to finish.

I glanced at Gretta who was preparing the dessert counter and checking the cooks had everything they needed.

“She wants us to have a chat about it. Don’t you, Gretta,” she stated, when Gretta came over. “A chat about the rape.”

“That’s right. You identified them?”

“Only two,” I answered, and wondered if one of them was Jace. He swore black and blue he wasn’t part of it, he wasn’t even in the correct vicinity. I guess, I just wanted him to be innocent. “Adam Sweeney and that friend he’s always with.”

“Liam Greene,” Lise informed me.

“The police can only do so much,” Gretta whispered.

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