Page 100 of The Engagement Party

Ruthie took a deep breath before walking back into the waiting room. She sat down next to Sierra on a hard plastic chair and handed her a cup of stale-tasting coffee. “You okay?”

Sierra winced over the rim of the cup. “No. You?”

“No.” Ruthie wasn’t sure she’d ever be okay again. Her entire life was about to change. It had to after all of this. “Alex?”

The bullet had damaged his lung, spleen, and ribs. There were whispers about potential damage to his heart. He’d stopped breathing in the ambulance, but the crew revived him.

“We won’t know for a while.” Sierra took a sip of the coffee then put the cup down. “I’m surprised the police aren’t here.”

“They’re outside.” Ruthie nodded toward Cassie and Mitch, who were locked in an intense private conversation. “I don’t like whatever is happening there.”

“You’re not alone.” Sierra tightened her hold on the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

They’d been checked by the medical staff and their clothes had been bagged for the police. The staff had provided clean scrubs. Ruthie also borrowed a baseball hat and tucked her hair up into it, did everything to blend in and not be memorable.

Mitch finally broke away from Cassie, leaving her alone with her body slumped in the uncomfortable chair, and walked over to Sierra. He sat down without saying a word.

The symbolism of Mitch dropping the past and moving into the future wasn’t lost on Ruthie. She couldn’t imagine the pain rushing through him. The memory of him shoutingdon’t leave meto Alex as he was loaded into the ambulance played in herhead. Mitch whispered about forgiving his old friend as the vehicle drove away. She knew Alex had more to answer for than what he’d done to Mitch, but she understood the desire to grant absolution. Mitch’s life had been shaped by grief. He knew the damage it could do.

Two police officers stepped into view through the waiting room windows. A nurse joined them in the hallway. She listened and nodded. She called over another nurse and after some discussion, both peeked into the waiting room.

Ruthie glanced at Cassie then nodded in the direction of the window. “They’re here for you.”

Cassie looked then did a double take. She bolted to her feet and joined them on the other side of the room. “What did you do?”

“When you admitted to putting Emily in the water, you accidentally admitted to killing her.” Ruthie expected to feel triumph or at least some sense of relief. Only a gnawing emptiness hit her. Winning should feel better but all she could focus on was the damage... the continuing damage.

“I already explained. Will killed her.”

The wariness in Sierra’s eyes made Ruthie push through. She couldn’t even look at Mitch. “Emily’s brother gave me all the records the family had, and they included a piece of information that was never released to the public. Emily had water in her lungs. That means she was alive when she went into the water. Alive after Will did whatever he did to her. You finished the job. I don’t know if you meant to, though I think you did, but the result is the same. You killed Emily.”

“No... no.” Cassie’s eyes darted as panic overtook her. “That’s not—”

“Did you really think she was dead? I’m asking because Emily had broken fingernails and scratches on her arms. A ripped shirt. No DNA thanks to her time in the water, which makes me wonder if you got lucky or if you knew that would happen and that’s why you dumped her there.”

Cassie shook her head. “You’re wrong.”

“Am I?” Ruthie delivered the final blow. “See, I think she came to and fought back. You thought you didn’t have a choice. At that point it wasn’t about saving Will or Alex. You were saving yourself. Emily would have destroyed you for dumping her in the water instead of getting help for her.”

The police stepped into the room before Cassie could respond. “Cassie Greene?”

The next few minutes could only be described as chaos. The other family stuck in the room with them looked like they wanted to jump out a window. Cassie refused to say anything. It took two security guards and the police to remove her from the waiting room. Ruthie wasn’t sure where they were going next, but she knew Cassie would be questioned and then she’d either invoke her right to an attorney and stay silent or talk and blame everyone else.

Once the noise died down and the nurses left again, Mitch turned to Ruthie. “Was all of that about the water and the injuries true? I don’t remember those details.”

“Some weren’t released to the public. You probably tried to forget the rest,” Ruthie said. “I told the police all of those details from back then and what happened with Alex now because I wanted to save you from being the person who got Cassie arrested. You don’t need to take that on.”

He hesitated for a few seconds before nodding. “She kept talking about Zara, and I worry about what will happen to her, too, but I would have told the truth.”

Not a surprise. Ruthie had expected both Sierra and Mitch to collaborate about every horrifying second of that island vacation. That’s who they were. “Now when you do talk it will be to verify what I’ve said. You won’t be the one lowering the boom.”

Ruthie saw how close together Mitch and Sierra sat. They were almost on top of each other. She hoped they’d figure it out. Lecturing them about their feelings now while they waited to see if Alex survived sounded wrong. So, Ruthie stood up. “I need to make some calls. I’ll be back to check on Alex.”

Ruthie almost made it to the doorway before Sierra spoke up. “Even if you’re telling the truth and you didn’t plan the weekend with Dylan, you never fired that gun at him. You could have taken Dylan out and ended the bloodshed as soon as he stepped into the house. Refused to put on that zip tie.”

Ruthie didn’t have an excuse. She didn’t try to offer one. Those decisions, the hesitation, didn’t make sense even to her.

Sierra continued. “You knew Dylan was dangerous and that he planned to target Emily’s friends, or you at least suspected it. Why did you risk holding the party on the island? Why didn’t you warn them?”

---