Page 92 of Wicked Games

“Why?”

“It’s like I said a minute ago. The police would initially focus their attention on our little pawn with the shady history before eventually ruling the case unsolved. Basically, we had to do anything we possibly could to keep their attention away from my family,” she said. “So, we came up with the idea of plucking some no-hoper kid from the wrong side of the tracks and giving them a chance at Babylon. Funnily enough, a lot of the parents at schoollovedthe idea and immediately wanted to get involved with the project. It makes them feel good to think they’re helping the less fortunate, you know? Even if it means there’s a literal criminal being educated alongside their kids. Typical bleeding-heart attitude.”

“So all that talk about how you care so much about the less fortunate… it was all bullshit,” I said. “You’re just as willing to exploit and destroy a poor person as someone like Jasmine. But hey, at least she’s honest about being an entitled bitch.”

April shrugged. “No one’s perfect, I guess,” she said. “Actually, that’s not true.Youwere perfect. For our plan, that is. The right age, the right area, the right murky past. We made a few calls, gave some money to the right people, and voila—your charges disappeared, and you were free to start at Babylon as our little pawn.”

“Great. Thanks a lot.”

“I know you’re being facetious, but you really should be grateful to us,” she said, face hardening. “Not only are you getting a free education at the best school in the world, you’ll also be super famous after this. The only survivor of the world’s creepiest mass murder. Everyone will love your story. You could write a bestselling book about it. Maybe even get your own Netflix special.”

“Again, thanks. It really means a lot,” I said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You’re welcome,” she said, matching my tone.

I frowned and cocked my head. “Why not punish Abby’s friends? Didn’t they notice what was going on with her and fail to help her in the end?”

“Yes, but they didn’t really do anything wrong. They tried to help her with her issues just as much as I did,” April replied. “Half the stuff I knew about Abby’s life came from them. Like Evan’s bullying, for example. Abby never actually told me about it. I found out about it from Ava. Same with the Kiara blackmail stuff. Her friend Liana told me about that.”

“Right.”

“Her friends were sitting on a virtual treasure trove of information,” she went on. “You remember how I said Abby had that idea about starting her own version of Gossip Girl?”

“Yeah.”

“She wanted to do it because she thought it would give her enough power to stop the bullying. So she and her friendsstarted gathering secrets. Of course, it never ended up going anywhere, but those secrets still existed, and her friends were more than happy to share them with me after Abby died.”

“Ah. So that’s how you knew everything for the Truth or Die game.”

April smiled thinly. “Yup. It’s also how I knew everything in general about who was most responsible for Abby’s overdose. Like Brooke, for example. She didn’t tell me she was cooking drugs, even though she was supposed to be my best friend. I had to find out from Abby’s friends.”

I gestured around the room. “What about all of this? How did you get it built?” I asked. “Some of the games required some serious engineering. Not to mention all the surveillance equipment around the place.”

“My family has a lot of contacts. Comes with the territory of being military contractors.”

“I figured that much, but how did you do it without anyone finding out?” I asked. “Aren’t you worried someone will come forward eventually?”

“Nope.” April’s eyes glittered triumphantly. “The right amount of money can buy almost anyone’s silence. As for those who can’t be bought… well, everyone has secrets they don’t want to come to light. So blackmail is always an option. You tell our secret, and we tell yours. Tit for tat.”

“Right.” I glanced around the room. “Where are your parents now?”

“Downstairs putting the finishing touches on the gaming room for tomorrow. It’s a simple one, but it should be fun to watch.”

I motioned toward the desk. “Is that where you guys keep track of everything?”

“Yes. All the cameras and mics are linked up to that computer. Mom and Dad were taking turns watching andlistening while the other slept, but now that I’m supposedly dead, I can help out too.”

I lifted my chin and looked into her cold eyes. “What happens now?”

“Now that you know the truth, you mean?”

“Yes. I can’t be the sole survivor now, because I can tell the cops the truth about you.”

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s definitely a problem. If we stick to the plan of keeping you alive, we’ll need to set things up so that it looks likeyouorchestrated the whole thing. That way no one will believe you when you point the finger at me and my parents,” she said. “It’s going to be a lot of work, but I think we can pull it off. After all, you have a sordid criminal past, don’t you?”

“How can you possibly pin this shit onme?” I asked. “Criminal past or not, there’s no way they’ll think I could’ve pulled off something like this.”

April tapped her chin with one finger. “Hmm. Off the top of my head, I guess we can say your motive was that you were tired of being bullied by the rich kids at Babylon. As for the means to do it… we can set up a fake financial trail to make it look like you had a rich sponsor. Someone you later killed in order to cover your tracks. Maybe Maverick.”

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