Page 83 of The Weekend Getaway

Staring at Phil, lying unconscious next to Sarah, Alex tilted his head, crossing his arms.

The three of them had struggled to carry Phil’s wobbly dead weight up a curving staircase that seemed to go on forever. At one point, Alex thought they might drop him. Alex and Jason carried Phil by the arms, positioning their shoulders beneath his armpits to pull him while Chris hoisted his legs. They grunted and groaned and cursed the whole way. Alex thought they might be caught but he had a plan in case they were. He would just tell whoever asked that Phil was passed out drunk and they were taking him to bed to sleep it off.

“What’s all the blood from?” Chris asked, his face a sickly pale green.

“Sarah is on her period,” Jason said.

Alex glanced at him. The blood hadn’t bothered him. He’d figured Jason had caused some injury other than the bruises on Sarah’s face and her split lip, but the menstrual cycle made sense. It was messed up, banging a bitch while she was on the rag, but Jason was weird.

“Actually,” said Alex, “the blood makes it better.”

“How?” Jason asked, his expression alarmed.

“Looks like Phil tried to kill her,” Alex said, smiling. “Looks like a violent, sadistic rape.”

“That’s what happened, right?” Chris asked. “Phil raped her.”

Alex looked a Jason, giving him a silent warning to keep his mouth shut. Let Chris assume the worst about Phil. He didn’t need to know the truth. No one needed to know what had really happened in that room except Alex and Jason.

Alex said, “Let’s take Sarah’s hand and scratch Phil’s face with her nails.”

“What?” Chris’s eyes grew wide.

“Why do we need to do that?” Jason asked.

“And we should put some of the blood from Sarah’s split lip on Phil’s knuckles.”

Jason shook his head. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“I didn’t ask you what you think,” Alex said, thinking of the next steps in his plan. “Just do what I say.”

CHAPTER 74

Fifteen Years Ago

3:19 a.m.

Alex

Alex took out his phone.

“Who are you calling?” Jason asked.

“Not calling anyone,” Alex said, accessing the camera app on his phone. “I’m securing our future.”

Chris asked, “Securing our future?”

Holding the phone in front of his face, Alex pressed the button to begin videoing an establishing wide shot of Phil and Sarah, lying in bed next to each other, their bodies wrapped in blood-smeared sheets.

“This is what is going to happen,” Alex said, zooming in on a few of the blood smears, moving the camera to catch different angles. “We’re going to blackmail Phil’s dad,Mr. Richart.”

“We’re going to … what?” Chris gaped at him.

Chuckling, Alex walked from one side of the bed to the other, videoing Phil and Sarah. “You heard me.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jason said.

“Of course, you don’t,” Alex said. “Even though I’m doing this for you. For all of us. I’m making sure that we get the chance to live the life we deserve.”

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