Page 60 of The Weekend Getaway

Jason exhaled. “I don’t think he meant?—”

“Alex didn’t take Phil to the mainland. Phil didn’t have to leave suddenly,” Mia whispered, her gaze unfocused. “I lied about that.”

“Why did you lie?” Jason asked.

Sarah pressed the heel of her hand against her head, desperate to stop the pounding behind her skull.

“Because Alex told me to,” Mia said. “It was part of his plan.”

Jason asked, “What plan?”

Mia said, “Alex was going to kill Phil.”

CHAPTER 55

Fifteen Years Ago

3:44 a.m.

Alex

“Everything is going according to the plan,” Alex said, seconds after pulling Chris and Jason into a small side room connected to some sort of den.

After leaving Mia upstairs with Sarah and Phil, who were still knocked out, and Grace, who was still puking her guts out in the bathroom, Alex hurried downstairs, back into the fray of loud music, flowing alcohol, and sweaty, swaying bodies. Aggressively pushing and shoving through the crowd, he made his way to the corner where he’d told Jason and Chris to wait for him.

“What exactly does that mean?” Jason asked.

Annoyed by Jason’s somewhat demanding tone, and the caution in his gaze, Alex exhaled. He needed Jason to get onboard with his plan and not question him, but Jason often got tripped up by ethical dilemmas. He often wanted to do the right thing. Wanted to make a moral decision, one that wouldn’t have him feeling guilt-ridden and unable to sleep, tossing and turning all night.

Alex had never had that problem.

Ethics were always situational. You made the decision you needed to make based on the specific circumstances. And if that decision happened to be unethical or immoral, then so be it. Jason wanted to live a life of good choices, presenting the best version of himself, a version that was compassionate, empathetic, and emotionally intelligent.

As far as Alex was concerned, the best version of himself was a version who did whatever he had to do to make sure he successfully secured his future. If that meant being mercenary and manipulative, then so be it. The way Alex saw it, some people were weak and naïve, like Mia and Jason, and didn’t understand that the world was not a loving, supportive place where they would have the opportunity to live their dreams and have all their wishes come true because they were good people who cared about others and did the right fucking thing all the time.

The world was cruel and heartless, and some people would be pulverized, ground into dust, and blown away if not for people like Alex, who acted as a shepherd to weak-minded, idealistic people, helping them realize that to get ahead, other people would have to be stepped on. Sometimes, people would have to be stabbed in the back. Alex was more than happy to provide the knife.

“What I mean …” Alex began, irritated that he hadn’t quite convinced Jason to go along with his idea. Chris, of course, was on board. Alex never had to worry about any pushback from Chris. The guy was a natural-born follower, easily led, easily fooled, without a mind of his own, eager to be told what to do. “… is that Mia found Sarah and Phil. They’re both unconscious. Bloody sheets. Sarah’s bruised. I’m going to talk to Mia. She’ll need to get Sarah on board with the plan.”

Jason shook his head. “You think she’ll be able to do that?”

Pissed that Jason dared to question his control over Mia, Alex said, “She’ll do what I tell her to do.”

“But will Sarah go along with it?” Jason asked.

“Why wouldn’t she?” Chris asked.

Jason said, “Because?—”

“Don’t worry about Mia and Sarah,” Alex told him. “Worry about Phil. He’s the one we need to convince …”

CHAPTER 56

Fifteen Years Ago

3:52 a.m.

Mia

---