Trigger (21 page)

“About twelve.”

“And they all took active part in the bullying?”

“Yes.”

Leslie shook her head in disbelief. “Please tell me exactly what happened that last time. When it finally ended.”

I swallowed. “Okay.” I took a deep breath to steel myself, reminding myself they were just words. I could say them. All I needed to do was pretend like I was talking about someone else. It would be okay.

“So Hannah and I were sitting at our usual table outside the cafeteria having lunch. It was the first school day after she’d gone on a date with Justin. That’s Chrissy’s boyfriend and he’d dumped Chrissy a few days before. Anyway, he’d promised Hannah he’d talk to Chrissy, make sure she and her band stayed away from us. But either he didn’t or whatever he told her didn’t help because Chrissy and Tara and all the other girls came up to us. They harassed us so much we couldn’t eat, so we took our food and started to leave. But they wouldn’t let us. When Tara slapped my tray out of my hands, I got so mad I pushed her and told all of them what I thought of them. Hannah must have gotten inspired by my action because she pushed Chrissy. Then both of us started running. All the girls followed us and somehow we all ended up in a deserted hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. Hannah thought there was a way to get out of there, at the end of it. But there wasn’t. Someone had already fixed the walls that used to be broken, so we were trapped. Half of them went after Hannah and half after me.”

My throat tightened and I couldn’t talk. Pretending like I was talking about someone else no longer worked.

“Then what happened, Nina?” Leslie said in a soft, beckoning voice, her razor-sharp eyes pinning me down.

My heart sped up and my breathing quickened. I was suddenly back there in that dark, cool hangar, the furious girls closing in on me. Smelling the wet metal, the rust. Feeling the panic rushing through me. Their screams getting louder and louder. Why was talking about this so damn hard? I’d already told Ricki about it, hadn’t I? Yes, I had. Well, not all of it… And I definitely hadn’t told Ricki what bothered me the most about this still. Why I felt that, if I’d just kept my mouth shut, Hannah would still be alive today.
If only I’d kept my mouth shut
. I barely dared thinking about this. But this time, I had to not only think about it, but also get out the words describing what I felt, what had happened. Every little thing.

I owed it to Dylan to give Leslie all that I had. Even if I really didn’t think it would make a difference.

“Nina. What happened after those girls separated into groups?”

Dylan

I stared at the TV, not sure whether I was actually awake and not dreaming at first it felt so unreal. I pushed myself up from the couch where I had been sitting next to my sister. She had come for a visit to watch some afternoon college football with me. The female news anchor on channel one had suddenly appeared in the middle of the game with the breaking news, informing the viewers the authorities had arrested the person who had strangled Emma Patterson at the Blue Moon. A photo of the dowdy brunette friend who had been standing next to Emma that night filled the screen.

“Can you turn up the volume?” I said to Elisa. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her reach for the remote control and do just that. The anchor’s clear voice boomed out from the huge flat-screen TV’s speakers: “… last night when Jackie Rhodes appeared at the Santa Monica Police Station. The thirty-two-year-old psychologist asked to speak to a police officer. As soon as one appeared, Rhodes broke apart and confessed that she had strangled her friend Emma Patterson at the Blue Moon
October third of this year. Smith claims her anger issues got the best of her that night and she felt compelled to strangle her friend with the handbag chain shoulder strap of a passed-out woman who lay in a dark corner close by. Rhodes is currently being held at the Santa Monica station. Bail is set to $100,000.”

The anchor disappeared and a beer commercial came on, a sultry Latina woman walking into a bar, all the guys in there staring at her. She walked up to the bartender and signaled for a beer. When he fumbled, searching for the opener, she sighed and grabbed the beer bottle from his hands. Sticking it under her very short top, she snapped it open with something hidden in her cleavage. Turns out she had a beer opener there attached from her long necklace. She winked at the gaping bartender and chugged her beer.

“…Dylan. Are you okay?” Somewhere behind me, Elisa’s voice reached my ears. “You don’t
know
that woman, do you?”

“Huh?” I turned to face my sister.

“The woman who was arrested—do you know her?”

“No. I’ve never seen her before, but I remember her face. It’s the friend that was with Emma at the Blue Moon, just like they reported. Definitely that broad. Same puss on her face as she had that night.”

Victor wasn’t the only one who’d been concerned about how I had taken Emma’s sudden death; Elle, too, had called me up as soon as she found out to make sure I was okay.

“Well, good thing they found the murderer at least, right?” Elisa said.

A big grin stretched my lips now. “Good thing” was an understatement. It was a fucking
fantastic
thing! I buried my face in my hands. “There is a God. There
is
a God…”

I had spent the night at Nina’s yesterday tossing and turning in her bed, unable to relax. Falling asleep had been impossible. The more I pondered the idea that Hugo was behind Emma’s death somehow, the less convinced I felt. I doubted the cops hadn’t checked out Hugo thoroughly already, Emma having lived with the man only days prior to the murder. I knew from professional acquaintances that lovers and family members were prime suspects in a murder case. This fact together with Hugo’s sincere grief was just too much to fit the picture I wanted to paint. The LAPD couldn’t be so bad they’d missed any potential shenanigans on Hugo’s part, nor Hugo that good at covering his tracks. Who did I think I was, thinking I’d solve this case so easily when seasoned cops with their extensive resources and access to all the forensic evidence couldn’t? No, I was just grasping for straws because I wanted the woman beside me to be innocent. Not the raging psycho she might very well be.

Now that I knew Nina was innocent after all, I was
definitely
going to her friend’s birthday party, something I’d been reluctant to agree to when Nina had first invited me.

“
Wow
,” I heard Elisa say, “you sure are happy that woman’s arrested, aren’t you?”

I removed my hands from my face, still grinning like a fool as I faced my sister, who was smiling big herself now.

“Happy? Yeah, you could say
that
again!” I was about to add that it sure wasn’t only because Emma’s killer had been found, but decided against it before the words could slip out of my mouth. It would only complicate matters. I better wait to bring up Nina. Wait until all the drama had faded some more, so Elle and Nina didn’t start off on the wrong foot.

“I’m so happy for you, bro,” Elisa said, having gotten to her feet as well. “I can see why it must feel good to you, knowing who did this to Emma.”

“Thanks, Elle,” I said and gave her a hug. “It does feel good. It sure does.” And it would feel even better when I could introduce Nina to Elisa and Mom. I was confident they’d like her a lot better than they’d liked Emma. Neither of them had ever been crazy about my ex, at least not Elisa. Yes, the day they met Nina finally would be one to remember.

Nina

The girls had surrounded me. I backed up against the corner, hoping to find some form of opening in the metal walls behind me. If only I pressed hard enough against them, they would miraculously open and let me escape. But all I got was an overpowering solidity that refused to budge. Still, I kept pressing, pressing. I had to get away.

They came closer, the six of them staring at me with fury on their faces, such fury. My stomach churned with terror as I considered making a run for it, pushing myself through the ever-enclosing human fence. But I was too frozen with fear to move. I felt myself folding, praying for the ground to swallow me, make me disappear. They were only a few yards away now. They were so big, all of them towering over me.

“You fucking bitch.” Tara spat out the words. “You and your little whore friend won’t get away this time. Chrissy’s making sure the whore is paying. And I’m gonna see to it that you pay.”

I wanted to speak, tell Tara it was all a big misunderstanding.
Why
had I opened my stupid mouth?
Why
had I felt the need to tell these girls Hannah was the one Justin had always wanted, never Chrissy? I should have known it would only cause us more problems. But at the time I wasn’t thinking clearly. All I’d been able to think was how much I hated all these big, horrible girls who thought they could treat me and Hannah like we were dirt stuck under their shoes. They were no better than us. And to prove it, I had told them that Justin had taken Hannah out to dinner because she was the one he really wanted, not that big monkey Chrissy. If only I’d kept my mouth shut, neither I nor Hannah would be in this situation right now. I stared at Tara. I should tell Tara I’d just made all of it up to spite them. Hannah didn’t do anything, never went out with Justin. Maybe that would make them less mad. But my mouth and tongue had become so dry with fear the words wouldn’t form, never mind come out. My heart pounded like a jackhammer against my ribcage and the blood pulsed in my ears like a storm.

Ponytailed, tall Tara was standing right before me now, the other girls blocking any escape route around her. Still, I, becoming suddenly alive and able to move, attempted to push through two of them. They stepped closer together, forming an impenetrable barricade that forced me back into my corner. Stumbling, I braced myself from falling against the cool, unrelenting metal walls behind me.

I was hyperventilating now, knowing far too well that I was trapped and that it was over.
What would they do to me? And what had they done to Hannah?

The first punch came out of nowhere, taking me by surprise. It hit me at the side of my head. Pain radiated down my cheek and jaw. Before I had figured out who had thrown it, another punch came, then another, all hitting me in the head. I brought up my hands to my face to protect myself. Someone kicked me hard in the stomach, taking my breath away. Another kick followed, landing at the side of my waist; another punch hit me smack in the ear. My head was ringing.

Disoriented, I sank to my knees as the punches and kicks kept raining over me. The girls had turned into one big entity of arms and legs that lashed out, striking me with devastating power wherever they could reach. The pain that had paralyzed me seemed to lessen as my consciousness began to falter. I had stopped trying to defend myself, hoping that my willingness to receive their beating would make them stop sooner.

Somehow, I found myself on my back, the girls hanging over me like a gigantic, multi-headed monster. With what was left of my strength, I tried pushing myself up. Tara’s voice rang out, “Hold her down, Jenni!”

In a moment of lucidity, I noticed how Jenni came down on her knees beside her. Cold, hard hands wrapped themselves around my neck and pushed me down to the ground. I gasped for breath, the panic washing over me. I was going to die. I was sure of it. But I didn’t want to die. I had to make them stop. How could I make them stop?

The way Jenni’s hands were pressing against my neck, it was impossible to get any words out.

I searched the faces around me for one that would help me, realize that what they were doing wasn’t right. I didn’t deserve to die. I had taken enough.

But all I saw were black eyes and grimacing faces. Mouths that moved, screaming soundless words. Sometime around then a warm, fuzzy cloud appeared, enfolding me, taking me away. And it was finally over.

Dylan

“Are you kidding?” Nina said. She and I were sitting together at the bar counter in a restaurant called Dillon’s. It had taken me several texts and calls before she finally picked up the phone so I could tell her the great news, in case she hadn’t heard yet. When I finally got a hold of her, she’d agreed to come meet me at Dillon’s, but only because it was so close to her house.

“No,” I said, smiling big. “It’s the truth! Saw it on the news this afternoon. It’ll be all over the newspapers tomorrow, hopefully with more details.”

Closing her eyes, Nina covered the lower part of her face as she digested the great news.

“Well, they did tell one very interesting detail already,” I continued.

Nina looked at me and removed her hands. “What’s that?”

“The woman used the shoulder strap of your bag to strangle Emma.”

Nina’s mouth dropped open. “
No
.”

“That’s what they said on the breaking news. I guess that was a smart move since it did throw the cops off track. It’s not like everyone walks around with a chain to strangle someone with when the mood strikes them. But you happened to lay passed out close by. With a chain strap bag.”

“Amazing that no one saw her do it.”

“Yes, she was very lucky. But it was after all very dark in that club. And packed with mostly drunk people. So maybe not that strange after all.”

Nina inhaled, looking pleased. “Well, that means I’m pretty much off the hook.”

I put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. I kissed the top of her head. “Yes, it sure does. But I never thought you were the killer in the first place. Not really.” I looked away in a way I hoped wouldn’t be obvious, not daring to meet her gaze for fear of the lie being visible on my face.

Nina huffed. “Yes, you did!”

I lowered my gaze, knowing it was no point in trying to play innocent. “Okay, okay, maybe I did. For a little while. But that was before I knew better. I was temporarily insane. Please forgive me.”

She snuggled up to me. “I do forgive you. It’s not like it’s
that
strange that you did.” She kissed my earlobe. “Well, as long as you come with me to Nixon’s birthday party on Friday, I forgive you. I did notice that you weren’t all that eager to come when I asked you. Hmm.” She tilted her head, assuming a coquettish face. “I wonder if that might have anything to do with the fact that you thought I’d killed Emma after all.” An astute expression replaced the cutesiness. “Seriously, I could totally tell how worried you were all that night.”