Page 93 of In the Air Tonight
She runs her fingers through my hair. “Marty called about the fundraiser. We’re sold out for the tenth year in a row.”
“That’s amazing news.” Along with Louisa’s beloved brother we’ve raised more than a million dollars for Hodgkin’s research in Louisa’s name. Caroline took over the coordination of the annual fundraiser the year after we got married. She retooled the event, and it’s thanks to her that we’ve raised so much money. When I say she’s the best thing to ever happen to me, I mean it.
I exhale a deep breath, overwhelmed with gratitude for her, our kids and this life I don’t deserve.
Cam
NOW
“We have a problem,” Sienna says as she gets into bed next to me.
I’m exhausted and have no patience for her drama of the day. “What problem do we have?”
“Blaise Merrick is back in town.”
“So?”
“From what I’ve heard, she’s hanging out in LE, which is bizarre to say the only time she’s been home since high school is when her father died.”
“Maybe she has friends there.”
“Or maybe she’s decided it’s time to ease her conscience.”
I sit up straighter. What the hell is she talking about. “What?”
A guilty look crosses her super expressive face. “I need to tell you something I should’ve told you years ago.”
My entire body goes cold with dread. Sienna doesn’t keep anything to herself. Her mouth runs overtime, which is one of our biggest issues. She talks about things she shouldn’t at inappropriate times. I tell her she’s a liability that way, which infuriates her. So the possibility that she might know something she hasn’t already told me is terrifying because it must be something huge. “What do you need to tell me?”
“That night in LE… Houston’s party.”
Dread shifts to terror. I’m afraid to ask. “What about it?”
“Things between you and me had been weird that summer. You were acting like you weren’t into me anymore, and I was feeling insecure. So Blaise and I snuck over to LE to spy on the party.”
My mind races, trying to figure out what she might’ve seen me do or who she saw me talk to and why that might be coming up now.
“We were there when Ryder raped her. We saw it.”
The bottom falls out of my entire life. There were witnesses, and one of them is my own wife. The implications are so huge I have no idea what to do with this information.
“Cam. Say something.”
I stare at the far wall, trying to resist the overwhelming urge to scream at her. “You never thought you should mention this to me?” She doesn’t know Ryder told me the truth. I love her, but I don’t entirely trust her to keep something like that to herself. Besides, Ryder and I swore we’d never tell anyone else, and he didn’t even tell Caroline.
“I know how much you love Ryder! I’d never want to do anything to cause a rift between you guys. I made sure Blaise kept her mouth shut.”
“This is why you stopped hanging out with her.” At the time, she wouldn’t tell me what had come between them. She said it was girl stuff, and I wouldn’t understand. Arlo and I talked about it a few times, but eventually it didn’t matter anymore why two teenaged girls had fallen out a long time ago. It had nothing to do with us.
“She made me so mad with her holier-than-thou act and how we were bad people for leaving Neisy there alone…after it happened. She said we should’ve helped her. I told her everyone, including Arlo, would hate her the way they hated Neisy, and that she’d better keep her mouth shut or else.”
My head is spinning, and I feel like I might be sick.
There were fucking witnesses, and one of them is my own wife.
I know nothing about Blaise or what she’s been up to all this time. Arlo rarely mentions her except to say it’s weird that she left home and never looked back. This is why. Because shesawmy brother rape Neisy. She ran away and never came back, taking this secret with her.
And now she’s in LE doing God knows what.