Lovely Girls(78)

“What do you want?” I asked.

“I know Alex took a video of Daphne and Shae that night on the beach. I want it.”

I stared at her, horrified by both the knife she was wielding and her admission. “You know what Shae and Daphne did? You know they killed Callie?”

Emma took a step toward me. The knife she was holding looked terrifyingly sharp as it flashed in the light. It was long too. The blade was at least seven inches and curved to a sharp, deadly point. I tried not to think about the searing pain it would cause if it pierced my skin.

“Shae didn’t do anything,” Emma said. “She came to me after school yesterday and told me everything that happened. She told me Daphne killed Callie. Shae was there, but she couldn’t stop it from happening. And she told me that Alex took a video that makes it look like Shae was involved. I’m going to need every copy you have of that video. I don’t care what happens to Daphne, but Shae is not going to have her life ruined for something she didn’t do.”

“Your daughter lied to you,” I said. “It’s all on the video. Daphne and Shae drowned Callie together. Callie was fighting to get free, so it took the two of them to hold her under the water.”

“Shut up,” Emma snarled.

I wasn’t sure whether telling her about the video was a good idea. I didn’t have a plan. I just wanted to keep Emma away from Alex for as long as I could without getting stabbed in the process. Talking was the only delay tactic I could think of. My hope was that Alex would overhear us and she’d be able to get out of the house safely.

Emma’s eyes were flashing dangerously, and her mouth was pressed in a tight line. I remembered the first time I’d met her, and she’d seemed so breezy and upbeat, a glamorous version of the girl next door. Now she looked like a cornered animal, frightened and feral and ready to attack.

“I want every copy of that video,” Emma said. “Get your daughter in here now.”

My heart was pounding, and my mouth had gone dry. I tried to listen for Alex, but I didn’t hear anything. Not the floor creaking as she walked overhead or her footsteps pounding down the stairs.

Get out, Alex, I thought desperately. Run as far away as possible. And bring the USB stick with you.

“We already gave it to the police,” I said, stalling.

Emma laughed, an ugly barking sound devoid of humor. “Liar,” she said. “I told you, I heard you talking. You haven’t given it to them yet.”

I tried to remember exactly what Alex and I had said. What Emma could have overheard.

“Then you know the police already have it. They took Alex’s tablet and her phone, which she used to make the videos.”

“You’re still lying. Mark’s younger brother is a deputy sheriff. He told us that all of the data had been wiped off Alex’s electronics.”

This town, I thought. Even the policemen gossip.

“The detectives we met with today assured us they’d still be able to retrieve the data. We were just going to give them the copy we have to make their job easier. But the final result will be the same.” I had no idea whether this was true. I hoped it was. “Shae is going to be charged with murder. There’s nothing you can do to stop that. Hurting me will only make things worse for you and your family.”

“Shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Emma took a sudden step in my direction, decreasing the distance between us. She flicked her wrist, waving the knife at me.

My heart lurched as I stared at the weapon. The fact that she’d brought it with her was even more terrifying. This wasn’t some wild, erratic moment of madness. Emma had come here planning to hurt me. To hurt my daughter.

I forced myself to lift my gaze from the knife to meet Emma’s hostile glare. “It is true. I saw the video. Callie, Daphne, and Shae were all at the beach that night. Callie admitted that she was the one who sent the video of Daphne and Coach Townsend having sex to all of their classmates. I think that’s when Daphne decided to kill her. She and Shae lured Callie into the water. And then, they attacked her. The two of them, together, held her under the water while she fought to get free. And it wasn’t a few seconds, Emma. It lasted for five or six minutes. I can’t imagine how terrified Callie must have been before she died.”

“Callie wasn’t an innocent.” Emma practically spat out the words. “You just admitted that she’s the one who blasted that video out to everyone the girls knew. That was a terrible thing to do!”

“And you think she deserved to die for that?”

“I didn’t say that,” Emma said angrily. “But if Callie had been more loyal, none of this would have happened. She shouldn’t have sent out the video, and Ingrid shouldn’t have sent out the texts, and—” She stopped suddenly, her lips pursing into a startled O.

“What texts?” I asked.

Emma shook her head. “That’s not what I said.”

“You said Ingrid shouldn’t have sent those texts,” I repeated. Then I realized what she was saying. “Wait. Ingrid was the one who sent those awful texts to Daphne? The ones calling her a slut and telling her to kill herself? But . . . why? Why would she do that? That doesn’t make sense.”

“You don’t know her,” Emma said. “Just because you hung out with us a few times doesn’t mean that you really got to know any of us. You were never one of us.”