Sweet Retribution (Rydeville High Elite #3)(47)

I box up my emotions and soldier on. “I was upset. I’d cried myself to sleep, and at some point during the night, she came to me.” I lock eyes with my twin. “You remember how I used to conjure her in my mind’s eye when she first passed? Whenever something sad or painful happened?” He nods. “It hasn’t happened for years, but I was so consumed in grief I thought it was my mind’s way of helping me cope.”

I shuck out of Kai’s hold, leaning down over my brother. “But what if it wasn’t? What if it was her? If she’d somehow snuck into my room?” I remember how real her touch felt, and hope swirls and churns in my gut. “And something else weird happened.” I cast my mind back. “Fuck. I’m such an idiot.” My eyes widen as I lean onto the arms of Drew’s chair. “There was an incident with some woman in the psych ward when I was going to breakfast one morning. Cryptic comments were made, and I had a gut instinct about it.” My stomach is throwing somersaults. “I think that was her, Drew.” Butterflies are going crazy in my chest. “I think you’re right.”

“If I am,” he says, a fresh layer of pain contorting his handsome face, “then we need to get her out of there before it’s too late. If Dad is elected president, and you turn eighteen, and he believes your shares are his—”

“Then he has no further need of her,” I say, finishing his sentence.

Heavy silence engulfs the room as everyone understands the enormity of what’s been left unsaid. If Mom is still alive, it may not be for much longer. Her life is at risk unless we get to her first. We need to act fast. “What were you planning in relation to the staff investigations?” I ask.

“I was hoping to find some dirt on someone and use it to blackmail him or her into talking or at least giving us access to the system so Xavier could search their records to see if she was there.”

“If she’s there, she’s enrolled under a pseudonym.” We’ve already agreed we think that’s how it went down. “She’s not on some computer system,” I say, shaking my head. “That’s far too risky for Father.” I prop my butt against the edge of the desk, blown away at the prospect she might still be alive. But I won’t allow myself to believe it either. Because my heart can’t sustain any more blows. For now, I’ll allow myself to tentatively hope. But that’s as much as I can permit.

“There is one person who knows the truth,” Jackson says, his eyes darting briefly to Kai’s.

“Christian Montgomery,” Sawyer says.

“You think I haven’t thought of that?” Drew says. “I wanted to ask him, but the truth is he’ll say jack shit, and it’s too dangerous. He’ll tell Dad, and God knows what he’d do then. We can’t take a chance, because if she is still alive, we can’t jeopardize her safety.”

“Jesus, Drew.” I press my palms on my knees and lean forward, looking right into my brother’s eyes. “Has she been alive this whole time?” He clasps my hands. “And what have they done to her in that Godawful place.” A tremor wracks my body as I recall how they violated me, and I was only there for five weeks. If we’re correct, she’s been there over ten years.

Imagine the horrors inflicted on her in ten years.

A sob flees my mouth, and my lower lip wobbles as tears pool in my eyes again. “I can’t bear to think about it,” I choke out. Warm arms wrap around, me and Kai pulls me into his chest again.

“Don’t do this, baby.” Kai hugs me fiercely. “Right now, we don’t know anything. I hope she’s alive, and if she is, we’ll help her deal with the aftermath.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Drew says.

“No! You shouldn’t have kept your suspicions from me this long,” I cry out.

“You’ve been through so much already. If I’m wrong…”

I swipe at the hot tears coursing down my face. “Let’s just investigate the staff. There has to be someone we can get to.”

“We’ll need all hands on deck,” Xavier says. “Even with Hunt’s father’s guys, Chad and his crew, and us, we are swamped.”

“We’ve got one week left of Christmas break. If we divvy up tasks between us, we can make good progress.”

“It’s not going to be enough. We’re talking about investigating board members, elite members, Parkhurst employees, and trying to hack into the security system in the basement, plan a wedding and a break-and-enter, and we’ve all got school. You’re working Charlie. Drew’s working your father, and Kai is working Atticus. It’s too much in the timeframe we have to work with.”

He’s right, and I’m wracking my brains trying to think of a solution when Sawyer speaks. “Leave it with me. I’ll talk to my father about setting up a special project team. He has thousands of employees in his company with the kind of skill set we need. I’ll get us more bodies.”

I cock my head to the side. “Why does your father help us?”

“There are many reasons,” Sawyer says before clamming up.

“You should go,” Drew says. “You don’t want to make Charlie suspicious.”

“Just one more thing. Shandra and I had an interesting talk in the bathroom today.”