Rapid Falls(8)

“Want to dance?” She grinned mischievously and I returned the smile. She knew I couldn’t resist our favorite song by Meat Loaf. “The DJ didn’t want to play it, but I insisted. I’m sorry about earlier.”

“It’s okay.” I brushed off the memory of our argument. It didn’t matter. Tonight I just wanted to have a good time.

Anna and I had been doing the same dance to the song since I was in seventh grade, when we won first place in a school talent show. We launched into it instinctively. The students around us stopped and formed a circle, laughing and hooting, even though most of them had seen us perform the same routine at least half a dozen times before. When the song ended, we stood still, panting and laughing, as the crowd cheered. Jesse’s best friend, Wade, gave us a long wolf whistle that made me grin.

“One more?” I pulled her into my arms playfully, initiating a stagey waltz to the orchestral chords of Bette Midler.

“Only because you love this one so much.” She took my hand, and we moved across the floor. As we slow-danced in and around the people from Rapid Falls we had known all our lives, happiness rose like a bubble in my chest. Anna must have sensed it, because she pulled away so she could look in my eyes.

“You are my hero, Cara. I hope the next year for you is amazing. Everything is going to change so much after tonight.” Her eyes welled with tears.

“Thanks, Anna. That means a lot.”

Anna was my designated driver so Jesse and I could enjoy the night to the fullest. I promised to come back to do the same for Anna and Sandy the next year. Drinking and driving was a big deal in Rapid Falls. Each year we had an assembly a week before prom to remind us about making good decisions. It was how our parents and teachers assured themselves that they had done what they could to protect us. The afterprom party was held every year at the Field, a big property about thirty minutes out of town up a long dirt road. It had been bought and cleared by some guy from the city. No one in Rapid Falls had heard from the man in years, and nobody asked questions about his whereabouts. It was the best party spot in town. No one wanted to ruin a good thing.

On an average Friday night, if you wanted to get back from the Field, you drove drunk, caught a ride with someone else who was driving drunk, or stayed sober. Very few people chose the last option. On prom night, however, we made sure that our drivers did so. It was important that the graduating class was responsible. In Rapid Falls, prom night was the closest most people came to experiencing celebrity. It wasn’t supposed to end in a hospital bed. Something had gone wrong—really wrong.



My dad walked in, his face as white as frostbitten fingers. A sickening thud hit my stomach. Was Anna dead?

“Cara.” He put a hand on my forearm.

“Where is Anna, Dad?”

“She’s . . . she’s in pretty rough shape. They had to airlift her to Nicola. Your mom is with her.”

Images of icy water. Darkness. Screams. Blood. Jesse.

“Oh my God. Where is Jesse?” My voice tightened around the words, and I had to choke out the last syllable.

My dad bowed his head. I didn’t want him to say it aloud.

“He . . .” He shook his head.

“No, Dad.” My voice didn’t sound like it was coming from my body. Silence filled the room. I saw a windshield with nothing in view but black water. “We went into the river.”

My dad shuddered as he nodded.

“This is all my fault,” I said.

His grip on my arm felt hard enough to bruise. I gasped.

“Don’t you ever, ever say that, Cara. You got Anna out. You pulled her out of the water alone. I don’t know how you did it, but you saved her life.” His eyes were full of fire and fear.

I nodded, waiting for grief to consume me, but I felt nothing.

“But not Jesse,” I said.

“No, not Jesse. There’s . . . one more thing, Cara.” My dad tried to put on a reassuring smile. “Sergeant Murphy was here. He needs to talk to you. I told him that you’ll come by later. After we see Anna.”

“Okay,” I said dully.

“It’s not good, Cara. They think . . . well, they’ve found alcohol in Anna’s blood. Drugs too. It looks like she was drunk, high. I don’t know.” His voice caught on the words. “She was supposed to be your designated driver. She was supposed to stay sober. What happened, Cara?”

“I don’t know,” I lied.





CHAPTER THREE

June 2016

The morning after Maggie’s hospital visit, I wake at 5:00 a.m. and roll over to look at my phone. There is nothing urgent in my in-box, just the standard requests for meetings and some draft policy to review. Only one message is personal. Debra Black, an old classmate, is trying to put together an organizing committee for our twenty-year reunion at Rapid Falls High. I delete the message immediately. Sometime in between my song-filled oatmeal breakfast with my daughter and my train into work, all hell breaks loose. I have thirty-six new emails and a dozen missed calls on my phone by the time I get into the office.

I piece it together quickly. The Fraser City Tribune’s website had published a piece on the new natural gas extraction plant, showing only one-third of the current workers were local. Unfortunately, my boss, Larry, was also quoted, saying, “Above all, natural gas is an economic booster for local communities.” His furious emails to me demanded that I figure out where the Tribune had gotten the conflicting information. When I was a teenager, I had dreamed of running for office, but my history in Rapid Falls had made that impossible. On days like today, when Larry has to wear mistakes so publicly, I’m glad that Anna made me change course. It’s a lot easier to be behind the scenes when things go bad. And I was good at putting out fires.