The Lion's Den(86)

She paces the small room like it’s a cell. “I need a fucking cigarette so fucking bad right now.”

I sit on the bed. “So Summer knows.”

“Oh yeah, she knows.”

I rub my temples, my head suddenly throbbing. “Amythest, I’m sorry, but what the hell were you thinking? You need to go right back and say it was a bad joke or something.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” She snorts.

“I guess you’ll be coming home with me tomorrow.” If she’s lucky. This is not good. I have to say something. But can I trust her to keep her mouth shut?

“Doubt it. He wants me to meet him in his office later so we can fuck. He sure is horny for someone who can’t get it up without a pill.”

“It’s a power thing for him,” I say. “Everything’s about power with him.”

“Anyway, I don’t think she’s said anything to him about me yet.”

“I doubt she’s gonna say anything to him,” I venture. “She wants to hold on to her position. She doesn’t want to sink the ship.”

I watch Amythest prowl back and forth in the small space like a caged animal. She’s spoiling for a fight, but there’s no way this ends well for her. “Why don’t you just chill with me tonight?” I suggest. “Camille told me there’s a hidden crew deck. I was gonna go up there and hang out. And I bet if you told Brittani that you wanted to go home, she’d make the case to Summer, which would give her an excuse to get John to get you a ticket to go back tomorrow without having to confront him about hooking up with you.”

She considers. “No. I’m gonna go back up there.”

“Why? What do you think is going to happen?”

She shrugs. “She thinks she’s better than me, but she’s not. I want to make her as uncomfortable as she’s made me.”

I try a different tactic. “You know you’re in the wrong here,” I point out. “You’re sleeping with her boyfriend on a trip she invited you on.”

“She didn’t invite me. Brittani did. And he’s married to someone else, so what the shit did she expect?” she scoffs. “Like I said, if she woulda been nice, I woulda left it alone. But she wasn’t, so this is what she gets.”

And here we are again. I bite my lip. It’s now or never. “Here’s the thing,” I say. “You know how Summer’s ex committed suicide?”

She nods. “I didn’t know it was a suicide.”

I take a deep breath. “That’s just it.…It wasn’t.” I exhale.

Her dark eyes go wide. “Are you saying she killed him?”

“Something like that,” I say quietly.

“What?” She stares at me, unglued. “Oh my God. How do you know—does she know you know?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. It’s not—” I’m already regretting telling her. “Please don’t say anything to her.”

“This is insane. She’s insane.” She’s pacing again. “Wait—why are you—”

“Amythest,” I cut in. “I’ve already said too much.”

“But you can’t just drop that. You have to tell me—”

“I can’t,” I say. Suddenly my head is throbbing, swimming with images of microphones planted throughout the room. Please God, let me only be being paranoid. “I really can’t. You just have to trust me. And no one knows about this—not Wendy, not anybody. So please—please, don’t say anything to anyone. Promise me.”

She squeezes my hand. “Okay, okay! I promise I won’t say anything. But I can’t promise I won’t bug you for more info later tonight. And I can’t promise I won’t see John.”

My heart sinks. She rises and smooths her hair in the mirror, her gold earrings glinting in the light. I wish I had some way to protect her from Summer, and from herself. I suddenly have an idea. I slip the gold watch from my wrist for the first time on this whole trip and hold it out to her. “It’ll look perfect with your dress,” I offer. “And it’s a fuck you to Summer from me. She wanted to try it on, but I wouldn’t let her. This way she’ll know I’ve got your back.”

She slides it over her wrist with a smile. “Thank you.” She blows me a kiss and slams the door behind her. As soon as she’s left, I notice her cell phone lying on her bed. I quickly grab it and poke my head into the hall. “Amythest!”

Nothing. I start up the stairs. “Amythest? Your phone!”

No reply. I don’t want to go any farther for fear of running into Summer or one of the goons, so I turn around and nearly collide with Bernard, coming out of his room. I instinctually hide the phone behind my back and move to the side of the hallway to let him pass, lowering my eyes. He points to my quarters, and I dutifully step inside, praying he doesn’t lock my door. I give him a minute to ascend the stairs, then slip out of my room and through the door to the crew area.

The hallway on the staff side is tighter than the hallway on our side, and the rooms are packed closely together. I poke my head into the laundry room, where Camille is ironing sheets, and she looks up and smiles. Across the hall, Hugo and Dre are having a laugh over dinner in the tiny crew kitchen.