Chapter 8
Peter and I just stare at her. Carmen is nuts. She wants me to take off and defy my parents and Grandmother? What if they tell the courts that I’m unstable? Wouldn’t they do that?
“Carmen, the gesture is thoughtful. But, my parents will tell the courts that I’m unfit to care for myself. They will put me in an institution,” I reason. Peter’s eyes flash.
“They can’t do that. He’s already taken two years of your life.” His fury is silent but scary. I’ve never seen Peter so angry.
“What does he mean?” I ask Carmen. She shrugs.
“Chelsea, do you remember what happened before you jumped?” Peter asks.
“No. I don’t remember much of that day,” I admit, anticipation filling me. Peter is going to tell me what happened. He’s going to shed light on my mother’s fears.
“That’s a good thing,” Peter breathes, his face filling with relief. He scrubs his eyes.
“Peter, will you tell me?” The disappointment nearly stops my heart. How could the man that I love keep something so important from me? Peter shakes his head.
“You’re lucky you forgot. Chelsea, all you need to know is that your father blamed you for everything. He…” He closes his eyes for a second and takes a deep breath. “You weren’t in the right frame of mind. And he drove you over the edge by blaming you for shooting Uncle Eric.” My stomach rolls. Seriously? Dad’s mad that I shot his twin? I guess that this shouldn’t surprise me. The man has always been a bit misguided. But why would that upset me? Hearing this now, I feel a twinge of annoyance because there hadn’t been another way. Peter and the others were in danger and had I aimed for someone else, the rest of the gunmen would have shot me. And if I had to choose between my life and Eric’s, I would choose mine. I may have been a bit obsessive, selfish, and a bit delusional. But he was greedy and tried to mastermind a mass execution. The world would be a lot better without those kinds of people.
“This isn’t over,” I warn, wanting to argue the point with Peter. He’s leaving something out. It’s for my own good, of course. But who is he to decide what’s good for me or not? Everyone has been doing that, and it is becoming irritating.
“Hello, Chelsea, we still need to focus on my plan,” Carmen whines in exasperation. She waves her hands in the air, as if the verbal cue isn’t enough to bring us back on track.
“Carmen, this idea is nuts. Dad will find me. Then, he’ll force Bob to go get me. And believe me, I think that Bob isn’t above accidentally throwing me off a cliff.” Peter frowns.
“Bob’s my Grandmother’s new driver who happens to believe that Adam Smith is telling the truth about Chelsea,” Carmen summarizes. Malcolm sighs dramatically.
“That interview is a load of crap. If I didn’t know Chelsea was innocent, I might believe it too. He has everything to gain by this. His tactic is low, but even I understand that he wants to taint the jury pool. The video has gone viral. I’m unsure of who hasn’t seen it,” he reasons. “He might get away with it.” I shiver, and Peter wraps an arm around my shoulders.
“He won’t get away with it. Malcolm is negative,” he whispers to me. The feel of his lips comforts me more than his words do.
“Where is the cabin?” I ask. Carmen shakes her head.
“We won’t talk about where it is. Who knows if this house is bugged or not,” she reasons.
“That’s a disturbing thought!” Rain cheerily announces as she strolls into the room. Craig’s eyes lights up, and she blows him a kiss. Her mannerisms make me snort.
“Where’s Grace?” I ask.
“At the cabin with Jake and Tiller,” Carmen says.
“Who else will be there?” I inquire, not wanting to be around strangers. Carmen smirks.
“We all are going. Rain’s uncle lent us his minivan. Road trip!” she squeals.
“What about Nathan and Eliza?” I ask, before remembering that she has stabbed me in the back. Carmen frowns.
“They have wedding stuff to do. I’m spending time with you guys. The best part is, I don’t have a final until Tuesday. So as long as someone drops me off at the airport, I’m all set.” The thought of seeing Grace and hanging with Peter for a few days makes my decision.
“All right. I’m game. What do we need to get on the road?” Carmen closes her eyes, then pops them open again. She stares at Malcolm with a thoughtful expression on her face. Malcolm shakes his head furiously. He knows exactly who we’re waiting on.
“Danny,” I groan. “If we are all gone, who’s going to distract Eli?”
“Chloe is in town. That’s distraction enough,” Carmen responds.
“How did the two of you get here?” Peter asks suddenly.
“Matt and his friend Ryan. Matt is driving Chelsea’s car back,” Carmen announces just as a tall brown haired guy strolls in with a red faced Danny on his heels.
“You’re taking that back, Ryan,” she hisses. The guy doesn’t look sorry. In fact, a wide smile is currently gracing his features. I frown at the newcomer, unable to place him.
“Danny, I’m not changing my mind. You deserve…” He pauses, makes eye contact with me and winks. “Hi Chelsea. I’m your Cousin Matt’s best friend Ryan,” the guy says, checking me out. Peter’s arm tightens around me. I grin and hold out a hand. Ryan’s cute, but no one could compare to Peter. He’s it for me.
“Hi,” I say. His hand is warm, and he squeezes my fingers before relaxing his grip.
“Thanks for saving Olivia. She’s like a sister to me.” The gratitude on his face makes pride swell up in me. Finally, someone praises something that I’ve done. Aside for Peter, no one else has acknowledged that I actually saved lives.
“I’d do it again if I had a chance,” I tell him warmly. He nods and says, “Well, this is the time that you part with your keys. I guarantee that all of your pretty dresses will be hanging in your closet when you get back.” I grin at him and hand over the keys to the convertible. He nods then takes off, leaving Danny behind. When my friend’s eyes land on Malcolm, she can’t disguise the hungry gaze. Malcolm looks at her as if she’s killed his dog.
“Let’s get on the road,” Malcolm says before leaving the room. Rain whistles, reminding me that she hasn’t eaten.
“Rain, don’t forget to make yourself a sandwich before we leave.” She nods and pulls the makings of an organic roast beef and swiss cheese sandwich with whole grain bread, off course.
“Chelsea, do you want one?” Rain asks.
“We’ll hit the drive through,” Carmen answers before I say a word. There is a panicked look on her face. In truth, she’d be happy if we get moving. Rain wrinkles her nose. The only thing that she gets from fast food restaurants is French fries, if they make them with no added salt. I’m glad that my cousin takes exceptionally good care of herself. It makes me relieved that she isn’t suffering from any complications from diabetes. In fact, her sugar has been perfect every time she checks it.
“Okay. But I can’t eat like that for the whole time we are at the cabin. Is there a grocery store I can go to?” Rain asks.
“Grace has it covered. She also eats organic,” Carmen rushes out. Her eyes are glued to the kitchen window. What is she looking at? She pulls her phone out of her pocket and sends a text.
“Rain, are you all packed?” Carmen asks quickly. Craig shoots a confused look in our direction.
“Yes. Let me go…”
“Craig, go get her bag,” my cousin orders. It surprises me that Craig obeys Carmen.
“Where’s Donald?” I ask.
“He’s in the van. Come on guys,” she rushes.
“What’s wrong?” Peter gently asks Carmen. She sighs.
“Lilly posted on twitter. She made a comment about how Chelsea’s visiting Rain. It’s already too late. I see a news van out front. But I’d rather deal with one news van instead of twenty.” A shudder runs through me. Lilly did this? Why would she bother leading the press to me? Then, somethin
g clicks into place. She believes Adam. Of course, she has no reason not to. During one of my weak moments, Lilly had caught me kissing Adam in the parking lot of a diner. Then, she saw me show up at Adam’s place of work, a hardware store. During all of this, I had been dating Peter. I get why she believes Adam, but why deliberately post my whereabouts on twitter? What does she gain from that?
“Well, this is great,” Rain hisses as she speeds out of the room. Craig returns with a rolling piece of luggage and puts it by the door. This action seems to snap Carmen out of her trance. Peter slips his hand into mine, and we stroll out of the house. A camera man is standing on Rain’s front lawn accompanied by a woman with long brown hair and shrewd eyes.
“Chelsea, what is your next move? Are you going to respond to Adam’s interview? Will you accept the million dollar interview that World Magazine is offering you? Did you kill Otis Saint Paul and Vincent Philips?” She thrusts a microphone at me. Peter’s hand tightens in mine. He doesn’t want me to say a thing. But all of her questions rush over me and surprise fills me. Is someone offering a million dollars for me to tell my story? Not speaking out isn’t helping my case. Carmen sucks in a deep breath. I stare at the green van that is supposed to take me away from all of this and make a decision. Adam lied to these reporters, and I’m allowing this to happen. With Peter’s hand in mine, I strut forward and take the microphone. Another cameraman emerges from the truck, as if two cameras need to film everything.
“I’m not accepting money for any interviews. I had nothing to do with the plot to kidnap and kill my family members. I’m a victim too. Everyone is following me around, trying to get a statement. And it’s all been a little much. You have two choices. You can believe Adam’s lies and feed into his crap the same way that I have. Or you can wait until his trial and see how much of a liar he really is.” Peter’s still holding my hand. The reporter is staring at us and frowns.
“Peter, why are you standing beside someone who tried to kill you?” Her question is laced with reprimand. My boyfriend’s eyes fill up with anger. He flips her off, and I hand the microphone back to the woman before walking with Peter toward the van.
Peter and I sit in the way back along with Carmen. She’s shell-shocked by the whole experience. Apparently, she doesn’t want to encounter any more reporters because when we see more cars driving down the street, she curses. Rain runs out of the house clutching a small black bag. The same brown haired reporter tries to ask her questions, but she shakes her head and jogs toward the van. She hops into the front seat. It’s a seven- passenger van, and there’s the eight of us. Rain doesn’t seem affected by this. Donald has insisted that Craig take shotgun, so Rain slides in over Malcolm and sits on the floor between the two single seats. She lays her head on my lap, and I run my hands through her long hair.
“Will you be comfortable?” I ask her.
“Yup. It’s all good. I used to do this all the time. And besides, it beats trying to sit on Craig’s lap. I’d only bang my head against the roof of the van,” she points out, making things better.
Since Elmview isn’t a hotspot for news, only the one van is in the driveway. Donald quickly pulls out of the driveway and speeds down the street, in hopes of losing the van. Rain slides forward, before catching herself on Malcolm’s arm rest. He frowns down at her.
“Is this safe?” he comments, his voice laced with concern.
“I’ll survive. It’s only for two hours,’ Rain answers, nothing but optimism in her voice. Carmen stares down at the screen of her Galaxy phone.
“She hasn’t posted anything else. Malcolm, did you tell Lilly about the cabin?” Malcolm shakes his head. “I only told her that I wouldn’t talk to her for a few days.”
“And she agreed without a fight?” Danny asks, her voice full of annoyance.
“Just as easily as you agreed to be Dominic’s bride,” he counters with a snare. This is going to be awkward. I’ve accepted that. And to make matters worse, no one seems inclined to break them up. We have bigger worries like being followed by the paparazzi.
“At least he asked me,” she challenges. “You said that you wanted nothing serious. So I moved on.”
“You didn’t move on, Daniela. You cheated on me. That’s a major difference.”
“I thought that we were over. I thought that we had a summer fling. I thought…” I tune them out because I’m still craning my neck, trying to make sure that no one’s following us. As far as I can tell, Donald had sped away fast enough.
“Did I dump you? Did you dump me? Unless that happens, two people aren’t over,” Malcolm hisses.
“This was a bad idea. I’m not sure how I thought that you would be mature about this,” Danny says, making Malcolm quiet down. She has effectively told him that none of this matters anymore. My heart squeezes for him. Malcolm’s hurting because he really loved Danny, and she doesn’t understand that.
“How about lunch,” Donald suggests, which causes everyone, including Rain to whole heartily agree. Despite the fact that there is the eight of us, we go through the Wendy’s drive through. Donald orders “eighteen chicken go wraps, eight large French fries and ten double stacks and eight bottles of water.” He figures that we would all eat what we want. I hand him my card to pay and as soon as we have the food, which costs over sixty dollars, he drives off. Since Rain has no seat belt, she hands out our desired meal. Because I figure that this is the first real eating choice that I’ve made, I eat a chicken go wrap and a double stack. Rain hands me one of each, a carton of French fries, and a bottle of water. I balance it all in my lap and eat like I hadn’t seen food in years. Carmen surprises us all by eating two chicken go wraps and one double stack. She doesn’t eat much of her fries and hands them over to Peter, who’s munching gladly on his chicken. He always goes for the slightly healthier choice. After we hit the highway, tension eases from my shoulders. Everything is going to be fine. Mom will be upset. Maybe she will find a way to get me committed. But I won’t worry about that. Peter’s right beside me happily munching on his food. He’s all that matters. The reporters, my parents, the trial are all in the background. I don’t care that the prosecutor advised me not to leave town. She might have questions for me. It all can wait. I know that there are consequences to actions. Hell, I’m still suffering the consequences for disobeying my Grandmother. She warned me that Adam was no good. I can never forgive myself for not listening. I had been so sure that she had no idea what love was because of her past decisions. But now, I think that she knows exactly what love is. She just can’t express it correctly.
“You can call your mother in a few days,” Carmen tells me a while after Rain collects the trash from our lunch.
“I don’t plan on it,” I admit. My cousin frowns.
“Chelsea, I know that Aunt Kate has been a handful. But she worries about you. Believe me, she worries. That’s why she’s been so protective,” Carmen reasons. She’s right. I know that. But still. I’m worried that Mom will figure out where we have gone and decide to join us.
“I know. I’m just a little upset with her.” I pointedly glance at Peter, who is resting his head against the window. Carmen nods in understanding.
“I told my father that you’re with me. I also told him not to worry.”
“That’s it?” I ask.
“Yes. He told me to take you home. But I told him that you going back to grandmas is your choice.” I chuckle at my cousin. She’s an amazing young woman.