Andy stared in horror, watching it all unfold but not moving. I ran around in front of them, grabbing under one of her arms and helping Jaren move her to dry sand. Once she was away from the tide, we laid her down gently, straightening her body out. Jaren leaned over her, pressing his ear to her lips as I hurried to bring Andy to us.
I threw his arm over my shoulder, helping him to stand. As we moved to safety, away from the ocean’s lapping tongue, I checked him for injuries as best I could in the small amount of light I’d been given. He was completely drenched, his hands pruney. Was that from the ocean or the rain? I put a hand to his head, brushing his hair back when we reached the dry sand, standing just a few steps from Jaren, who was working tirelessly performing CPR he hadn’t taken lessons on in twenty years. To my surprise, he seemed to remember it, his years of lifeguard training in college paying off well.
We watched in silence as he pounded rhythmically on her chest, pausing to blow breaths into her mouth every few pumps. I needed to do something—to ask Andy what happened, to call for help, but I was frozen in fear.
Did I want to know what happened?
Had Andy done something awful?
How could I even think that?
After a few minutes, Jaren stopped, his head hung low, arms dropped to his sides. Rain dripped from his hair onto the sand. “Is she…” I trailed off. It was too hard to say. Besides, I already knew the answer.
He nodded, not looking at me. “She’s gone. I’m sorry, Andy.”
A scream erupted from Andy, causing me to jump back with shock. He pushed away from me, falling to his knees beside her body. “She can’t be…no. She can’t be.” He pounded on her chest and blew into her mouth over and over, copying what Jaren had done, but he was doing it all wrong.
“Andy…” I leaned down, trying to stop him. Jaren leaned across her body, forcing him to stop. He was protecting her.
“You’re going to damage her body even more,” Jaren screamed. “You aren’t helping her, Andy. You can’t help her.” His tone was strong, in command. “You have to stop. We need to get help—call Manu, get the police. There’s nothing we can do for her anymore. I’m sorry. She’s gone.”
Andy stopped fighting against Jaren’s arms, his shoulders dropping as he sobbed silently.
“Andy, what happened?” I asked, dropping to my knees and pulling him toward me. He leaned his head into my shoulder stiffly, remaining silent. “Andy, talk to us. What happened?” I demanded, stroking his hair. I needed answers. I needed to know what to say when people asked. “We have to go get help.” I lifted his head to look at me. “Is there anything we need to know before we do?”
His face contorted with disbelief. “What are you talking about?”
“Andy, you know we’ll protect you,” Jaren said, and I was so thankful he was backing me up finally. “If we need to know something before we get the police involved, you can tell us.”
He backed up. “What are you—I didn’t do this. You know I didn’t do this.”
“Of course not,” I said, trying to pull him back to me. “Of course not.” It was a stupid thought, but it was there. It’s always the husband. Boyfriend in this case.
“Go get help,” I whispered to Jaren as Andy fell back over Emily, giving in to his sobs. “I’ll stay with him.”
Jaren started to move, but stopped, his jaw tight. “Let me stay. You go.”
“I—” Was he worried about me? Lighting struck, lighting up the sky momentarily, and I heard thunder rumble in the distance.
“Don’t argue,” he said. “Go.” When I stood, he added, “And wake up Nick or Brad. I don’t want you walking across the beach at night alone. Especially not in this storm.”
I nodded, fear taking root in my bones at his words.
Was I in danger? Were we all?
What happened to Emily?
What was going to happen to the rest of us?
Chapter Twenty
Laura
“Wake up,” a voice called. Someone was shaking me in my sleep. “Laura, get up.”
I opened my eyes. Something’s happened to the girls.
Brad was staring at me, standing on my side of the bed, worry plaguing his expression. “Get up.” He knows. I’d changed clothes when I got home, hidden away all the evidence. How could he know? Maybe it was the girls after all.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” I sat up, throwing the cover away from me and searching for my phone before realizing it wasn’t there.
“Something’s going on outside. Put on your shoes.” He walked away from the bed and toward the door, already dressed. The floors beside the windows were soaked, and I noticed, for the first time, the sounds of the rain hitting our roof. It was still storming. Harder now than when I’d made it home. How long had I been asleep? I glanced at the time. It couldn’t have been more than an hour, and yet it felt like I’d been sleeping for days. I moved to the windows, shutting them quickly, drying my hands on my clothes.
“What are you talking about?” I grabbed my flip flops from under the edge of the bed and slid them on, hopeful he wouldn’t question why my hair was already wet. I cursed myself for trusting that we’d sleep through the night, that my hair would be dry by morning. Even with so much on my mind, I should’ve pulled it up in a bun or something. My thick hair retained water for hours once wet. If he asked, what excuse did I have? I’d gone for a walk? I’d taken a middle of the night shower?
He was staring
