Private 10 - Suspicion (5 page)

"I believe I have the answer to that question," a booming voice announced.

Upton and I turned around to find Mr. and Mrs. Ryan, as well as their son Daniel, striding through the restaurant. Everyone started whispering again as dozens of pairs of wide eyes followed the family's progress across the patio. Mrs. Ryan stood behind her daughter, placing her hands on Paige's shoulders, as Mr. Ryan stepped up next to Upton. Daniel hovered near the corner, as close to Poppy as he could get without falling off the edge of the deck. I was starting to understand the massive crush he had on her. Took a nutter to attract a nutter, apparently.

"What do you mean?" Upton asked.

"Reed, I'm so sorry about this," Mr. Ryan began, turning a piece of paper around in his hands. "As it turns out, the person who attacked you was under our employ."

"What?" Paige blurted.

"You mean she actually was pushed?" Poppy asked, her eyes wide. If Upton hadn't touched my wrist right then, there's a very good chance I would have given her a black eye.

"It was Marquis," Mr. Ryan said.

I blinked, taken aback. Marquis was a nice man who worked as a maitre d' at Shutters and occasionally waitered at parties for the Ryans. The members of the St. Barths crew were friendly with him and he'd always seemed perfectly normal. I couldn't believe the man with the welcoming smile and easy laugh had tried to kill me.

"No," Upton said. "We've known him foryears. Why would he--"

"It seems his family has fallen on hard times," Mr. Ryan explained. "He was after the necklace. The police found it in his house. We are all so sorry, Reed. As Upton mentioned, we've known the man for years. I never would have thought him capable of something like this." My mind whirled with the news. If this was true, then no one was trying to kill me. I had just been collateral damage. The runaway horse and the faulty Jet Ski were just accidents, like Upton had said. No one wanted me dead. I was safe. Perfectly safe. Right?

"This is unbelievable," Upton said.

"But it's good news, right?" Noelle said, walking over to us. It seemed everyone in the small restaurant had heard Mr. Ryan's announcement. "I mean, I liked Marquis too, but this means Reed can stay. It means you're safe," she told me. She even spoke slowly, like she was addressing someone who had just learned the language.

"Right," I said. "I guess so."

"Miss Brennan, my husband and I feel responsible. If there's anything we can do to make this up to you, please just ask," Mrs. Ryan said in a formal tone. I glanced up at her and her beady eyes bored into mine. Suddenly I couldn't help recalling in full detail the last time I had seen her. When she'd caught Upton and me half naked in her stateroom. My face colored and I looked around at the table. Paige, Poppy, and Sienna were all glaring at me. Of course they were. I had just accused them of attempted murder. And as it turned out, I was wrong.

I cleared my throat and wiped my palms on my shorts. "Um... I'm sorry about the ... about what I just said. I guess you guys had nothing to do with it."

So why did I still feel so very uncertain? Sawyer's words niggled at the back of my mind. If Paige and Daniel were innocent, then where had they gone off to that night? "Why had they disappeared? But if Marquis had done it, I guess it didn't matter where they'd gone. They must have been off doing something else. It was all just a coincidence.

"Gee, you think?" Paige blurted. "I can't believe you think you can just come over here and--"

"Paige," Mr. Ryan said vehemently. In two seconds he'd gone from white with sorrow to red with rage. Paige sank in on herself slightly as she looked up at her father. She cleared her throat and took another sip of water before looking at me again.

"Apology accepted," she said in a clipped tone. "Right, girls?" Sienna snorted and Poppy's eyes clouded with ire. "Yeah," she said tersely. "Absolutely."

"Thanks," I replied, playing my part in the little charade.

"Come on," Upton said. He took my hand and held it between both of his. "Let's go order." I nodded mutely and let him and Noelle lead me back to the table. Relief flooded my body with each step, and I felt light as air. It was over. Really and truly over. I could stay on St. Barths after all. I could work things out with Upton and enjoy the rest of break. Finally,finally everything was going to be okay.

"We need to talk."

I dropped down on the colorful, striped beach blanket next to Upton's. He laid aside his iPhone and gave me a killer smile. "Well. That sounds ominous," he said. All around us, our friends were going about usual beach business, chatting, dozing, or racing along the water's edge. After lunch, we had all adjourned to the beach in front of the Si-mon Hotel, Poppy's parents' establishment. Even the evil triad, as I was now calling them in my mind--although they had apparently not tried to kill me--was in attendance. Though they, along with Daniel and Weston Bright, had set up camp a few conspicuous yards up the beach away from the rest of us. I glanced back at them and caught the triad watching me as they whispered to one another, their heads close together. My heart skipped a nervous beat. I knew they were seriously pissed off that I had publicly accused them of attempted murder, and I wondered what they were talking about now--or planning. I hoped that I would not be spending another afternoon locked up in a shower stall... or something much worse.

"Everything okay?" Upton asked.

I took a deep breath and turned to face him. I had to try to focus on the task at hand. "Not really."

There was a tiny stick between us in the sand. I picked it up and used it to doodle my name in the soft powder. I knew that if I was going to be staying on in St. Barths, I had to deal with what had happened on the Ryans' boat. So why was there a ball of dread sitting in the center of my stomach?

"It's about casino night," I said, watching the stick as I started a series of curlicues. "You know when Poppy and Mrs. Ryan found us ..."

"Ah." Upton crossed his legs in front of him. "Let's have it, then." Did he really not know what he'd done? The thought was so frustrating it immediately crowded out my trepidation.

"You went after Poppy," I said under my breath, glancing back at her to make sure she wasn't in hearing range. Girl was still conspiring with the rest of the evil triad. "Do you have any idea how that felt? I was mortified and you left me there alone and went after your ex." Upton looked legitimately confused. His brow furrowed and he, too, looked back at Poppy and the others. "You mean after she and Mrs. Ryan came--" Suddenly his face filled with realization and he laughed. "Oh, Reed, I didn't go after Poppy. I went after Paige's mum."

I blinked. "What?"

"It's all a proper misunderstanding," he said, lifting my hand and holding it with both of his.

"Listen, Mrs. Ryan is good friends with my mum and dad and I just wanted to make sure she wasn't going to go tattling on me. My parents, they're ... they can be quite old-fashioned sometimes, so if they were to find out what we were doing. .."

"You were worried about getting in trouble with your parents?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"When you put it that way, it sounds silly, but it was more about you," he said, reaching over to tuck a stray hair behind my ear. "I didn't want them thinkingyou were, you know, that kind of girl."

He pressed his teeth together in a sort of grimace and I laughed even as I blushed. I didn't exactly care what Upton's parents thought of me, but maybe it was good that Mrs. Ryan and Poppy had stopped us. It gave me more time to consider how far, exactly, I wanted to take this thing with Upton. To figure out if I was really that kind of girl.

"So you didn't go off to comfort Poppy. Because Sawyer said that when you came back to the party, you were with her," I told him.

Upton's expression clouded and he hesitated for a second. "Oh. Maybe for a minute, but just for a quick chat. Then I didn't see Poppy again until we boarded a search boat to go out looking for you."

I glanced past Upton's shoulder at Sawyer, who sat on a towel closer to the water, hunched over a tattered novel. He had seemed to think it was more than a quick chat. Was it possible that he had simply inferred something that wasn't actually there? Or was Upton downplaying it on purpose?

"So, are we friends again?" Upton asked, looping one strong arm around my shoulders and pulling me into him. I sighed, happy to be so close to him again.

"I guess I can take you back," I joked.

"I appreciate your benevolence," Upton smirked.

"Gage! Quit it!" Kiran squealed, running up the beach from the water, her long dark hair soaking wet and her tan body beaded with water. Gage Coolidge chased after her with a huge dead crab, its limp legs flappingaroundashetauntedherwithit. Classic immature Gage. Sometimes I wondered why they ever let the guy graduate kindergarten.

"What? The international supermodel is afraid of a little crustacean?" Gage said, holding it out as he lunged for her.

Kiran squealed and whirled away. "Hello? Aren't any of you guys going to save me?"

"I'm on it!" Graham volunteered, tossing the volleyball to Dash. He raced down the beach and charged Gage, tackling him to the sand. The crab went flying and dropped to the ground right at Amberly's feet. She screamed and scampered away on her hands and knees, kicking sand all over Noelle's back as she lay on her towel.

"Amberly! What the hell?" Noelle spat.

"Sorry! He threw a dead thing at me!" Amberly whined. Noelle rolled her eyes and turned her head away from Amberly. Graham and Gage, meanwhile, laughed, grunted, and trash-talked as they wrestled each other in the sand. Kiran, looking decidedly untraumatized, walked over, grabbed her towel, and dropped down at my other side.

"You know what we need?" she said as Graham shoved Gage's face into the sand with the heel of his hand. She blithely rubbed her hair with the towel. "A party."

"There's a shock," Noelle muttered.

Dash trotted over to join us now that the volleyball teams were uneven, trailing Tiffany and Taylor, who had been playing with the guys. They all stood around in a semicircle, watching as Gage flipped Graham over and pinned him to the ground.

"Nice move, dude!" Dash yelled as he sat.

"No, I'm serious!" Kiran said. She flicked a speck of sand off her flat stomach and leaned back on her elbows, stretching out her perfect bikini body for all to see. "I think we need a New Year's Eve--slash-Thank You, Sawyer, for Saving Reed's Life party."

"You hear that, Sawyer?" Graham shouted to his brother as he pushed Gage off himself and stood. He walked over to Sawyer and dragged him up off his blanket. "Kiran wants to throw you a party!"

Upton picked up the stick I'd been playing with earlier and jabbed it at the sand. Graham got Sawyer in a headlock and bullied him over to our group. By the time they got there, Sawyer's face was bright red--either from exertion or embarrassment or both.

"You really don't have to do that," Sawyer replied, shoving Graham off him. Upton tossed the stick at the ground, where it happened to land near Sawyer's feet. I felt a sizzle of tension pass between the two guys.

Was Upton angry that he hadn't gotten to play the hero that night? I nudged him with my shoulder.

"Kiran's right," Upton said quickly, clearing his throat. "A party is definitely in order."

"Woo hoo!" Kiran cheered.

"But New Year's Eve is three days away. Canyou really plan a proper parry in that time?" Upton asked.

"You so underestimate me, Mr. Giles," Kiran joked. She whipped her BlackBerry out of her canvas tote and started dialing. "I'm going to start making arrangements right now." As Kiran did her party-planning thing, Graham started up with Sawyer and soon a new wrestling match ignited. Gage and Dash both joined in, and before I knew it Upton was on his feet and rushing into the scrum. Even West and Daniel got involved.

"Boys," Noelle said, rolling her eyes as she sat up to watch. "So juvenile." But of course we all couldn't help watching and laughing as they tossed each other around in the sand. For the first time in days I felt completely happy, completely at ease. I felt like my vacation was just about to start.

"Aren't you glad you stayed?" Taylor said as we stepped through the automatic sliding doors to the Simon Hotel's gilded lobby the following night for dinner. The marble-tiled floor shone beneath our Jimmy Choos, and almost every surface was bursting with pink and purple blooms. Athree-piece band played Caribbean music softly in the corner, the steel drum gonging a happy tune. I took a deep breath of the salt air and smiled. We were there to meet up with the rest of the crew and have dinner at the Simon's most exclusive restaurant. Everyone had dressed up for the occasion. I saw a few heads turn as Taylor and I paused to wait for Kiran and Noelle.

"Yeah. I kind of am," I replied giddily.

"That dress is killer, Reed," Kiran said, stepping up behind me with Noelle. I was wearing a black dress with a halter neck and a slim skirt--a dress Kiran had bought for me our first day on the island--and I did feel rather killer. "Upton's goingto have a stroke when he sees you." 

"Let's hope not," I replied. "I don't think I can handle a sudden death."

"What do you say we make a pact never to utter the word death again," Noelle suggested, lifting her thick brown hair over her shoulder. She was wearing a black strapless dress that made mine look like a muumuu. "At least until we get back to Easton."

"Deal," I replied with a laugh.

"There they are," Taylor said, lifting her chin. The rest of our group was gathered around the lobby bar, their voices gradually growing louder and more jovial, filling the high-ceilinged room. The cool air chilled the bare skin of my arms as I crossed the room, concentrating on not teetering in the four-inch heels Kiran had lent me. The last thing I wanted was for Upton to see me fall flat on my face. But as I stepped up next to Tiffany and Amberly, I realized Upton was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, girls," Tiffany said, lifting a champagne flute. "Grab a glass at the bar." The three of them obliged while I held back.