Page 128 of Good Girls Lie

“I can. Good idea, Kate.”

“Send it to me, too, just in case.”

“I love it when you boss me around.”

“Oh, hush, Oliver. Tell me this. How did she skim the money from their accounts?”

“Excellent question. We’ll have to ask her how she got into the accounts. Maybe she stole the passwords. Again, everything points to someone who was close to the family. Why don’t you take her into custody and we’ll ask her directly?”

“Oh, we will. She has a track record of eliminating the people who get in her way. Tony wants to lay all the groundwork before we pick her up. The dean lawyered her up, so we have to wait until the dude comes up from Charlottesville to interview her again.”

“Let me know what happens. We’ll continue working here.”

“Thanks, Oliver. You’re the best.”

I’ve got you now, you sick little girl.

75

THE NOTE

Becca, annoyed as hell, furious, embarrassed, hurt—oh, God, the look in Ash’s eyes when she pushed her away was horrifying, the pain, the confusion, the realization, the rejection—storms back to her room in the attics. Initiation night is supposed to be a huge party and now it’s ruined, everything is ruined. Her life is ruined.

She had no choice. She had to rebuff Ash’s advance. What was she supposed to do, allow herself to be outed in front of the Ivy Bound sisters? It would be all over the school in a heartbeat and fed back to her mother by the dean, and her mother would pull her ass out of school and call her an aberration, the sanctimonious, hypocritical bitch.

Becca tried to feel her mother out last summer, after the video incident, when things had calmed down and Ellen wasn’t quite so angry. Becca mentioned a friend of hers who’d come out as gay, and Ellen Curtis had practically vomited her pinot gris over the edge of the balcony of their Watergate West apartment.

That made it abundantly clear, there was no way in hell Becca could admit that she, too, didn’t see herself married with two point three kids and a dog—at least, not to a man. It broke her heart that she couldn’t be honest with her mother, that she hid the truth from the one person who used to matter so much to her.

She’d acted out instead. Ellen dragged her to a shrink, and Becca was wise enough to keep her mouth shut there, too. Instead, she told stories from her childhood, things she’d done, ways she’d lost her temper, and the doctor compliantly gave her drugs and a few different diagnoses that fit the symptoms she described to a tee.

Becca is fine. She has no mental deficiencies. She is simply a girl in love, and now...

She thought Ash was different. The way she watched, the way her eyes lit up. The way she’d kissed her tonight, freely, happily. And Becca attacked her. She miscalculated and ruined everything.

How could Ash ever forgive her? How can she ever face her again after this? She’d panicked. Would Ash forgive her for that, at least?

She turns up the stereo, throws herself on her bed, and starts to cry. The sobs come from deep inside her soul. She thought things would be different this year. That she wouldn’t feel so alone. That she could finally be herself. It’s not like the girls here would hold it against her, not really. But she is head girl. She feels some sort of responsibility to be everything that’s expected of her.

She would have thrown it all away for Ash. She’d hardly hazed her, had protected her every step of the way. She warned her when the school started talking about her parents, and again today when the headlines started to blare Ash’s own terrible news.

And when faced with the opportunity tonight to show everyone her strength, her leadership, how good she really is, Becca had squandered it, and ruined everything to boot.

Drained, Becca finally flips over and feels something crinkling beneath her. There is a package on her bed, wrapped in tissue paper. She unfolds it to find a bloodred scarf. It’s lovely, thick silk. She winds it around her neck, withdraws the piece of paper, reads it, and bursts into fresh tears.

B—

Can we talk? All of this craziness with the Swallows and Camille and the news from home, I just need a friend. And some privacy. Meet me in front of the gates tonight. Midnight. I have something I want to show you.

Love,

A

This was clearly left behind before the initiation. A gift. A promise.

Oh, yes, my little Ash. I knew I had you. And now I’ve lost you.

Would she still come? Why would she? Becca has just humiliated her in front of Ivy Bound, cast her down, kicked her out. Ash would be well within her rights to tell her to drop dead.