The Summervale Series, page 14
“Of course,” said Officer Penny Black, the female deputy.
“So, Darcie, in your words, can you tell us what happened tonight?”
I looked at the officers, my dad, and then around for my friends. I couldn’t see Stacey or the other girl anymore, or Dane or Ashton. I wondered where they were.
“Sure… um… but I’m sure it won’t be much different from what the others have probably told you.”
“We wanna hear the events in your words, if you can, please, Darcie,” said Officer Penny with a kind smile. I sighed. I still didn’t like her because of the way she interrogated me last time, but she was slowly growing on me. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure she liked me that much either.
“Okay fine. We took the yacht out after the gig for a bit of a get-together.”
“After the Three Strikes gig at the yacht club?” asked officer Penny, holding her notepad and pen at the ready.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Who boarded the boat with you?”
“There was Dane and me, Stacey, Ashton, Bobby, Dylan, and Cassie. Then there was another blonde girl that I’m not sure her name. I think she goes to our school. There are quite a few girls who look the same, and I’m not the best with remembering names and faces.”
Officer Penny nodded and wrote that down.
“So, you all went out on Ashton Striker’s family yacht for a good time?”
“Yes. Ashton had planned it beforehand. We wanted to head out on the water after his gig. The others organized the food and booze and music.”
“Were you in charge of anything?”
“No. I just tagged along. I wanted to hang out with my friends.”
“And how much did you drink, Darcie?” asked the sheriff.
My head snapped toward him, but I ignored his tone of judgement.
“Only like two glasses of champagne. Not much. It usually goes to my head pretty fast.”
Office Black made a few more notes. The sheriff hmm hmm’d.
“What happened when you reached the open water?”
“I don’t know. It all happened really fast. I was talking with Dane at the back of the boat when suddenly, the boat stopped, and we all went flying. I hit my head, so I don’t remember much after that.”
Officer Black scribbled quickly.
“So you don’t remember anything? Even when you woke up?”
“Only that Dane was with me. And then there was a commotion near the back of the boat, and Dane told me they found something. It turned out to be Cassie.”
“How long were you unconscious?” asked the Sheriff.
“Um… I’m not sure. A few minutes, perhaps? As I said, everything happened so fast.”
He nodded and made a few notes of his own.
“So, you only saw them pull Cassie Hutcherson’s body from the water? Not Melody Carmichael’s?”
“What? Was that the blonde girl’s name? Is she missing?”
The sheriff and Officer Black shared a look. He nodded as if giving her permission to share information.
“Darcie, when the coast guard towed the Striker’s yacht back to the marina, police divers and the crime scene unit analyzed the boat from top to bottom. Not only did they find Cassandra Hutcherson’s hair in the propeller, but they also found the remains of another body. Seeing as we have been unable to speak with Miss Carmichael, and none of the others remembers her getting off the boat tonight, we are guessing this second body belongs to Melody Carmichael.”
My jaw dropped.
There were not one but two deaths tonight. I had no idea what had happened to either girl. Well, possibly Cassie drowned when she fell over. Or did she jump in to try and save Melody? Or did Melody fall in earlier, and we hit her? It didn’t make sense because of the speed and direction of the boat. How could either of them get caught in the boat’s propeller?
“Oh, my god.”
“Officer Black, Sheriff Richards, are we done here? Can’t you see my daughter is in shock? I would like to take her home.”
“Yes, of course, Mr Ryder. We are done. For now.”
“Good night, Harry. Darcie,” said the sheriff.
I breathed a sigh of relief when they walked away. But my dad remained by my side. I slid out of the ambulance and walked with him to his car.
I had so many questions. What happened to the girls? What went down with Ashton and his dad? And why did my dad have lipstick on his face if Dane’s mom wasn’t with him tonight?
nine
THE PUNISHMENT
ASHTON
Later that night, after the incident, my father and I drove home in separate cars. He was angry with me. And I was angry with him. I was mentally preparing for the barrage of words and scolding that would undoubtedly come when I walked through the front door.
And sure enough, as soon as I pulled up outside our beachside mansion on Rich Bitch Mile, my dusty Ford Pickup looking out of place amongst my mom’s Lexus SUV and my dad’s Jaguar.
My parents were standing beside said cars in the drive, accompanied by Bobby’s dad, Sheriff Richards. The red and blue flashing lights lighting up the neighbourhood caused us to have quite the audience of nosy neighbours. I got out of the car silently, carrying my keys in my hand.
“Ashton, can we please go inside? Quickly,” said my mom.
No, ‘are you okay, honey?’. My dad had obviously filled her in already. And I could tell by her terse words that I was in deep shit.
I sighed. “Fine.” I eyed the sheriff suspiciously. I wondered why he was here. He had already taken our statements down at the marina.
We headed into the formal dining room, where not surprisingly, my mom had a whole spread laid out: meats and cheeses, her homemade oatmeal cookies and even homemade sausage rolls and mini quiches.
Damn. I knew what this meant.
My mom was a local women’s association member, and she usually baked a plate of something for meetings. But on occasion, when she was displeased with something, when she was stressed, she baked more.
This was one of those times.
I walked over to the table and began piling things on a plate.
“Ashton, please sit. We need to talk,” said my father.
I paused with a mini quiche stuffed in my mouth and stared at him. I quickly finished it and grabbed a few more items before taking a seat at the table. I loved when my mom stress-baked. I was always hungry.
“Reggie, would you like a drink? Scotch? Beer? Port?”
“Whatever you’re having, Martin. Thanks.”
Without asking what I wanted, my mom grabbed me a coke and poured herself a large glass of Chardonnay. My dad walked over to the bar area and poured two scotch on the rocks for him and the sheriff.
“What’s going on?” I asked. They were all acting so weird.
When my parents and the sheriff had taken a seat, my dad spoke up.
“Ashton, Reggie, your mother and I have agreed.”
“Yeah, we agree that after tonight’s… escapade and the deaths of those girls, that we need to stage an intervention for you kids,” added Sheriff Richards.
The world slowed to a halt. My hand crushed the coke can. It still had liquid in it, so it splashed all over my mom’s white linen tablecloth.
I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She hesitated, then decided that yelling at me would be enough after tonight and took a large drink of her wine. Growing up, if I so much as thought about running in the house, leaving dirty clothes or soccer boots on the floor, or spilled anything on her designer linen, I would be grounded for a month for each incident.
Over the years, because I was a rebel, I had accumulated five years’ worth of groundings, of which I still hadn’t completely served.
I wonder if it was catching up to me now.
“What?” I said, looking at each of the adults.
“The sheriff and I, along with Dylan’s parents, have decided to send you boys to the city. You have been signed up for apprenticeships at different places. Paid, of course.”
“What?!”
“Yes, we have agreed that this town is a bad influence on you and not indicative of what I want for my son or his future career aspirations,” explained the sheriff. “I have spoken with Bobby and my wife, and like you, he is not happy, but we feel as though it’s for the best. Staying in Summervale… well, look at what happened tonight. When you kids get together, trouble follows.”
I stood, throwing my chair back. It hit the wall, scratching the paint. My mom cringed, but I ignored her.
“That’s insane! You can’t just ship us off to the city, and what? Make us do jobs we don’t want to do as some sort of punishment?”
“Well, it’s better than jail, Ashton,” said my father, taking a sip of his drink.
I glared at him. Then I turned my gaze on Bobby’s dad and the sheriff.
“Look, I told you I didn’t mean for tonight to turn out the way it did. Of course, I am devastated that Cassie and Melody died, but I told you all I wanted was to blow off steam. My friends needed it too.”
“But that’s the problem. All you kids want to do is blow off steam. And it’s getting to the point where people are dying! I bet it’s that Ryder girl. Ever since she came to town, things have changed.”
I rubbed my hands over my face. “Darcie is not the problem. The point is you can’t just ship us out of town.”
“Ashton, until you are twenty-one, you live by our rules, that is if you want any piece of your trust fund,” said Mom. “But until then, you are being cut off from any weekly allowance.”
“No! What? You can’t do that! How am I going to pay for my truck and gas to get to gigs?”
“That’s why you’re going to work at the label.”
I gasped and stared at my father.
“What? The label?”
“It’s done. You leave on Friday. So, you better start packing,” said my mom.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe this. Un-fucking-believable,” I said before storming upstairs to my room, slamming the door loudly after me.
I couldn’t believe this. My parents and my friends’ parents were shipping us off to the city to work. We would no longer be living off our trust fund interest as weekly payments.
I wondered what the boys thought. I had to speak with them.
What would Dane say?
And Stacey? Damn. We had just begun something good. I had to see everyone, but I knew I was now grounded for the foreseeable future—at least for the next four years.
So I walked over to my computer and turned it on. I sent a chat request to everyone and then sat back and waited.
ten
THE PLAN
STACEY
I was typing up my last essay for English class when my computer pinged with a chat request.
Ashton Striker invited you to a group chat.
My heart jumped, and I saved and closed my document quickly.
But wait, a group chat? My heart sank a little. I was hoping to be able to speak with him alone after tonight. I had texted him, but he had yet to reply.
Just as I clicked accept on the invitation, there came a knock at my door.
“Stacey? Can we talk?” It was my stepfather—perfect timing, as per usual.
“Um… just a sec. I’m busy.”
The group chat opened, and only Ashton was in the virtual room at that time.
Crap! Why did my stepdad have to choose now to interrupt me for a discussion?
“Hey, Ash. I’m sorry. I’ll be back in a sec... My stepdad wants to talk to me.”
“Hey. Oh, that’s okay.” A message popped up then.
Dane O’Connell has joined the chat.
“Oh, Dane’s here now.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll be back soon. Okay, babe?” I said.
“Okay, babe.”
I minimized the chat window and ran to my door. My stepfather was leaning against the wall outside, writing something on his phone. He was probably drafting his next sermon.
“Hey, Dad. What’s up?” I said, halfway out my bedroom door.
“Hey, sweetheart. I was wondering if we could have a little chat.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. But can it wait till tomorrow? My boyfriend and friends want to talk to me. We’re actually on a group chat right now.”
I watched his expression. His eyes widened, and his mouth and eyebrows pinched together as if he was unimpressed.
“No. I would prefer that it be now. It’s about what happened tonight. It’s important.”
I looked fondly over my shoulder, sighed and closed the door behind me.
“Okay, fine.”
We went into my stepfather’s office, and he closed the door behind us. As he was the local pastor, his office was filled with crosses and paintings from the Bible and different editions of the Bible. There were even rare editions on his bookshelves.
I hadn’t been brought up in a Christian household when I was little. This is a recent thing. When we moved to Summervale a few years back, my mom joined the church for something to do and to meet people. She wouldn’t admit it, but I knew she was trying to wash away the sins of our past, trying to cover up the skeletons from Acacia Creek. She was trying to repent. I had to go along with her, of course. And she met Paul, my now stepfather.
I walked around the room looking at the art that lined the walls, something I did every time I came in here because I knew it would be like I was going to confession as soon as I sat down.
“Your mother asked me to speak with you about something. We thought it would be a great idea and would help with your future.”
I turned to look at him, my eyebrows rising in surprise. “My future?”
“Yes. Please sit down.” He gestured at the heavy wooden chair before his heavy wooden desk. Every piece of furniture in the room was in dark wood and smelled of the church. I think because of few different types of holy incense burners on the shelf. I hated the smell of frankincense. It burned my nostrils.
I reluctantly sat, fiddling with my fingernails. Something I always did when I was nervous.
This was it. I was now in the confessional.
“So, um… Stacey, your mother and I have talked, and we have agreed that your friends, especially Darcie, and your boyfriend, Ashton, are bad influences on you.”
“What?! How can you say that?! They’re not bad influences.”
He put his hand up as if to say, wait and to calm down. I crossed my arms. Nothing good ever came from telling someone to calm down.
“We have decided that you just need a little break from Summervale, from your circle of friends.”
He then slid a glossy brochure across the desk toward me.
I froze, staring at the pictures of smiling faces of teens in kayaks and abseiling off a cliff. There were also pictures of teens raising their arms singing in prayer.
“What is this?”
“It begins this summer. I’ve signed you up as a leader. You’ll participate in exercises and training to help you become a youth leader. And then afterward, you’ll help me at youth group at the church.”
“Christian camp?! Really? You can’t be serious.”
“Your mother and I are serious. It will be the best thing for you.”
I pushed the chair back and stood up. “No. I’m not going.”
“Okay, then you’re banned from seeing your friends and your boyfriend. Some of their parents are also concerned that bad things happen when you’re all together, and now death has followed. The others are also deciding on what to do with their children.”
It all made sense now why Ashton wanted to do a group chat.
The parents were staging an intervention on us.
“No, no, no! That’s not fair. You can’t just ship us all off somewhere and break us apart.”
“Well, we have no other choice, Stacey. Death is unacceptable. It’s either this camp or prison.”
My jaw dropped, and tears stung my eyes.
“I can’t believe you!”
I bolted from the room.
I sat back down at my desk and wiped my face before opening the chat again. Darcie, Bobby and Dylan had now joined the chat too. When they saw me, all conversation halted.
“Stacey?! What happened?” asked Darcie.
“Are you okay, babe?” asked Ashton.
All I could do was shake my head.
“What happened?” asked Dane.
“My stepfather just broke the news to me. I’m being shipped off to bible camp this summer.”
Darcie’s voice rose a few octaves. “What?!”
Ashton just looked broken-hearted and lost. And then he spoke.
“So, they’re breaking us up and shipping us off.”
I nodded. “yes.”
“That’s bullshit!” said Bobby.
“Agreed.”
I wiped my nose on my hand. “Guys, has any of your parents spoken to you about the plan yet?”
“No. Not yet,” replied Dane.
“No,” said Darcie and Dylan at the same time.
Ashton and Bobby nodded.
I froze.
“My stepfather said he’d been speaking with all the parents. He said they’ve come up with an intervention to split us up not only this summer, but perhaps forever,” I explained.
“Yeah, Bobby’s dad was over here tonight. He and my parents confronted me and told me upfront that they were shipping me off to the city. Bobby and Dylan too… Dyl, sorry, man, if you haven’t been told yet. I’m sure you will be soon.”
Dylan swore and pushed his hands through his thin black hair.
“My dad hasn’t spoken to me personally about it, but I’m sure it won’t be long. The bastard. I can’t believe he went to your house like that, Ash,” said Bobby.
“I know. That’s why I called you all here tonight, for this group chat. We need a plan.”
Dane and Darcie nodded.
“Yes. What do you propose?” asked Dane.
“Maybe we can confront the parents and give them a good reason why we should stay here in Summervale,” I said.
“I’m not sure if that will work,” added Darcie. “My dad hasn’t said anything to me yet, not really, but I’m sure it won’t be long. He and Dane’s mom have been going to Neighbourhood Watch meetings.”
