The Arrangement Anthology 2(35)

“You had a knife on you?” I sound stupid for asking, but where the hell was it?

Mel nods once. The normal smile that’s on her lips is gone and her head hangs between her shoulders as she buries her face in her hands. “I always have it strapped to my thigh. When I’m doing it, I hide the blade, but it’s still in reach—under the pillow or shoved into the side of the mattress. I take care of me. I always have.” Mel glances up and doesn’t blink. Her eyes are cold and hard, like she’s emotionally shut down in order to tell me the rest of the story. “Before the bitch knows what happened, I stabbed her in the side. She starts muttering about something that makes no sense, after cursing me out.”

“What’d she say?” Sean asks. “What were her exact words?”

“Her voice isn’t panicked, it’s creepy, smooth as glass, and she says, ‘You have no idea what you’ve done, you little cunt. Everything was perfect, and now they’ll all…’ Her words get garbled and I can’t understand her. Her face contorts in pain and she starts screaming. That’s a horrible way to die, and with the amount of blood pouring from her like that, she was as good as dead. She started begging me, so I ended it. Then I grabbed my stuff and ran. They must have found the body when they brought in the food.”

I can’t breathe for a few seconds and Mel won’t look at me. Sean is watching the side of my face, waiting for my reaction. A few things stick and I blurt them out. “Someone was trying to frame you for something else—otherwise why would that woman be dressed like you?”

“And?” Sean prompts, watching me closely.

“The bracelet didn’t work. Either someone tampered with it or it never worked to begin with. Black says she checks them every time we check in, so that shouldn’t be it.” I glance over at Mel. “What do you think?”

When Mel glances up at me, I want to throw my arms around her and tell her that everything will be all right, but I know it won’t be. “I think we’re fucked. Someone was using me to get to you and they’re doing it through Black. The problem now is that none of this will lead back to her.”

“But the transmitter?” I ask, still not getting what they’re trying to tell me.

Mel’s brow is pinched with worry when she looks over at me. Her hand grabs at the hair on the sides of her temples and I hear the distress in her voice. “Avery, there was no fucking transmitter. When the cops look at the bracelet, they’ll think it was junk jewelry. It won’t lead back to Black, it’ll lead to me.”





CHAPTER 13




Sean isn’t tense for once. Sometime while Mel was talking, his shoulders relaxed and he’s sitting back in his chair like it’s a throne. His lips are straight, there’s no curve to the corners of his mouth. He stares straight ahead, lost in thought.

I’m still piecing things together and don’t like the way the puzzle is forming. If someone was impersonating Mel, then what was she there for? It feels like Mel left pieces of the story out, but for the life of me, I can’t imagine what they could be. I find myself staring at the side of her face.

Mel is leaning back in her chair with her neck resting, looking up at the ceiling. “What?” she finally snaps.

“Tell her,” Sean suddenly says, and glances over at me. “I already told you that I’ll tell her if you don’t.” Mel doesn’t move. Instead she stiffens and seals her lips. “Avery—”

Mel darts upright. “I’ll tell her! You don’t say a word.” Pain is painted all over Mel’s face. “Someone’s been screwing with you, right? Asia told me that you had her in your room one night—that something spooked you.” My jaw drops. I’m about to deny it, but both of them give me a look that shuts me up. “Tonight, before everything went to hell, I got a text with a video attached. It was you. He said to come get it or he’d post it online. Avery, I was supposed to leave the room and you guys were supposed to be there. I didn’t leave because I thought he was messing with me at first, and then I said I was coming but the food was supposed to be there. I figured he’d wait, so I didn’t leave—I just told him I was on my way.”

I blink at her. “Wait a second, someone told you they had a sex video of me and that they’d post it if you didn’t come down, but you didn’t go because you wanted dinner first?” I give her a shocked look and don’t know whether I should yell and scream or hug her.

Sean glances at me. “There’s another player, and you’re his target.”