Burned

by Kelsey Cheyenne

  “Sometimes sorry isn’t good enough. I had Sage slap the shit out of me for no reason, you single-handedly broke up all of our friendships – ostracizing me like I was Hester fucking Prynne!” Admittedly, I’m a little afraid Care is going to snap at me again too since I also questioned her integrity several times over the last few months. Luckily, Lexi snaps back before the thought enters Caroline’s mind.

  “You slandered my name in a public newspaper! My family saw that! God, so don’t go around on your high horse acting all innocent!” I do admire Lexi’s tenacity as of late – she had never been one for confrontation before, but she’s standing her ground now. Honestly, I’m quite proud of her.

  My awe is short-lived as I snap out of it. They keep yelling at one another, and I can’t deal with all the fighting. “Guys, stop! This won’t get us anywhere! I know you both have a lot of shit to work through but now isn’t the time to get at each other’s throats. We have enough shit on our plates.”

  I’m at wit’s end with all the arguments and the lies. We have entirely too much going on and there’s too much on the line for us to waste our time fighting with each other. We should be fighting with Sage, or at least planning how to deal with her. We have bigger fish to fry.

  “You’ve both made mistakes – we all have. We all need to get over it and move on. You both haven’t been fair to each other, but I refuse to lose either of you as friends. Care, you’re stuck with me. After all these years, and the fact that we’re sisters now, I’m not going anywhere. Lex, I know we don’t have a long history, but you’re still one of my best friends and that isn’t changing. You did a stupid thing and now there are consequences, but I’m here for you. You need each other just as much as I need the two of you. You need to wake up and realize that.”

  I slam my hands on the table to make my point though I don’t think it was necessary. I’m breathless, and I think they’re both shocked at my monologue, with their wide eyes and gaping mouths. Hell, sometimes I even shock myself with the amount of anger I can harbor inside. It takes me by surprise when it happens, even though it’s few and far between.

  Both Caroline and Lexi remain quiet for an extended period of time. They continue to avoid each other’s gazes and the tension is thick and uncomfortable. Now I feel guilty for yelling at them. I need to apologize or do something to ease the situation.

  “I just need to know why. What did I do to you that you were so eager to throw me under the bus?” The words slip out over Caroline’s lips so delicately it takes a moment for them to actually register. Her anger has seemingly been replaced with deep anguish and hurt. Maybe replaced isn’t the right word because I feel the disappointment was always buried under the surface, hidden by her anger.

  “It was stupid, I know that. But Taylor kept saying he was with you and then Sage just flipped out. I know it was wrong. Everything kept falling into place and everyone just assumed you were guilty. I don’t have a good explanation, okay? I fucked up. Majorly. All I’ve been doing this year is fucking everything up. I’m sorry, Care. Truly.”

  Lexi keeps biting her lip and glancing at Caroline. She has something else she wants to say but doesn’t want to admit it. “And…um. Shit, Care. I stole your earrings. In Aspen. That’s how I had them and how they ended up in Taylor’s bed. You never lent them to me…I stole them. In all this mess I think that’s the thing I feel most guilty about. I still have the other one…somewhere…I’ll get it back to you, I promise.”

  Caroline’s jaw drops and her face turns red once more. I look out at the men in the living room and see that Lexi’s confession even drew Parker’s attention. No one else has noticed, yet, so I subtly shake my head, a warning that now is not the time to deal with her confession. Once again I feel the need to defuse the bomb before it blows and knocks us all out. I just don’t know what to do or say to move past this.

  I don’t think Caroline is willing to completely let Lexi off the hook, especially not about her newfound thieving tendencies (earrings, husbands, whatever), luckily she drops the subject for the time being. Right now, that’s good enough for me.

  I decide the best tactic is to abruptly change the topic to one I’m assuming is safer. “So, the baby.” Despite everything, Lexi beams at the mention of her baby and I feel myself begin to smile at the mention of it.

  “I’m supposed to have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to confirm. I took a bunch of tests and they’re all positive, but you know the drill. There’s one small part of me…” She lets the sentence hang, and I can tell by the way her face screwed up that she doesn’t think she should finish her thought. “Okay, a small, admittedly fucked up part of me is wondering if this all happened for a reason so I could get pregnant. I know that’s a sick way to think, but I still wonder. If I never met Sage I wouldn’t have my baby.”

  I don’t know what to say to that exactly. I’ve always been a firm believer in fate and karma, but how could Taylor’s unwarranted death be meant to be?

  “Has Sage reached out to you guys at all?” I hear Parker call to us from the living room. The abrupt change of topic nearly gives me whiplash as I snap my neck to look at him. I can’t control the heart palpitations and rush of anxiety I feel at her name. Although the conversation is painful, I’m glad Parker circled back to our problem at hand. We need to discuss our plan and what we can do moving forward.

  “No, why? Did she reach out to you? Is she right now? What did she say?” The questions spring from my lips in rapid fire faster than I can even process them.

  “Kennedy, relax.” Caroline’s hand covers mine as she attempts to calm me down. “She hasn’t reached out, but I’m sure she will just as she promised. She has to keep up the ruse and all.”

  “Lexi freezes and somehow manages to pale under her already sickly complexion. “Grayson. She would’ve reached out to him. And he hasn’t been answering his phone. Shit! Why didn’t I think of this sooner? I have to go home. I have to make sure Grayson’s okay.”

  “Guys!” Parker’s urgent, hard tone forces the three of us to look at him. He’s standing, staring at the TV screen with shock and horror written all over his face. I look at Logan and see his hands covering his mouth. I feel sick. I know what this means.

  My legs feel like lead as I drag them to the living room. Caroline follows me, but Lexi is frozen and utterly terrified to leave her spot. We all know what this means, but we don’t want to admit it or acknowledge it, as if that will make it any less real or true.

  The scrolling headline at the bottom of the screen reads Body Found on Cape Cod Coast. The news shows a group of men – police officers or the coast guard or something – in a boat, presumably in the ocean. I don’t know if divers found the body or if Taylor floated up and someone found him that way. I don’t know what the police know or don’t know.

  I’m sure I would have more answers if I was able to even remotely register what was being said during the newscast. I’m too scared to listen. If they find my gun and find the serial number…I’m fucked. I’m so fucked. Why didn’t we call the fucking cops? What do they know? Are they on their way now? Shit. God fucking damn it. No, no, no.

  Chapter 8

  “I need to get out of here. They’re coming.” I’m numb to the point where my voice sounds calm but my insides are screaming.

  “Baby, what are you going to do – hide from the cops? No. So just take a breath and think about this logically. You all need to carry on with our plan to take Sage down. They don’t know anything yet. And soon they’ll know the truth.” Logan is right. His voice melts over me and has an instant calming effect.

  I’m going to have to face the cops sooner or later, so I need to calm down and put the plan into action. And for that I need Lexi to come down from her mental break as well, considering she’s still sitting at the table, mumbling about how she needs to find Grayson. I look at Caroline and she nods her head, a silent agreement to our internal conversation.

  “Lex, we’ll come with you. Let’s go fi
nd Grayson.” Of course, I would never have made her go alone, but I’m so glad Caroline is coming around too.

  Caroline drives the three of us to Lexi’s house. We figure she’s the most emotionally stable out of the three of us at the moment so she’s the safest option. The men didn’t want to stay home but did since we claimed someone should be at the house in case the worst-case scenario happen – as in, the cops come to arrest me.

  We finally broach the subject of Sage going to jail. After giving Lexi the complete low-down, I say “We really need you to be on board with this. It won’t work unless all three of us turn her in.”

  To no one’s surprise, Lexi emphatically agrees. “Oh, I’m on board all right. I want that bitch to rot.” The venom spews off her tongue and causes me to pause. I’ve never before seen Lexi become so vile, but lately it seems to be her default setting. Maybe the hormones are on overdrive and are permanently set to ‘anger’. Regardless, it’s strange coming from Lexi. What’s more bizarre is that she’s even intimidating me, and I’m on her side.

  When we pull into the driveway, the house is dark and seemingly empty. I can’t determine if that’s a good or bad thing just yet.

  The reality is only one of two things can really happen: either Sage got to him or she didn’t. Either he’s alive or he’s not. Maybe he’s dead in the house or maybe he’s asleep. Maybe he’s not home at all. But that also may not be a good thing.

  What does worry me is that he hasn’t reached out to Lexi at all since Friday. A lot can happen in forty-eight hours.

  Caroline and I huddle behind Lexi as she unlocks her front door. The sound of the lock turning is deafening against the late night hour. For better or worse, we step into the house and it’s silent.

  “Grayson?” Lexi calls out but doesn’t get a response. We flip on some lights and search every room but Grayson isn’t home. In fact, it feels like the house hasn’t been ‘lived in’ for a few days. That could merely be my imagination, but regardless I don’t say that to Lex. One emotional breakdown for the day is plenty.

  “He’s not here.” The statement leaves Lexi’s lips devoid of emotion. I don’t know if we should be grateful he’s not here because at least that means he’s not lying dead on the floor, right? But on the other hand, at this hour, where could he possibly be? We each cycle through the obvious emotions – relief, concern, and fear.

  Our minds have become trained to resort to the worst case scenario lately and really, who can blame us? After what we’ve witnessed, I’m surprised any of us willingly leave the house.

  “I don’t want to stay here tonight – not alone, anyway.” I can’t say I blame Lexi for feeling this way. I’d feel the same if I were in her shoes.

  “You can stay at my house tonight, Lex, that’s not a problem. Hell, Care, you and Parker can stay too if you want. I have the extra space and we obviously still have a lot we have to do and discuss. None of us should be alone tonight – not since the police found Taylor’s body.” I know I have my husband at home to be with me, but I don’t want to be apart from my friends. We need to stick together, especially now.

  “You know what? I think we will. And we’ll call the cops first thing in the morning because, frankly, we can’t put it off any longer. We should probably get some sleep, or at the very least try to.” Caroline stands in between Lexi and me and grips our hands in hers. She’s strong as hell and it’s incredibly telling that I can feel her hands shaking and hear her increase in breath.

  She drops our hands and grabs her keys so we can head back to my place. As Caroline opens the door and steps over the threshold, we see Grayson’s car pulling up the driveway. Lexi lets out an audible sigh of relief. We’re all a bit shocked that Grayson is actually home – as I said, we were all expecting the worst case scenario – so it takes us a minute to react.

  Caroline and I file behind Lexi and wait in the kitchen for Grayson’s arrival through the garage entrance. Lexi nearly sprints to the garage door to run out to her husband. When Lex opens the door, the noise from the garage is louder and clearer.

  We hear two car doors slam shut. We hear a girlish giggle echo through the garage and into the house. We hear Grayson’s deep, booming laughter harmonize with the girl’s chuckles.

  Lexi pales and we all freeze in horror at the realization. It would be one thing if it was just any girl’s laughter accompanying Grayson’s – but it was a laugh we all know and that causes us to pause.

  And there, appearing right before our eyes is Sage. What kind of sociopath murders someone – her husband no less – a mere forty-eight hours ago and then shows up giggling with another man?

  Sage’s eyes darken and narrow into slits briefly before she plasters on a saccharine smirk. She stops in the kitchen entryway, taking us all in. Her abrupt halt causes Grayson to stumble into her back. He catches himself by clutching Sage’s waist for support and the grip looks bad at best.

  My eyes immediately dart between Lexi, Sage, and Grayson. I’m waiting for one of the three of them to speak up, to break the tension that’s choking us all.

  Looking sinister as ever, Sage speaks first, her voice overly cheery. She’s so warm and soft-spoken that butter would melt in her fucking mouth. “Hi, ladies, what are you all up to?” She pulls out her phone, appearing to check her messages and shows us her phone screen before continuing. “It doesn’t look like I missed any texts or calls from any of you. Was I not invited to this little get together?

  The Cheshire cat would be envious of the smile on her lips. I look at Grayson and see the beads of sweat pebbling on his forehead. He won’t look Lexi in the eye, and he’s avoiding my gaze as well. He’s mumbling under his breath into Sage’s ear, something incomprehensible from my distance to him.

  Sage continues since the rest of us are mute from shock. “Well, that’s okay, ladies, I didn’t need to be invited to your little party. Grayson and I have had our own little party these last couple of days, isn’t that right, Gray?”

  She leans into him, her back resting on his chest. I want to look at Lexi, to attempt to read what she’s thinking, but I can’t pull my eyes away from the scene before me. Why does Sage always get to have the last word? Why is she the one to always come out on top?

  Grayson gently grasps Sage’s upper arms to push her away. Her eyebrows furrow and her face hardens with irritation so briefly I would’ve missed it if I had blinked. She shrugs it off, wanting to appear nonchalant while internally I’m sure she’s screaming and hurt with his dismissal.

  “Sage, knock it off. Lex, I’m glad to see you’re back. Sage said you had some mess to clean up at the beach house?” The inflection of his statement makes it seem as if he’s asking a question and his voice is raised an octave which makes him appear guilty. Still, the words are spoken with a harshness, and he still won’t look directly at his wife.

  I finally look at Lexi and see her jaw has gone slack. I can’t tell if she’s more shocked over witnessing Grayson and Sage together or that Sage evidently divulged some important information regarding our weekend away. If she told him that, what else did she tell him?

  Has Sage completely lost all compassion? Doesn’t she have any idea what she did or is doing? Is this some kind of fugue state to protect her mental capacities so she doesn’t go utterly insane? Or has she already? Plus, I can’t determine if she’s being extra touchy with Grayson just to grind Lexi’s gears or if there’s more to the story.

  “What the fuck are you doing here, Sage?” Lexi asks, her voice impressively steady despite the fact that I see her hands have balled into fists and they’re shaking with rage.

  “Well, I have a surprise for you. I took the liberty of telling Grayson everything about you and Taylor and he’s been so supportive. And –”

  As if on cue, the doorbell rings. Grayson opens the front door to two police officers in full uniform. Both are showing their badges and one of them is holding up another piece of paper.

  “Alexia Kinsley, you are under arrest for th
e murder of Taylor Bellemore.”

  CAROLINE

  Chapter 9

  “You crazy, psycho bitch! How dare you. How could you?” My arms are wrapped tightly around Kennedy’s tiny waist with a vise-like grip as I attempt to detain her from physically assaulting Sage – again. Lexi was just hauled out of here in handcuffs as Sage watched on, smiling. Grayson didn’t even flinch or try to help his wife. Bastard.

  “Kennedy, STOP! We have to go, now. She’ll get what’s coming to her. We both know that. She won’t get away with this.” I whisper this into my best friend’s ear. I doubt Sage is able to hear my muted tone over Kennedy’s screams and sobs anyway. I don’t think I even care if she heard me at this point. I want the bitch to pay.

  I snap out of my trance and focus on the building in front of me. The cops asked the rest of us to come down to the station for questioning but as soon as they left with Lexi, Kennedy lost it. I can’t say I blame her. I wanted to let her go and watch her wipe that smug smirk off Sage’s blood red lips permanently. But an assault charge wouldn’t do us any good in present circumstances.

  I just can’t fathom Sage’s audacity. Is she delusional enough to believe she won’t get caught? Or is her side of the story really just that good? I shudder despite the balmy temperatures. My reaction has nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with Sage’s cold heart freezing us all from the inside-out.

  I drove Kennedy to the station while both our husbands met us here. I know they won’t be able to be in the room with me while I’m being questioned but just knowing Parker is nearby helps immensely. Truthfully, I assume they were asked to come down for questioning as well and not solely for support. Regardless, it’s still nice to know I’m not alone.

  I know I’m pissed at Lexi – and for good reason – but that doesn’t mean I want her to go to prison for a crime she didn’t commit. Unless adultery sets you up for life behind bars these days, but I don’t think it’s a crime. Plus, giving birth in a jail cell just is not a good look. Neither are those orange jumpsuits. Ew.