DON'T TELL (Jack Ryder Book 7)
Page 5
The figure waited till they were inside before pulling down a ski mask to cover their face and then followed them.
14
"Are you thirsty? Do you want a juice box? I have some in the fridge over there."
Lyle looked at the young boy in front of him. He had red-rimmed eyes and tears were still streaming across his cheeks. He could barely breathe and kept gasping for air in agitation. Lyle felt for him; he really did. Some kids just didn't enjoy skiing or snowboarding, but that was often hard for the parents to accept if they loved it themselves.
Austin nodded between sobs.
"Okay, go sit over there," Lyle said and pointed at the bench. "I'll bring you one. Just give me a sec."
They were all alone in the room among the many skis and boots. The floors were wet, and it smelled like old sweaty socks. Lyle had decided to take the boy in there to offer him a little break and to be able to talk properly. In his years as a ski instructor, Lyle had seen this happen many times. The parents wanted their child to learn how to ski or snowboard, but the child didn't like it, yet felt like such a disappointment to his parents because he didn't. On top of it, Austin had his twin sister out there, and she was killing it. She was already so good that the other instructors had talked about taking her up on the mountain later in the day to ride her first green slope. It wasn't something they usually did until day two of ski school, but she was doing exceptionally well. Meanwhile, her brother hadn't even mastered the bunny slope yet. It had to be tough for a little guy like that.
Lyle walked to the mini fridge and took out a juice box, then handed it to Austin. He sat down in front of him and looked into his eyes while the boy drank.
"Listen, Austin. Snowboarding is fun, but it takes a while to learn. I’m sure if you try again, after getting a drink and maybe a snack, then you'll love it. Just don't expect to learn it in a day. I know falling makes it worse and you don't like that. But if you'll let me instruct you, I can take care of you and make sure you don't fall."
"I'll still fall," Austin said. "I always fall. I fall all the time. And it hurts, and I don't like it. I don't like being in this place and falling all the time. I just want to go home."
Lyle sighed. "Falling is kind of part of it. You can't snowboard without falling every now and then. But you learn how to get back up and continue and, in time, you'll fall less."
"So, what's the point?" Austin asked with a sniffle.
"The point is that it's fun when you're out there riding down those mountains. I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but I promise you, it's fun. It will be."
"Until you fall again," he said and shook his head.
Lyle smiled. "Yes. But then you get up and continue, and the more you do it, the less you fall. The most important thing is that you know how to stop. As soon as you know that, you can go anywhere on that thing. It'll be fun. Trust me."
Austin finished his juice box, then wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"What do you say, champ?" Lyle asked. "Are you ready to go back out there or do you need another minute?"
"Need another minute," Austin said and dangled his legs.
"Okay, we can do that. How about I find you a little snack? I bet you're starving. Snowboarding always makes me so hungry. How about some goldfish?"
Austin nodded, and Lyle went to the cabinet to open it. He grabbed a bag of goldfish, then turned to walk back to the boy when he heard the door slam shut and spotted a figure walk in.
"Excuse me?" he said. "This area is closed off right now. If you're looking for your child, they're all outside. All the kids are on the bunny slopes."
But the figure in the dark coat didn't stop to listen and soon walked into the back and faced Lyle. The figure was wearing a ski mask that covered their face, but Lyle could still recognize the eyes. They were boiling with anger and hatred.
"W-what are you doing here?" Lyle asked.
"You just couldn't keep quiet, could you?" the figure asked with a quivering voice. "You had to tell."
"I…I didn't…I’m sorry…"
"Yeah, well, it's too late for sorry," the figure said, then pulled out a gun with a gloved hand.
"Oh, hey, what are you doing?" Lyle asked and recoiled, holding his hands up in the air. "What are you doing with that thing? I have a child here."
The dark figure didn't seem to care. Instead, this figure reached over, grabbed Lyle's hand, and placed the gun in it. By force, the hand and gun were turned to face Lyle, squeezing his hand so hard it cracked.
"Please…don't…"
The figure leaned over and forced the gun in Lyle's hand toward his face. Lyle tried to fight back, to get the hand holding the gun out of the grip, but he wasn't strong enough, and soon he felt the cold steel as it was pressed against the bottom of his chin.
"Please…don't do this…I’ll do anything. I’ll take it back. I’ll retract my statement and tell them I was lying, that it was all one big fat lie," Lyle begged, but as he looked into the eyes of the figure standing in front of him, pressing the gun and his hand, he realized it was no use.
It was too late.
The gun went off, and Lyle fell to the floor, limp as a rag-doll, blood spilling from the wound in his head. The figure then took Lyle's phone and tapped on the screen before returning it to Lyle's pocket. The dark figure glanced at Lyle, then turned and looked at Austin sitting on the bench, his pants soaked in pee.
The figure approached him, then bent down and looked him straight in the eyes. Loud voices were emerging from the outside along with the sound of boots moving fast across the pavement. The figure lifted a gloved finger to their lips, looked at the boy, and spoke right before slipping out the back door, saying: "Don't tell. Or I'll come after you next! I'll kill you and your entire family."
15
The day didn't turn out the way I wanted it to at all. I don't know what I had expected, but it wasn't what I got. I guess I had thought I would be able to remember how to snowboard and that I would soon be rocketing down the black slope like I used to when I was in my twenties. But for some reason, I couldn't get back into the rhythm of it, and I kept falling, while Shannon danced down the slope like it was the easiest thing in the world. I had thought it would help to get some lunch, that I just needed something to eat and a break, but as we had said goodbye to the kids again and got back up on the mountain, I quickly learned that it was going to take a lot more than that. I managed to get a third of the way down the steepest part of the black diamond—the same slope I used to be the king of—before I fell and started sliding down the icy slope. As I finally stopped sliding, when I was almost at the bottom, I sat up and groaned, annoyed. Shannon came down to me and stopped in front of me, spraying a huge blast of snow into the air.
"Are you okay? That was quite the fall. Did you hurt yourself?"
"I'm fine," I said without looking up at her. "I don't know what’s wrong with me today."
"It's been fifteen years since you last went snowboarding, Jack. It's only natural. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re doing fine for someone who hasn’t been snowboarding in fifteen years. What did you expect?"
"You haven't been skiing for a long time, and you don't seem to have any trouble," I said. “You’re skiing like it’s nobody’s business, while I keep ending up in the snow.”
"It's only been a few years for me,” Shannon said. “I used to go every year with Angela before I moved to Cocoa Beach. You can’t really compare us. It's hardly the same."
"Still, I surf. I should be able to do this. I hate that I keep falling."
She smiled.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing. You just…you sound just like your son now."
I gave her a look. "You can be really annoying; do you know that?"
She nodded. "I do. But remember how you feel right now when we pick Austin up later today, okay? He needs you to understand him. That's all he wants from you. He was devastated at lunch because you didn't even want to listen to him."
Shannon lifted her eyebrows at me, then said sarcastically: "And right now, you're the perfect example of that."
"Oh, come on," I said. "That's not fair."
"Really? To me, it seems exactly the same. Besides, had it been Abigail, then you'd have reacted completely different, am I wrong?"
I knew she was right but didn't want to admit it. It was just different when it was your son. I wanted him to like the same things as me; I wanted him to be strong and not give up because something was a little tough. But I had also seen the hurt in his eyes when I had brushed him off. I knew Shannon was right, but it still annoyed me that she meddled like that. I never said anything about how she raised Angela.
I exhaled, then gathered some snow and threw it at her. It hit her on the chest, and she laughed, then she used her pole to spray snow at me. I grabbed the pole and pulled her down with me, and she landed in the snow next to me. I stared her in the eyes, then kissed her.
Barely had our lips parted when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I took off my gloves and pulled it out.
"It's the ski school," I said and picked it up, my heart starting to beat faster. They had told us they'd only call in case of an emergency.
16
The police were already there when we got back down. I threw my snowboard in the snow, then ran as fast as I could in those stiff boots toward the building that housed the ski school. The blinking lights from the sheriff's police cruisers were reflected in the snow and lit the entire area up in an eerie blue glow that frightened me.
An instructor met me outside.
"What happened?" I asked. All they had told me on the phone was that there had been an accident involving a ski instructor and that my son was with him when it happened.
The instructor stared at me, her eyes blank in shock. "I…my colleague went inside…there was a loud blast and then Jim hurried in there and…found him."
"Found whom?" I asked. "Where is my son? Did anything happen to Austin?"
She shook her head. "He's fine, as far as I know."
"As far as you know? But…where is he now?"
"He's with the police, inside, but…"
I didn't stay to hear the rest of what she had to say. I rushed to the door and went inside, where a deputy stopped me.
“I’m sorry, sir. You can't go in there."
"My son is in there,” I said. "I need to see my son."
"Ryder!" Deputy Winston came up to us, then addressed his colleague. "He's okay. You can let him in."
"Where is he?" I asked, bewildered. I took a few steps further inside the school area, saw the blood, and then the young man lying in the blood. I recognized him as one of the children's instructors.
"What happened?"
"We're trying to figure that out," Deputy Winston said. "Your son was there, and we're trying to find out exactly what happened. He's the only one who saw it."
"My son was? Austin? Is he okay?"
Winston nodded. "He's unharmed. But he won't say a word. Maybe you can get him to open up to us."
"He must be in shock. Can I see him? Can I see my son, please?"
"He's right over there," Winston said with a nod. He walked ahead of me, and I followed, heart pumping in my chest, a million thoughts rushing through my mind.
We found Austin sitting on a bench, Sheriff Franklin kneeling in front of him. He shook his head when he spotted us.
"Still won't say a darn thing."
"Austin!" I said and grabbed him in my arms. The boy hardly moved and felt stiff as a board. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
He looked into my eyes, then shook his head.
"He was at the other end of the room when it happened, sitting over there. That's where he was when we got here. And I don't think he moved at all."
Another deputy came up to the sheriff and whispered in his ear, then showed him a phone in a plastic bag.
Sheriff Franklin then turned to face us. "They say it looks like suicide. There's residue all over his hands and fingers. It looks like he shot himself. Plus, they found a series of texts he sent out right before it happened to his friends and family, saying Sorry, I just couldn't take it anymore."
"Suicide?" I asked, baffled. "Why on earth would anyone commit suicide in front of a little boy? Why even bring a gun to a ski school filled with children?"
Sheriff Franklin looked at the dead body that was now being covered up, then back at Austin.
"I don't know, to be honest. It does sound a little strange, but people who are depressed or suicidal don't really think rationally in my experience. They rarely think about anyone besides themselves. In my opinion, it's the most selfish thing you can ever do because you hurt so many people, especially the ones who love you, and you even sometimes ruin the lives of strangers. But that's just how I feel."
He glanced shortly at Austin as he said the last part, and I sensed that he felt bad for my boy. I sat next to my son, then looked down at him, fighting my tears, unable to fathom what could possibly force someone to do this to a little boy. I grabbed his hand in mine and realized it was still shaking.
17
Maggie Valley 2017
"She's ignored me all night."
"Nonsense," Benjamin said. "She's just shy."
Savannah looked around the restaurant in the direction of the restrooms. Penny hadn't come out yet. They were on a double date with Benjamin's sister and a guy she had recently started dating. But so far, Penny hadn't even given him the time of day as she was constantly all over Benjamin. They talked to one another like there was no one else in the room, and it made Savannah feel terrible. Penny had been ignoring her ever since they met in Benjamin's home, even at the dinner at their house, she didn't look at her once or say a word to her. It was like she wasn't even there. Savannah hadn't addressed it since she was just so happy to be presented to Benjamin's family. It had to mean that he was serious about her, didn't it? She hoped so. She really liked him a lot, except when he was with his sister. When she was around, it was like he forgot everything about Savannah, and his sister did the same to her date. And it wasn't just the fact that they completely ignored their dates, it was also the way they looked at one another that made Savannah feel uneasy. Both of them had that look that people who were newly in love had. They giggled at each other's jokes and touched each other constantly on the shoulders or the thighs, and sometimes they even held hands.
"She hates me, Benjamin," Savannah said. "Do we have to bring her every time?"
Penny and her new boyfriend had been with them on every date since the day at Benjamin's house. At first, Savannah had thought it was a good idea since it was a way for her to get to know Penny and hopefully get her to like her over time, but as the dates came and went, she had realized that wasn't why Penny was there. It wasn't to hang out with her boyfriend, either. It was to be close to her brother and make sure he and Savannah didn't get a moment alone.
"She doesn’t hate you. I promise you,” he said and looked her in the eyes. Then he leaned over and kissed her. He tasted heavenly, she thought, and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Penny stood right in front of her, staring at her, her eyes flaring.
Startled, Savannah pulled back with a light gasp. Seeing this, Penny sat down on her brother's lap with a smile; she threw her arms around his neck and laughed, while her own date didn't even get a glance. Benjamin laughed too, then tickled his sister till she whined with joy, then Penny put her head on his chest with a deep sigh, and said, "I’ll never get a man as good as you."
The sentence made Benjamin laugh out loud, while Savannah felt like she was about to choke on her food. She looked down at her pasta dish, then decided she had lost her appetite. She got up and walked outside without a word to anyone. A
second later, Benjamin came outside after her.
"What's going on?" he said. "You just left? It was kind of rude?"
"Really? I’m being rude?" she said, fighting to keep her anger at bay. It felt like her throat was swelling up, and no matter how many deep breaths she took, it wouldn't go away.
"Yes, you. Can you please tell me what's going on? I thought we were having a good time.”
"What is the deal with your sister and you?" she asked.
Benjamin sighed. His shoulders slumped. "Oh, no, not again. Why do girls always get jealous of my sister?"
"I’m not jealous of her," Savannah said. "I’m freaking out because she treats you like you're her boyfriend, constantly touching you and laughing at your every joke. She never disagrees with you; do you realize that? It doesn’t matter what you say, and she even picks the same meals as you. You never ever fight. What siblings don't fight?"
Benjamin stared at her with confused eyes. "You're angry because I don't fight with my sister? I don't understand you. You have to admit; it is a strange thing to be angry about, right?"
Savannah looked into his eyes and felt her knees go soft. What was it about this boy that made her constantly forget that she was angry with him? Could it be that she was falling in love with him?
"You really don't see it, do you?" she asked. “You genuinely have no idea what I’m upset about.”
He sighed and grabbed her hands in his. "Listen. I don't always understand you, but I do know that I am falling for you. Big time. I’m doing my best here, so please cut me some slack. Please, don't let this come between us. Please. I'll stop bringing her on our dates. I only did it to help her out a little, and maybe so you two could bond, but she doesn’t have to be there all the time if you don’t want her to. I will do anything to make this work, Savannah, to make us work. What do you say?"
Savannah looked into his emerald green eyes and felt how all the piled-up anger immediately dissipated. There was no way she could remain angry with him. She was already in too deep for that.