She Was the Quiet One. Michele Campbell

woods to see a security department car waiting on the road to whisk Bel to the infirmary.

      Heath helped her into the back seat. “I’ll call the infirmary later to check with the doctors. You’ll probably need to go on the injured list. Would you like Tessa to stay with you?”

      I want you to stay with me, she thought. But she couldn’t speak the thought aloud. If people started to talk, he might never spend time with her alone again.

      “I’m fine,” Bel said curtly.

      Heath closed the door with a sharp click, and the car drove away.

      At five-thirty, Bel was alone in her room back in Moreland, lying on Emma’s bunk, because she couldn’t climb up to her own. She could hear girls passing by in the hallway, on their way to family dinner in the Commons, the old part of the dining hall. Family dinner was this awful thing that happened once a week, where kids had to dress up and sit at tables with faculty members. If Bel’s injury had an upside, it was that she’d gotten excused from attending tonight. She was supposed to keep her leg elevated and a cold pack on her knee for the rest of the evening. The pain pills the doctor had given her dulled the ache in her knee, but not the sick feeling in her heart. He’d almost kissed her; they’d been that close. But now, their bond was shattered, their great love affair over before it started.

      Suddenly the door banged open, and Darcy stormed in, blond hair flying, her pretty cheerleader’s face red with pique.

      “What the fuck, Enright. When were you planning to tell me you have something going on with Donovan?”

      Shit. Tessa must have told Darcy what she saw, and Darcy had a big mouth. This story would be all over school the second Darcy walked into the dining hall. If Bel wanted to protect Heath from the fallout, she needed to convince Darcy that nothing had happened out on the trail this afternoon.

      “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she protested, widening her eyes innocently.

      “Don’t give me that BS. Tessa saw you with him in the nature preserve this afternoon. She said you were practically in a lip-lock.”

      Bel pointed to the bandage and ice pack on her knee. “Uh, hello, you see my injury? I fell and blew my knee out. Mr. Donovan helped me up. That’s all Tessa saw. He had to put his arms around me to lift me. He’s the coach. He’s not gonna leave a runner lying on the ground.”

      Darcy looked at Bel’s knee and frowned. “That’s not what she said. She said he pays all sorts of attention to you. The other girls are jealous.”

      “Well, she’s lying then—exaggerating anyway.”

      “Tessa’s been loyal as a dog for three years at this school. You, I’ve known for like five minutes, and you expect me to believe you over her? Sorry.”

      “I swear, Darcy, nothing’s going on. I would never horn in on your contest. Not without your permission.”

      “I should hope not. I don’t need anybody cock-blocking me, especially not you, after all I’ve done for you. If I thought you were trying to steal my prize—”

      “I would never. Tessa has a wild imagination, and she misinterpreted, that’s all. Swear to God.”

      Darcy put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know who to believe. What you’re saying makes sense on the surface, but I get the feeling you’re holding out on me.”

      Bel placed her hand over her heart. For a skeptic and a liar herself, Darcy was surprisingly susceptible to flattery. Bel laid it on thick. “Believe that I’m your true friend, Darcy. There’s nothing but love and gratitude in my heart for you.”

      “Okay, then prove it.”

      “How?”

      “It’s almost November, and the Moreland seniors haven’t pulled any good pranks yet. We need to keep up our reputation, and I have something radical in mind for tonight. A revival of a prank my mom’s gang used to pull back in the day. You’ll see.”

      “You want me to help with that tonight? You see the shape I’m in. I’m not mobile.”

      “Aww, your widdle boo-boo huwts? Tough titties, Enright. Take a Vicodin or smoke some weed, whatever you need to do, but you’re not getting out of this one. Time to earn your keep. If you want the benefits of hanging out with me, you have to do some dirty work.”

      That gave Bel a chill. Darcy at her worst could be savage.

      “What exactly is this prank?” Bel asked.

      “It’s a surprise,” Darcy said, snarkily. “Be at my room at midnight, and you’ll find out.”

      She turned on her heel, and was gone.

      Bel laid her head on the pillow and wished she’d never come to this damn school. The two things that had kept her going had both fallen to shit today. Her friendship with Darcy was supposed to be easy and fun, but now it just seemed sick and twisted. And her love for Heath—which just a couple of hours ago she believed was reciprocated—would never amount to anything now that her conduct had exposed him to gossip and ridicule. Everything was ruined, and she couldn’t face it.

      Her glance fell on the bottle of pain pills on the dresser.

13

       Transcript of Witness Interview conducted by Lieutenant Robert Kriscunas, State Police—Major Crime Unit, and Detective Melissa Howard, Odell NH, PD, with Mrs. Sarah Donovan.

      Kriscunas: Mrs. Donovan, you and your husband were the dorm parents for Moreland Hall, so that meant you were in charge of supervising these girls, correct?

      Donovan: Uh, sure, yes. We ran the dorm. We did curfew check, room check, ran dorm meetings, that sort of thing. We did milk-and-cookies socials in the common room two nights a week. But there were forty girls in Moreland. Or—thirty-nine, after the, the—My point is, we couldn’t possibly know everything that was going on with each girl. If you’re suggesting—

      Kriscunas: This isn’t about your job performance, ma’am. We’re investigating a murder. I’m trying to get the background on these two sisters, and how closely you monitored them. This is standard procedure. Just tell the truth, and it’ll all be fine.

      Donovan: Yes, of course I’ll tell the truth.

      Howard: Now, Rose Enright—she was your advisee, correct? You must’ve known what was going on with her.

      Donovan: Yes, I knew Rose quite well, much better than I knew Bel. I have only the most wonderful things to say about Rose.

      Kriscunas: What can you tell us about Rose’s relationship with her sister? Conflicts they might have had with one another? Or other people who got drawn into their conflict, who might wish harm to one of them because of a relationship with the other, if you see what I’m getting at?

      Donovan: All I can say is, Rose told me from when I first met her that she and Bel were very different. But those diferences were not enough, in my view, to explain this murder. Rose was very responsible, and believed in following the rules. Bel’s judgment was not as good. She made friends with some questionable elements in the dorm, and that got her into trouble. Those people ought to be looked at. This is not necessarily about the relationship between the sisters. If you focus too much on that, you may miss other important aspects of the Enright girls’ lives.

      Kriscunas: Don’t worry. We’ll get to the other stuf. This is just background right now, so we can understand the relationship between Bel and Rose.

      Donovan: To understand it, you need to know that they tried to be friends. Rose made a great efort to be closer to Bel, and not to criticize her. They got along fine right up until the slipper attack.

      Kriscunas: The slipper attack drove them apart?