With renewed vigor born from adrenaline and fear, she kicked back as hard as she could, her shoe connecting with a bony shin.
A grunt told her that her kick had hurt. Candace reached up and grabbed the hands that held her neck, squeezed the wrists as hard as she could, trying to wrench herself free from the tight grasp.
And suddenly, she was free! Candace stumbled, fell to her knees, coughing, knowing she had to get up and run again. Run away as fast as she could...but her body wasn’t responding as quickly as she wanted.
She crawled on the hard pool deck, then took a kick to her stomach, as if she were a soccer ball and her attacker was trying to drop-kick her across the field.
She fell into the pool, its shocking cold water giving her renewed energy. But she still struggled to swim away, gasping for breath, sputtering, spitting out water as it filled her mouth. Her throat hurt when she drew in a deep breath. She tried to scream, but it came out a squeak. Her throat was so bruised she could barely make a sound.
She heard the splash behind her. Candace tried to push herself through the water, but her limbs were like Jell-O, and she made little progress.
She spun her head to see how close behind her attacker was.
No.
“I can’t let you tell anyone. I have too much to lose.”
Candace recognized the woman who wanted her dead.
Her friend, her teacher.
Rachel.
As the truth hit her, that Taylor had betrayed her, that Taylor knew that Rachel had planned to kill her, Rachel shoved Candace’s head underwater. She fought back, but weakly this time as water filled her lungs. Her arms and legs kicked futilely. Candace’s vision went black. Her mind and body became numb.
Her pain disappeared.
Forty-Two
Saturday
After their morning at the library, Regan left Lucas at his apartment after asking if he would rather stay with her. He said he was fine, that Lizzy was coming over after lunch, and he wanted to prepare for Tuesday’s podcast. She reminded him to stay put, trust his instincts, and call if anything out of the ordinary happened.
Regan headed over to the hospital again, this time to check on Nicole Bergamo. She called her dad when she got there; he didn’t answer.
No one would give her information about Nicole’s status, so she tried Vicky Ryan’s number. She didn’t answer, either.
Something wasn’t right. She texted her dad and said she was in the hospital and then sat in the lobby. After thirty seconds she got up and paced, reading every plaque under the pictures of people she didn’t know—former administrators, heads of departments, benefactors.
A few minutes later, out of the corner of her eye Regan watched a group of young women enter. Four of them, carrying flowers and balloons. Two wore NAU sweatshirts, two wore the Greek letters that signaled they were members of Sigma Rho. They approached the information desk across from where Regan was standing. “We’re here to see Nicole Bergamo,” one of the girls said.
The receptionist typed. “I’m sorry, she can’t have visitors right now. You can take the flowers to the third-floor nurses’ station, and we’ll bring them to her.”
“But she’s okay, right?”
“I don’t have that information. All I can confirm is that she’s a patient here.”
Third floor. Regan let the girls go in the elevator; she took the stairs. As soon as she exited on the third floor, she heard an argument at the end of the hall. Rachel was there talking to a uniformed deputy about being allowed into Nicole’s room.
The four sorority girls were at the nurses’ station, watching Rachel cause a scene.
Two hospital security came out of the staff elevator and walked down the hall. Regan still didn’t know where her dad was, and Vicky was nowhere to be seen, either.
Rachel glanced at the two security officers, but she locked eyes with Regan.
“You need to leave, or we will place you under arrest,” one of the guards said.
Rachel turned on her heel and walked straight down the hall toward Regan. She almost welcomed a confrontation: she’d found that criminals were more likely to talk when they were angry or felt trapped.
But Rachel just glared at her, then turned to the group of girls only a few feet away. “No one is allowed to see Nicole. I’m responsible for her until her parents arrive, and no one will help me.”
Regan didn’t know if that was true. She supposed that there could be a medical release form that Nicole, as an adult, might have signed when she joined the sorority. Regan hoped if that was the case, her dad had found a way around it.
“I’m heartbroken. They won’t tell me anything about her, and I haven’t been able to find Vicky. I’m worried about her.”
“She’s with Nicole now,” one of the girls said. “I texted her, and she said she’s not leaving until Nicole wakes up.”
The nurse said, “Girls, there are too many of you on the floor. You can leave your gifts here, I’ll make sure that Ms. Bergamo receives them.”
Rachel turned to Regan and said, “What are you doing here? You and Lucas Vega did this. You know you’re responsible.”
Regan didn’t say anything. There was nothing for her to say. She was happy to let Rachel dig her own grave.
Her silence angered Rachel, but the advisor had enough self-control not to lash out. She turned to the girls and said, “Let’s go. I’ll take you all to lunch.”
The girls left their gifts with the nurse. Rachel let them enter the elevator first, then as she passed Regan, the former marshal said quietly, “I will prove you killed Candace.”
One of the girls heard what Regan said and did a double take.
Regan watched the five of them leave together. If looks could kill, Regan would be dead. Rachel was losing control. That could be good, because she might make a serious mistake—or it could be trouble, if she thought she could get rid of potential witnesses. Regan texted Lucas and Lizzy both and reminded them to be careful, stick together, and let her know if they left the apartment.