In the end, two guys who never dropped their shorts claimed the beer was running low and wanted to keep their buzz going. Megan and Matt, after taking a lap around the perimeter and treading water, grew tired and swam to the safety of the raft, holding on to the side and placing a foot on the bar that ran underwater and encircled the float. Megan was careful to stay underwater, keeping just her head visible.
“That was crazy,” Matt said.
“It’s senior year, we had to do it eventually.”
“I love that we started it.”
The water splashed between them as kids swam and kicked around the raft.
“I’m really glad we’ll be at school together next year,” Matt said.
“Yeah? Me too.”
He leaned his face toward hers, careful not to get too close—not to get too much skin-on-skin contact—and kissed her. Megan, balancing with her right hand on the raft and right foot supporting herself on the bar, kissed back, rubbing her left hand through Matt’s hair. Without warning, Megan felt a hand run up the back of her thigh and grab her butt with a hard squeeze. She pulled away quickly.
“Take it easy you two,” Nicole said. “Grabbing ass in the lake? Get a room, already.”
Megan pushed Nicole’s hand away. Matt laughed because he wasn’t sure what else to do. Nicole swam off as quickly as she had appeared.
“That wasn’t me,” Matt said as soon as Nicole was gone.
“No kidding.”
Spent of energy from treading water, everyone slowly reconvened at the raft. Awkward and shy now that swimming away was not an option, the girls mostly congregated on one side, boys on the other. Matt reached up and grabbed Megan’s suit.
“Here you go,” he said in a disappointed tone. “Looks like the party’s over.”
Megan took her bikini and strapped it around her neck, watching out of the corner of her eye as Matt pulled himself out of the water to his waist to retrieve his shorts. She pulled on her bottoms, climbed back onto the raft, and handed out suits to her friends in the water. Everyone did the same except for Nicole Cutty, who climbed up the ladder and stood on the raft, squeezing water from her hair in no particular rush before bending over to pick up her bikini. From the depths of the lake, the guys helplessly stared.
Megan noticed Matt, like every other guy, unable to peel his attention away until Nicole stepped both feet into her bottoms and pulled them up.
PART II
“I’m back, my Love. I’m back.”
—The Monster
CHAPTER 8
October 2017
Thirteen Months Since Megan’s Escape
The dorm was a three-story red brick building with a security door and card-key entry. Livia waited outside until she saw Jessica Tanner walk through the lobby. Livia pushed open the door after Jessica unlocked it and they ducked into an empty study room. Close to midnight, about an hour after Livia had received Jessica’s phone call, the dormitory lobby was dark and quiet.
“How’s medical school?” Jessica asked.
“It was good. I graduated a few years ago.”
“Oh, that’s right. Aren’t you a pediatrician?”
“Pathologist.”
“That’s what I meant,” Jessica said. “I remember Nicole telling me about it. Don’t you, like, examine bodies and stuff?”
“Something like that. Can I see the picture?”
Jessica produced a photo from her pocket. Livia took the picture and felt her heart ache when she saw Nicole, black hair weeping from her scalp and dark eyeliner painted thick and heavy onto her lids, transforming her eyes into ovals of coal with sapphire hidden inside. Standing next to her in the photo was a guy who draped his arm over Nicole’s shoulder. It took only a few seconds for Livia to match this man’s face to the photo of Casey Delevan from her case file, a bit longer to imagine that the decomposed body from a month earlier was the same man posing with Nicole.
Dr. Colt encouraged all the fellows to work on the flaw of seeing their cases only from the side of death. Counseling the deceased’s family was an important part of their occupation, and visualizing vibrant souls instead of lifeless cadavers would help the fellows deliver news with compassion. Despite her efforts, all Livia saw when she looked at Casey Delevan was the putrefied body with the leg fracture and the strange piercings in the skull.
“I didn’t think Nicole was dating anyone,” Livia finally said.
“She was really secretive about it. I never even met the guy. Nicole showed me that picture to sort of, I don’t know, prove she had a boyfriend. I was giving her shit about it because no one ever met him. I don’t know why I kept the picture. Nic just never asked for it back. Then, when my mom told me about the guy floating in the bay and I saw him on the news . . . it’s the same guy.”
“Did you know him at all?” Livia asked.
“No. Nicole was very private about him. We used to tell each other everything.” Jessica shrugged. “I don’t know. That was a weird summer for us.”
“When was this taken?”
“Last summer, I guess. I mean, after senior year. That’s when she started dating him. Our friendship drifted that summer. I always thought it was because of this guy, but I sort of think she was going through some other stuff.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Rachel and I had a hard time reading her. She was really rebellious and started doing things I’ve never seen her do before.”
“What kinds of things?”
“Like, I don’t know, she was really mean to some girls at school. Especially to . . . Megan.”
“Megan McDonald?”
Jessica nodded.
“How so?”
“She hated all the attention Megan was getting for the summer retreat program and her scholarship to Duke. Nicole tried get with Megan’s boyfriend, and that caused a big problem.”
Livia held up the photo. “I thought she was dating this guy. Casey?”
“She was. The thing with Matt was just to piss Megan off and, I don’t know, prove that she could get anything she wanted. I know she hooked up with him that summer.”
“With Megan’s boyfriend?”
“Yeah. Lots of drama.”
“What was this guy’s name?”
“Matt Wellington.”
“And when you say ‘hooked up’ what are we talking about?”
“What do you think?” She took a deep breath. “Listen, Nic was my best friend. But she was different after senior year. Really promiscuous. Skinny-dipping. I mean, we all did it but Nicole was blatant about it. Making sure everyone saw her naked.” Jessica shrugged. “Something was off, you know? With all the black makeup and clothing, whatever that was about.”