“I’m leaving, Sam.” She gestured to the box and bag and around the room. A sad and bitter laugh left her. “Not that you couldn’t see that yourself, but I’m leaving school permanently. My mom is going back to New York. I’m going with her. I’m going to go back into modeling.” She paused, glancing up at me from underneath her eyelids. “If you ever come out there, please call me. I’d love to see you again. Or you could stay with us. My mom’s not like my dad. She’s not involved with that college group they have. She doesn’t believe in using their connections. She said it’s all one big scandal that’s waiting to be taken down anyway.”
My mind was buzzing. I needed to get an invite to Sebastian’s party, and Summer was the only avenue for that to happen. But she was leaving…
My shoulders slumped down.
“I’m supposed to invite you to his party tomorrow.”
My head popped up. “What?”
“I know. I know.” She waved at me, wiping at her nose. “It’s completely stupid, but Park said to make it happen. He doesn’t know I’m leaving. I should be in New York by the time he finds out, and it’ll be too late. He doesn’t dare take our mom on. He has our dad wrapped around his finger, and Molly, too, but not our mom. My mom loves Park, but she thinks he’s a manipulative weasel, which he is.” She groaned. “There it is. That’s the last of my confessions. I’m sorry, Sam, but I told Park everything you told me. He already knew about Garrett because we know him, obviously, but Park knows everything else. He knows about your other dad, David, and also Malinda. He knows about Mark. He knows Analise is in a psych place, but to be fair, he knew about your mom before I told him. I have no clue how. Wait.” Her lips puckered up, and her forehead bunched together. “Your mom went to college with all of them, didn’t she?”
“All of whom?”
“My dad, my mom, your parents, Professor Baun.” She waved her hand in the air. “There’s more, but you know about all of that, right?”
I cocked my head to the side. My fingers were digging into the chair now. I didn’t dare show her my card. I wanted her to spill everything, so I murmured, “Oh, yeah.”
“That’s the other reason for me, you know. You’re in The Network by default, like me. Your mom, too, but all her stuff is known I guess. There’s not much they can blackmail her with.” A dry chuckle slid from her lips. “Oh. Hold on.” Digging in her bag, she pulled out a flash drive and handed it to me. “That’s for you.”
“What is it?”
Her eyes fell on it, now in my hands, and she was quiet for a moment. She shrugged. “It’s whatever you want it to be.”
That sounded ominous. “Summer?”
Her jaw was firm, and she wiped the last of the tears from her face. “After what they did to Logan, I can’t be a part of this anymore. I’ve done nothing in my life for them to blackmail me with, so I’m walking away now.” She indicated the flash drive. “That’s for you to do with as you please. If you can decrypt it, it’s yours.”
Oh, holy shit.
I didn’t dare breathe.
She’d realize she was making a mistake. That was her family in the end.
As if hearing my thoughts, Summer shook her head. “I don’t know what’s on it, but it’s important. I took it out of Park’s safety deposit box. I know he’s my brother, but I can’t support him anymore. He’s going down a dangerous path. Whether he wants to look at it this way or not, this is my way of trying to save him. He deserves whatever happens to him.” Her chin started to tremble again. “It might even save him from something worse.”
“Summer?”
She stood, still not looking at me. Gathering her bag and box, she held them. She didn’t leave. She didn’t do anything. She waited by the bed for a moment before she dumped them. “Oh, to hell with it.”
Her arms wrapped around me in the next second. I was pulled in for a tight hug.
She buried her head into my neck, saying, “I am so sorry for everything my brother has already done and anything he does.”
I was so shocked at the turn of events. My arm was crushed against my chest. My fingers hadn’t closed around the flash drive yet. I was still holding it in the palm of my hand.
She hugged me again before she moved back. Her hand closed my fingers over the flash drive. “Use this. Whatever is on it, use it. I hope it helps you.”
She went back to her bag and box. She was leaving.
I almost shouted, “Wait!”
She stopped at the door, turning back.
I said, “Where’s his party tomorrow?”
Her eyebrows bunched together. She started shaking her head. “No, no, no. Don’t go there, Sam.”
I shoved the flash drive in my pocket and rolled back my shoulders. “Tell me where it is. I’ll go without you.”
“No, Sam. I can’t. Park…he’s…he has something planned for you tomorrow. Don’t go.” Her eyes were pleading. “I mean it. Don’t go, Sam. Please.”
“I’m not going in blind. I know he has something planned. My eyes have been wide open this whole time.”
“They weren’t. Not with me.”
“Not at first, no, but once you told me, they were. You might think you’ve spied on me, but you haven’t really. Sebastian could’ve found out any of that information himself.”