He gave me a grim look. "A friend of mine is an event planner. She works for very wealthy corporate clients in Seattle. I asked her if she could move one of her events to the Worthington hotel on the date of Kelsey's wedding."
"But her wedding was already booked."
"My friend's client had an event that would pay double the price of the wedding, and she had a long relationship with the hotel. They bumped Kelsey's wedding, offering her other dates, but they weren't until next year. I had a feeling Kelsey wouldn't want to wait. I had heard she and Gage were thinking about doing the reality show together."
"In which they would have to be married," I said slowly.
"Yes. That's when I asked Jenny to help me. She called Kelsey and offered her the Belle Haven Lodge. You know the rest."
"You did all that on the off chance that Kelsey would bring the wedding here?"
"It was a long shot, but Jenny could offer incentives that your mom didn't want to refuse. I saw a chance to get everyone together, so I took it. I couldn't go another ten years without answers. I needed to shake things up."
His eyes pleaded with me to understand, but I didn't want to understand. I was pissed. "I don't care what you could or couldn't do. You're the reason Kelsey is missing. If you hadn't done what you did, she would be in Seattle right now. She'd be getting married tomorrow, far away from this island, from these liars, from whoever has her now."
"I never imagined someone would take Kelsey. You have to believe me, Willow."
"You weren't ever going to tell me, were you? I thought we'd gotten honest with each other, Drake. I thought everything was on the table. But it wasn't. You had a secret. How do I know there aren't more?"
"There aren't."
"Those are just words." His betrayal cut deep. The pain was so bad I could barely breathe. There were so many reasons to hate him right now, I couldn't even count them all. "I thought I could trust you, Drake. I thought I could count on you. But you were just working your plan."
"I stopped working on the plan the minute Kelsey went missing."
"I don't believe you."
Jenny cleared her throat. "I should go."
"You should go, Jenny, and please feel free not to talk to me again," I said sharply.
"I never meant to hurt anyone, Willow."
"You knew that having us all come back to this island was a bad idea, but that didn't stop you from doing it. And the secret you kept about James—despicable."
"That's why I helped Drake. I felt guilty about that lie," Jenny said. "And I could see how much pain Drake was still in, how much pain his whole family was dealing with. He said he just wanted a chance to talk to everyone in the same place. I didn't know all this was going to happen."
"Neither did I," Drake said. "I just wanted to unnerve everyone, hope someone would say something, and the lies would unravel. It wasn't the best plan. It was all I had."
"And I wanted Drake to find out what happened to Melanie," Jenny added. "I'm very sorry." She walked back to her car, started the engine, and drove away.
"Willow," Drake began.
I put up my hand. "Save it. I don't want to hear any more explanations or excuses."
"Then let's talk about what we should do next to find your sister."
"There is no we. There is no next. I'm done. Every time I think you and I have some special connection, I am proven wrong. You were just using me."
"I wasn't using you. I was trying to help you."
The hurt blurred my eyes with tears, but I furiously blinked them away. "You should have told me before what you did to get Kelsey here."
Guilt ran through his gaze. "I thought about it several times," he admitted. "But I knew it would end us, and I didn't want to end us. I was hoping once Kelsey came home, we could get past it."
"There's no us. Last night was just sex."
"It was more than that."
"No, it wasn't." I gave a bitter laugh. "The tables have turned, haven't they? That's what you said to me ten years ago, that it was just sex, and I said I thought it was more, and you told me I was wrong. Well, now you're wrong. And we're done."
"We can be done, but we still need to work together. We still need to find Kelsey."
"I don't need you to do that, Drake."
"You can't afford to turn away anyone's help," he argued. "Your sister's life is at stake."
"And you're the reason."
"I've hurt you, and I'm sorry, but I want to help get Kelsey home."
I bit down on my bottom lip as the tears slipped down my cheeks. "I can't do this again. I can't let myself believe you." I ran back to the car, jumped behind the wheel and tore down the street, not letting myself look in the rearview mirror. I didn't want to see Drake's pleading face. I didn't want to think about his pain. I wanted to wallow in my anger.
I drove for a good forty minutes before I realized I was just going around in circles. I was literally getting nowhere. So, I went home.
When I pulled into the drive behind several other cars, I saw James and Rachel talking to Alex, Trina, Pete, and Dahlia in front of the house.
I got out and walked over to join them. "What's going on?" I asked.
"A lot," Rachel said. "Where have you been?"
"Just tell me what happened."
"Someone killed Tom Ryan, and Ben picked up Gage and took him to the station," Rachel said. "Ben seems to think Gage did it."
I sucked in a breath. I was surprised Ben had gone that far, but it was about time.
"The Chadwicks are furious," Rachel continued. "Carter is fighting for his life and now Gage has to fight with the sheriff. We're all leaving as soon as the ferry starts up again. It looks like it might go at four."
"You're going to leave with Kelsey missing, with Gage talking to the sheriff, with Carter in the hospital?" I asked.
"Yes," Rachel said flatly. "There's nothing we can do here."
My gaze swept the rest of the group. Trina and Dahlia wouldn't look at me. Alex gave me a grim nod. Pete was on his phone, and James was staring at the ground. "I used to think you were all the cool kids. I wanted to be like you. I wanted to be in your group, but I'm glad I was never one of you. You're all selfish and secretive."
"We are not selfish or secretive," Rachel declared. "We're scared. And you should be, too."
"I can't afford to be scared. I need to find my sister. You remember her, Rachel, your best friend."
"I love Kelsey, but I can't save her, if she's even still alive to be saved," Rachel bit out.
"Don't say that," I ordered. "She's still alive."
"Of course she is," Trina agreed. "There's just nothing we can do to help, Willow."
"Did you tell Brooklyn you're leaving?" I asked.
"We were just about to go inside," Trina said.
"Well, don't let me stop you." I turned to leave, not at all interested in following them into the house and having to hear all their lame excuses for a second time. But then I paused, remembering what else I'd learned. "By the way, James, I know about you and Jenny. About where you were the night Melanie died. I'm going to make sure Ben knows, too. So even if you leave, I'm sure he'll follow up with you."