Page 82 of Hide And Seek

Jasmine’s attention snapped back to Rhys. “You weren’t breathing,” she said, voice low and tight. “How the hell can you fake something like that?”

“Iwasbreathing. Just slowly and shallow enough that no one noticed,” he said. He shifted his weight slightly before going on. “We used a bunch of tricks to make sure no one noticed. For one, we staged it all in the shed where Delia’s body was being kept, because we knew that way no one would bother trying to move me.”

Knox nodded. “If anyone had touched him, they would’ve realized pretty fast that he wasn’t stiff or cold, and that he still had a pulse.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Jasmine snapped at him before looking back at Rhys. “Go on.”

“I wore a thick jacket,” he continued. “Gave me enough room to breathe without it being obvious.”

I nodded slowly. I’d noticed the jacket at the time; the way it seemed a little out of place after he’d shown up to our ax throwing session that morning in just a t-shirt and jeans. It had registered as odd, but not enough to question. Not then.

“I also stole some beta blockers out of the nurse’s office,” he went on. “Those things slow down your heart and respiration, and that makes it easier to stay calm and take really slow breaths.”

Jasmine’s eyes narrowed. “And you just happened to know that?”

“I read it in a waiting room magazine a few years ago, and it stuck in my head. You know what I’m like at memorizing stuff.”

Jasmine’s lips pursed for a second. Then she let out a faint grunt of acknowledgement, chin dipping in a small, reluctant nod.

“We also never let anyone get close to the body,” Knox said, putting the word ‘body’ in air quotes. “At least not for long. Itwas like… a reverse psychology kind of thing. I acted like I didn’twantanyone to cover him up, and you saw what happened then. They couldn’t have thrown that sheet over him fast enough.”

“Only three people ever got close enough to be able to tell I was breathing if they looked properly,” Rhys added. “Jesse, Caitlin, and Zach. And like Knox just said, Caitlin and Zach wanted to get that sheet over me as quick as they could. And Jesse was—”

“Comforting you,” Jasmine said coldly, glaring at Knox again. “While you lied right to all our faces.”

Knox swallowed. “I’m sorry. It had to be done.”

“Did it?” Jasmine tilted her head and waved the ax at him again, making him flinch. “Why, exactly, did ithaveto be done?”

Rhys took another short step forward. “It was my idea, so if you’re going to be pissed, be pissed at me. Not him.”

“Trust me, Iampissed at you,” Jasmine said, turning her attention back to him. “Why the fuck did you fake your death?”

“I wanted to rattle the killer,” he said. “I figured if a second killer suddenly showed up, or at leastseemedto, then the real killer might get nervous. Then he might start getting sloppy. Make enough mistakes to reveal himself.”

Jasmine scoffed. “You really thought that would work?”

“I think it’s already working,” he said evenly. “Before you two showed up, Knox told me that the killer moved all the bodies. Probably dumped them in the lake. So he’s obviously rattled. Scrambling to cover himself.”

Jasmine hesitated. “That’s… actually not a terrible point,” she muttered.

Rhys nodded. “He might slip up soon. Badly enough that we can catch him out. At least that’s what we’re hoping.”

I finally found my voice. “Why hide it?” I asked. “Why did you let all of us believe you were dead?”

Rhys and Knox exchanged glances. Then Knox let out a short sigh. “We don’t know for sure that the killer’s an outsider,” he said. “We thought there was still a chance it might be one of the other counselors. Or even two of them working together. So if we told the entire group about the scheme, then they’d all know Rhys wasn’t really dead, and that would defeat the entire purpose of it, wouldn’t it?”

“Right. But it’s not one of us,” Jasmine said flatly. She looked back at Rhys. “We talked about it after you ‘died’, and everyone has an alibi for when Sloane and Reid were killed. Except foryou, actually.”

Knox lifted one of his palms higher, head tipping slightly. “That might not be true.”

“How so?” I asked, frowning.

“In that conversation, a lot of people gave each other alibis, right?”

Jasmine and I nodded in unison.

“Well, if it’s like we suspect, and it’s actually two people working together—”