Page 19 of Deadly Little Scandals
In isolation, what I was seeing wouldn’t have struck me as ominous—or ill-advised. But as Lily had explained to me hours earlier, the termFalling Springswasn’t just synonymous with this cove and these cliffs.
It was a shorthand for the activities the cove and the cliffs were most known for.Parties. Debauchery. Liquid courage.
Andjumping.
ow many of you have jumped off Falling Springs before?”
Victoria stood on the front of the largest boat in the line, the one that was anchored and holding all of the others in place. Her voice traveled along the water. In the silence of the night, I could practically feel it all around us, even from my position three boats away.
“Show of hands,” Victoria continued, before repeating her question. “How many of you have jumped off Falling Springs?”
Across the other six boats, I could hear motion but couldn’t make out exactly how many Candidates’ hands there were in the air. Beside me, Campbell’s arm was fully extended.
“And how many of you have jumped off Falling Springs in the dark?” A light breeze caught Victoria’s dark hair. In daylight, you might have been able to see shades of brown in it, but at night, with scant lighting, her long, thick waves might as well have been shadows.
Beside me, Campbell’s hand was still raised. Lily shifted slightly. Even on a boat, after having snuck out and arguably committed grand theft naval, she sat with her knees together and her feet poised on the floor beneath us, just so.Perfect posture. Perfect manners.
Based on Victoria’s questions, I could only conclude that those things wouldn’t give my “cousin” much of an advantage here.
“And how many of you,” Victoria continued with a cunning smile that I could hear in her voice, if not quite see on her face, “have jumped off Falling Springsnaked?”
“When she saidnaked,” Sadie-Grace whispered behind me, “what exactly do you think she meant?”
The four of us, along with our fellow Candidates, had made our way across the line of boats, climbing from one to the next until we reached the one closest to the shore. I was about to supply Sadie-Grace with the definition of the wordnakedwhen Hope saved me the trouble.
“You can leave everything but your swimsuits here, ladies,” she announced. “You’ll ditch the suits before you jump.”
“Oh,” Sadie-Grace said. “That kind of naked.”
My primary concern had less to do with what we’d be wearing when we jumped than it did the height we’d be leaping from—and the depth of the water we’d be plunging into.
“Scared?” Campbell asked beside me.
“I don’t do scared,” I told her. “I also don’t do broken necks.”
“People jump off Falling Springs all the time.” Lily held her head high as she stripped down to her swimsuit. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince me or herself. “These aren’t the only cliffs at the lake; they’re just the only ones at a spot where the water gets deep really fast.”
“I cannot help but notice that you ladies are still fully clothed.” Victoria appeared beside us and zeroed in on me. “Of course, disrobingisoptional. Totally your call.”
The Candidates were many. The Chosen were few.
“Will you be joining us?” I asked her. Whether Campbell made good on her plan or I went with mine,talkingrequired face time.
Victoria studied me for a moment. “That depends,” she said with an arch of her eyebrow. “Are you four planning to jump from one of the lower ledges—or the top?”
Climbing to the top of Falling Springs required looping around and navigating a wide path through the brush and rocks along the side. Behind me, Campbell fell in beside Victoria. I let her, keeping my focus on the climb. The incline ranged from mild to the occasional vertical that required finding a steady tree limb or stone to grip for support. I’d just grabbed on to a rock and tested it as a handhold when Victoria latched her fingers onto its side.
I glanced back and saw Campbell trailing by five or six feet. I was betting that meant her attempts at conversation had been less than fruitful. I’d just about decided on a way to bring up Ana when Victoria saved me the trouble.
“I don’t have a sister named Ana,” she informed me without prelude. “Or a cousin. My mother is my father’s second wife. He was in his sixties when I was born, so if you’re looking for a Gutierrez in her thirties…”
She very purposefully trailed off and pulled past me. I barreled onward, pulling even with her an instant before the path narrowed to allow only one of us through at a time.
Victoria took the lead. “I will admit, something about the way you said that name—Ana Sofía Gutierrez—got me curious, so I called up the least overprotective and dictatorial of my many much-older brothers and asked if he knew of an Ana in the family.”
“Got any rogue Anas running around?” I asked. I could see the ground leveling out ahead. We were almost to the top. Campbell, Sadie-Grace, and Lily were only a few feet behind.
“My brother hung up on me,” Victoria informed me, “but not before ordering me to never so much asthinkthat name again.”
