Blame for Blame ✔

Out of the Blue

The Matthew's Café was about a ten minutes drive from Avril's house. She parked her Acura and stepped out. She noticed Adele's Volvo parked near the door along with Ariana's SUV. Madeline's red Honda was stationed at one end of the parking lot.

The café was full of kids. At one end a boy was throwing a cup of black coffee on his friend. An elderly lady read a newspaper. Avril squinted at the newspaper. Of course, it was about Havana.

Wait, wasn't it the article she found in the auditorium? But that was only half a piece. She needed to read the complete one. She went to the table where a bundle of magazines were placed.

A petite blonde girl gazed at Avril with a smirk. Of course, everyone recognized her from the TV. They were all over the news. She took out a copy of NJ Today from the pile. She searched for page 6, and there they were, their faces bright, dressed up in school uniforms. Avril recognized these pictures from their school IDs. There wasn't a sign of crime on their innocent faces. Damn it. She re-read the article. The rest of the piece talked about how and where these girls were reported that day, of course, the Melia Cayo route. Not even a single thing that was a lie. Of course they weren't in their cabin. Of course they sneaked. Of course they broke the rule. Of course they planned a visit to Cayo. But that didn't mean they did it, right? There was no evidence. Oh God Avril. Stop worrying. You know you didn't murder your brother.

Someone patted on her shoulder.

Adele stood beside her, gazing at the newspaper. "Are you gone crazy? Why are you running about? Agent Sheppard is waiting Av!"

Avril gazed at her friend's expression. Her eyes were furrowed in a tense curve and her lips were drooped. They were all in this together, and they will find a way out.

The two of them headed to a table in the corner where Ariana and Madeline sat across a tall woman with red hair, dressed in a gray officer's suit. As Avril approached she stood up and spoke in a deep Mexican accent, "Nice meeting you, Avril Kahn. If you please have a seat, we can start talking." Avril nodded tightly and sat at an empty seat.

"So girls, you know what it's about, right?"

The girls shared a nervous glance. "Uh-huh" Ariana replied.

Agent Sheppard glanced at the four of them suspiciously. "You don't have to be nervous. All you are supposed to do is answer and the task of worrying is ours, girls. I hope you'll be truthful, because you don't want to be behind bars for the next 20 years of life, do you?"

Oh my God. Just the idea of jail haunted them. But of course they weren't going, right. They weren't even near the cruise when the fire went off.

"So, you girls agree you were sneaking out that night right?" They nodded.

"And you were going to Melia Cayo?" They nodded again.

"Whose idea was that?"

Avril gazed at her friends. They were silently looking down. It was her idea. She had to volunteer. Being truthful to the cops helped out, right? But before she could say anything, Madeline interrupted. "We all decided that together."

Avril cleared her throat, "I proposed the idea actually."

She gave Med a helpless glance.

"Alright so it was Miss. Kahn's plan." She scribbled something on her red binded notebook and continued, "And can I know why so?"

Avril galloped a ton of saliva that had stored in her mouth. "I...I just thought I would be fun."

The agent gave her an unsatisfying look.

"A-actually, we were reaching Havana that night. And we wanted to see the island before the others. And google proposed that the Cayo was worth visiting. So..."

Agent Sheppard nodded. "I see. And what about Tori Hastings? We didn't find her anywhere in the surveillance. Did you guys hire her for the fire and escaped out of the ship to save yourselves from the fire?"

What the hell? Who was Tori Hastings? Then it occurred to her.

The magazine article. It said five girls were missing, not four. And of course it contained her name. How could they have missed it out?

"Do you girls have anything to say?"

They girls stared at the agent, confused looks on their faces. "Of course it's not true. We don't even know any Tori Hastings. Or even any Tori." Ariana volunteered.

The agent eyed the girls carefully the fourth time. "I warned you, no lies. We have a record of you girls talking to Miss. Hastings at different times."

What? "No, maybe you misunderstood it. Of course we didn't meet any Tori in the whole cruise."

Agent Sheppard smirked. "You can lie. I told you, we have recorded proof."

Did she meet any Tori Hastings? Did all of them? Why don't they remember? "Can you please show us the video?" Adele inquired.

"Of course." She took out her Mac Book from her bag and laid it on the table. The girls leaned closer. A video loaded of Ariana sharing a cocktail with a tall, slim girl. Her Gold-Red hair was cut around her chin and she wore a blue knee-length dress. Her sharp green eyes were covered by huge Gucci sunglasses that neatly leaned over her pointed nose. Of course Avril knew her.

"Hey, she's not Tori! She's Cathy. I met her the second day of the cruise. She was in my Scuba-diving volunteer activity on the cruise!" she told the agent.

Avril was paired up with her for scuba-diving. The two of them had grown a slight friendship and gossiped about their lives. Cathy had told her her mother had died when she was young and her Dad had left her for some other woman in the neighborhood. They had talked about literature as both Cathy's foster parents taught English in Stanford. Avril had  envied this.

Adele shook her head. "No, it's Felicia. Felicia McVeigh. She told me she came from Ireland and shifted here in the US last summer."

What? How can she be two people at a time?

Ariana snorted. "C'mon, I met her. She's Scarlet Montgomery."

Madeline came forward. "She's neither Cathy, nor Scarlet or Felicia. She's Alison."

Not two people, she was four different people at one time. What kind of a weirdo was she? And what was she doing the night Ashton went missing? Was she...

Agent Sheppard cut her thoughts. "Are you girls serious? Did she come across you with fake identity?" They all nodded.

The agent told them to calm down and said she will trace Tori and then left. The girls sat on the table, puzzled.

"Girls, we need to find who this Tori is. Right now." Avril said.

Madeline gazed at her watch. "But aren't you getting late, Ophelia?" Of course. She was left with just an hour and she had to read her lines again and dress up.

"Oh right. See you at school then. Only if things were right..." she looked down.

The other girls stood up. Adele patted her shoulder. Ariana said, "We will find a way out. Whoever this Tori Hasting is, she is a liar. And a murderer. Ashton's murderer. She can't run free."