Worst Impressions

Chapter Fifty Nine

To say that I was in trouble would be an understatement.

It took a while to recover all the students who'd absconded from the hotel. Their phone numbers were distributed to the hotel staff who called and ordered their return, assuring them that Lisa was safe and that they wouldn't face severe punishment if they complied. After the police questioning, a headcount, and a stern lecture from the faculty, the students were marched back to their rooms with threats of cancelled future excursions and penalties against their academic records. To their credit, none of my classmates pointed me out as the ringleader of our rebellion and escape.

I was shocked, to say the least, particularly when Chantelle continued to feign ignorance of the entire thing and didn't out me as a criminal mastermind.

Throughout the ordeal, Dad kept me in his sights. I could see a battle raging behind his eyes. I could also see that he knew that it had all been my doing. The girls hadn't been stirred into action until we'd arrived, and I was too headstrong to sit in a hotel room and wait while a friend was in danger.

Before we could sneak out with the rest of our classmates, Dad closed the door to the conference room into which they had herded us, sealing our group in to face the wrath of our parents.

'Gideon is staying in police custody,' Dad confirmed. 'Which is where he would have ended up even if you hadn't put yourselves in harm's way.'

'You were taking too long,' I argued. 'I'm not going to apologise. We found her way before you did!'

'Have you looked in a mirror, Elisabeth?' Dad shouted at me.

He only used my full name when I'd done something to really screw up. And no, I hadn't. But I'd not really had the time to do that. When I shrugged, he turned me towards the dark windowpane. The shape of Gideon's hand was imprinted around my throat. I dreaded to think about the lump he'd left on the back of my head, the marks I might find across my torso, or the damage he'd caused to my arm. I resisted the urge to prod at the bruises to test their sensitivity. I could feel their tenderness each time I swallowed. I wasn't about to cause myself more agony than was necessary.

'Mr Bennett,' Jenny said, 'it was my fault. I convinced Beth to -'

'Save it,' he said. 'I know my daughter. There's no way she wasn't the one behind this.'

'She wasn't,' Will said gallantly. 'I was. It was my idea to fly out here, and I convinced Beth that we could track Lisa down. I wanted the chance to get back at Gideon without anyone interfering.'

'It's true,' Amanda backed her brother up with batting an eye. 'He did it for my sake. I'm sorry, Mr Bennett. We got separated because Will and I were careless. Beth was only guilty of wanting to help Lisa, and we exploited that.'

As endearing as their efforts were, it was obvious that Dad wasn't buying it. He could believe that Will hated Gideon enough to want to punch him, but he wasn't going to believe that he was reckless enough to put me or Amanda in danger to do it. It was obvious from the way Will had helped me from the back of the car when we'd returned to the hotel that he thought too much of me for that. At least, it was obvious to me. I might have been reading too much into it.

'I'm tired,' Dad said, pinching the bridge of his nose. 'You're all going to bed. Beth, stay with Jenny and Meg. Believe me when I say that this conversation isn't over.'

We weren't all going to bed. Lisa's parents weren't done with her after her dangerous escapades. As we left, I heard the words credit cards and cancelled, followed by a wail. Compared to what might have happened had we not found her; it was a small price to pay. At least, in my opinion. To Lisa, it was like losing a limb.