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He nodded and jerked his head toward the back seat. “Get in then, let’s go.”
* * *
The coffee place was nowhere near as nice as Ellen had hyped it up to be. As soon as we were sitting, it became awkward as hell. I didn’t really know either of them, so suddenly having coffee together was uncomfortable. Not only that, but I wanted to get home and think about how to tell Cayden about Josh. Well, that had been the plan. Now, I had no idea. Clearly, I couldn’t trust Josh not to make things worse, and I couldn’t trust Cayden not to kill him when he found out.
“How come you guys are here? Do you still have family in town?” I asked Ellen. She had been living in Hade Harbor a while now.
She flushed as she nodded. “My mom lives here. I live with my uncle in Hade Harbor.”
“Oh, ok.” When she didn’t say anything more, I changed the subject. “So, you knew Cayden well when you lived here?” I asked, sipping on black coffee that tasted like tar.
“Not really, but my dad did. He was one of Uncle Jack’s best customers.” Ellen let out a bitter laugh. “Uncle Jack was Cayden’s foster father and a well-known guy around these parts. He and my dad were pretty close. My dad passed away last year.”
“I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”
She shrugged, her eyes glittering for a moment. “He wasn’t a bad person, he was just sick. If it hadn’t been for his addiction and Midnight Falls, he’d still be here. If it wasn’t for Cayden West, he’d still be here.”
“How was Cayden involved?”
“Because he came calling when my dad was late on payments. He didn’t just ask for the money.” Ellen let out a humorless laugh. “He was violent. He withheld more product until the account was settled. You know it’s dangerous to come off the hard stuff abruptly. The withdrawal can kill you. It killed him.”
Horror slid through me. It was a truly horrible story. The pain in Ellen’s voice made it clear that she was a long way from having dealt with the trauma of it all. It was also clear that she blamed Cayden for all of it, even if it sounded like he merely worked for his foster father.
“I’m so sorry to hear that. Cayden’s former foster father, Jack, was the supplier?” I asked carefully.
It seemed obvious to me that Cayden had just been doing his uncle’s bidding, but Ellen didn’t look like she agreed.
She nodded and wet her lips. “He’s not so bad, he pays my mom compensation and helps her with her habits. He’d never cut her off, he knows it’s dangerous.”
My heart broke for her, even as angry as I was. She was torn and twisted by the terrible things that had happened to her family, and put all the blame on the wrong person. Well, maybe Cayden was to blame as well, but the truth remained that he was just young then and acting on his foster dad’s orders. Ellen seemed determined not to acknowledge that, and I got it. It was easier to turn a blind eye to Jack himself, since he was supplying her mom.
Josh interrupted, growing impatient with any discussion that wasn’t about vilifying Cayden. “Cayden is a dangerous person to have in Hade Harbor. He’s a dangerous guy to have on the Hellions. We’re only doing the responsible thing by bringing his past to everyone’s attention. People should know who they have to go to school with – who they live with,” Josh added. “Doesn’t it scare you?” he wondered.
I shrugged, numb. It did scare me, but not entirely for the reasons they meant.
“So, we’re going to make sure everyone knows. That way, he’ll get kicked off the team and can slither back here. You won’t have to see him in your house anymore, either.”
“But if you have real concerns, wouldn’t it be best to go straight to the police, or at least Principal Smith, instead of just dragging his name through the mud? They’ll investigate it properly.”
As soon as I’d spoken, Josh exchanged a glance with Ellen.
“What?” I wondered.
He was still looking at Ellen. “I told you she was on his side. I told you there’s something between them.”
“I had to know for sure,” Ellen said grimly.
I squirmed on my seat, feeling exposed. “I’m not protecting him – I just think there are right and wrong ways to do things.”
“Yeah, and you think that whatever we do, Cayden shouldn’t suffer for it, right? It wasn’t his fault, not his choices…so predictable. I really thought you were better than the other puck whores who hang on the Ice Gods’ every word, but I guess you’re the same after all. Even after he treated you like shit, you defend him.”
His words struck against the barriers around my heart, piercing just hard enough to hurt.
“I’m not hanging on his words, or defending him – I just think it’s weird that if he’s to blame for so many things, how come he’s not in trouble with the police?”
Josh sighed and sank back in the booth. “I don’t know why this guy gets a pass, but I think in time, you’ll see what we see if you knew more about him.” Josh had been fiddling with his phone, and now, the furtive way he kept glancing over my shoulder was making me nervous. I had to get out of here. My instincts screamed at me to get going, and I pasted an understanding smile on my face.
“Let me think about all of this. I really need to get going,” I started.
