I used to come to this beach with the boys all the time. They liked it because it was far enough away from town that only locals knew about it. Our own little escape from reality. My life was so simple back then. How could it have all taken such a terrible turn? I definitely want to blame Keller, but that map makes me think my mum had something to do with the development side of things as well. All that time she said she was working hard to fight him, she was really having secret meetings with him to plot his takeover. Sickness consumes me at the thought.
I drop down onto the sand and pull my knees up to my chest, staring out over the water. Maybe River is right and I don’t want to know the truth. I swipe away the lone tear that’s slipped down my cheek. My mum was a good person, wasn’t she? She was beautiful and caring and sweet. Yeah, she could be harsh when she was fighting for something she was passionate about, but she was fair. She wasn’t evil like Keller.
My phone starts blowing up, and I jump at the interruption to the silence, scaring the shit out of me. Talon’s name lights up the screen, and just because I have had enough shit for one day and I’m sick of him calling me on repeat, I answer. “Stop calling me, I don’t want to talk to you.” I hang up.
Fuck men, I hate all of them right now.
It springs to life again, but this time it’s Kasen’s name staring back at me. What, is it asshole day or something?
I decline the call. I absolutely don’t want to entertain a conversation with him.
Almost as soon as I do, he starts again.
I glance over my shoulder, getting that prickly feeling again like someone is watching me. Is it him? I don’t find anyone, but the heaviness in the pit of my stomach tells me I should get moving. It’s an awful feeling, one that’s had me not venturing much further than the beach bar in the last few days, even though I’m desperate to explore town. I just have this feeling that the Southern Breakers aren’t done with me. I hang up his call again. He’s the last person I want to talk to right now.
I get to my feet and brush off the sand. On the way back, I paddle through the small waves on the shoreline, kicking up the water as I go.
Then Slater starts calling. What the actual fuck. I answer.
“What is so urgent?” I snap.
“Where are you?”
“None of your business.” I disconnect the call. For fuck’s sake.
A text pops in.
SLATER: Meet us back at the bar, we need to talk.
What? He had his chance to talk to me this morning, and he just left me there with that damn USB. I ignore his text. I want to do my shift today, but I’m not going back there because he tells me to.
When I climb back up the sandy bank and move toward the van, my skin prickles all over. A dark figure runs past the van, followed by another one chasing him into the adjoining bushland. What the actual fuck? I run up the bank, and there on the once pristine paintwork of my combi is bright green spray paint. There is a graffiti picture of a decapitated bird with text that says,“I know what you did, little bird, and it’s time for you to pay.”
My heart hammers in my chest as I glance over my shoulder, looking to see if anyone else is around, but the beach is empty and the men are long gone. But someone has been here while I was in the water. A creepy shiver slithers down my spine.
Am I in real trouble? Does someone really want me gone, just like they did my mum?
I take one more look back at the beach and run, jumping in the driver’s side of the van before I can think on it any longer. My shaky fingers shoving the keys in the ignition, Sheila growls to life, and we scream out of the parking lot at record time. I’m not hanging around to see if they come back to make good on their threat. Someone wants me out of this place for good. I fucking knew someone was following me.
There is only one thing scarier than the three assholes who are now haunting my every thought. The motherfucker leaving creepy-as-hell messages for me who actually wants me gone.
Chapter 21
Kasen
My birdie runs through the door to River’s beach bar out of breath and clearly panicked. Even in the dim light I can make out how wide her eyes are and the subtle trembling of her delicate hands. She looks from left to right, her frantic eyes settling on me as I sit by the bar drinking from a tumbler filled with top-shelf whiskey.
Waiting for her to join me, I collect up my glass, swirl the liquid, then take a long sip before setting it back on the bar. She hasn’t moved, so I approach her carefully. Like a deer in the headlights, she stands frozen in the doorway, her slight bikini-clad figure rooted to the spot as if her bare feet got stuck in glue. Her large green eyes are wide with fright as she strains to draw ragged breaths.
“You missed us, birdie?” I try keeping my voice calm, even though I’m anything but. Some fucker tried to mess with what is mine today, in full fucking daylight as well. If Bodhi hadn’t been there keeping an eye on her, this situation could have been very different.
With a heavy sigh, she brushes past me, straightening her shoulders. It’s an act she’s perfected, trying to appear tough when she’s clearly shaken to the core. “Needed a drink,” she mutters, cold as ever as she pulls up a stool at the bar like she isn’t parading round in her swimmers. “Where is everyone?”
I unbutton my shirt and drape it over her shoulders; she must be freezing cold. She’s also flashing her bits for all to see, and as much as that image delights me, I’m the only one who should see her like it. “Bar’s closed today.”
She looks over her shoulder, giving me a funny look, I think for trying to dress her. Her eyes linger on my bare chest just for a moment, then they flick back up to my face. “Why?”
Because I’m done with letting you run around town on your own, and I didn’t want an audience. “Just is.” I walk around the back of the bar and pour her a glass of water, drop a slice of lemon and a couple of ice cubes into it, then slide it across to her.
