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“He asked me not to say anything. You have to understand—he feels caught in the middle. He’s not friends with the Four, he fucked you over, he has all this pressure from his cousin…and no, I don’t know what’s going on there. All I know is, he got me out of a really bad situation when I was younger, and I trust him. He’s been looking into this dog fighting stuff with me…both of us have a personal interest in it. Anyway, he asked me not to say anything, and I had to respect that. I couldn’t say anything without implicating him, you know?”
“Yeah. I guess so.” I thought back through everything James had told me. What kind of pressure must he be under, to feel so torn?
“Another thing.” Lena chewed her lip. “Uh, so I turned up at the docks just when James was putting you into his car. You looked…you were so… It scared me, yeah?”
I stared at her, before giving her a wry smile. “Yeah. I scared myself, the first time I looked in a mirror. I get it, I do. I just can’t help feeling that if only everyone had been a bit better at communicating, we might have been able to piece everything together by now.”
She nodded, picking up a handful of Skittles, lining them up on her palm. I scrutinised her face closely, seeing the conflict she wasn’t bothering to hide. What could I say? “It’s hard. We only have our own perception of a situation, and we can only make our decisions based on our own experiences. I want you to know that I don’t blame you for anything, or hold anything against you. James, too, for that matter.”
“Good. And thank you.”
“Have you spoken to Cassius yet? I haven’t said anything—I was giving you a chance to.”
She groaned. “No. I’m not looking forward to that conversation.”
“You have to tell him, though. Soon,” I warned her gently.
“I know, and I will.”
We lapsed into silence, both watching as the group of girls on screen searched for answers. Ugh. I needed to watch something else. Something that didn’t involve people being just as frustrated as I was.
A thought suddenly occurred to me. “The ID card you took from the security guy… West mentioned that he only saw it log in and out that one time when James rescued me, plus the time we found you down at the docks. How come there are no other login records from that card?”
She sat bolt upright. “The card? Um. My boss… I guess we forgot to say that the record needed to be erased after we found you. You have to understand, we were panicking. Finding you was way beyond anything we’d imagined or were equipped for. The whole thing really shook me up. Shook us up.”
I thought it through. “Yeah. I guess that makes sense.” Rolling onto my side, I grabbed the bag of tortilla chips sitting on the table next to the bed. “Let’s forget all that shit for now, and you can tell me what’s going on between you and West.”
“What?” she screeched. “I don’t have time for boys. Can we just watch Netflix? I didn’t invite you here for an interrogation.”
Her face made me collapse back against the headboard of the bed, laughing until I was breathless. “Yeah. Sounds good to me,” I said, when I finally managed to compose myself. “No more talk about subjects you’re determined to avoid.”
The sky had grown dark outside when my phone buzzed with a message. I’d heard from Cade earlier, and he’d said the boys had finished football and were going for drinks with the other guys they’d been playing the game with, but nothing since.
I swiped the screen to see Zayde’s name appear, and I sucked in a breath.
Zayde: You done? Cade needs you.
My stomach flipped.
Me: What do you mean by that? Is he OK?
Zayde: Yeah he’s OK but think you should get him home.
Me: On my way. Where?
Zayde: Student Union bar. Call me when you’re here and I’ll come out and meet you.
Me: OK see you soon
I stood, brushing the crumbs off me, wincing. Tortilla chips were so bloody scratchy.
“You’re leaving?” Lena looked over at me, her expression knowing.
“Yeah. Cade… He needs me.” I shrugged, hoping she’d understand. “I can’t—”
“I get it, Winter. It’s all good. No need to explain.” She glanced at her phone. “We’ve spent hours together, anyway. Not that I’m complaining, I’ve had a great time.” A smile lit up her face. “We need to do this again.”
“We will.” I returned her smile. “Call or text me anytime, okay?”
