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Now I wished I was on the floor. It would be easier to hide my face.
Poison burned her glare. “You’ll see.”
She stormed off and was dismissed as quickly as she left.
Legend eyed Roan. “Who are you texting?”
“Oh, you know.” He winked. “A boy.”
Legend moved under the table, and Roan hissed—face screwing up in pain even as his eyes glazed in pleasure.
“Just kidding, baby.” Roan tugged him by the collar. The X-rated kiss he gave him made me cross my legs. In the tiny little black dress the guys squeezed me into, they could see I was wet from space.
Cairo’s phone went off. He glanced at the screen and something flashed across his face.
“Hello?” He listened. “Yeah. Yeah. I got the message.”
My ears perked up, listening for a hint of who was on the other end.
“No,” Cairo said. “He forgot to mention that. Yes, we’ll take care of it. I said we’ll take care of it.”
He ended the call.
“Off,” he ordered. “Go to class, Rain.”
Cairo helped me along by standing and tossing me off his lap.
I headed out. I needed to find something less nightclub to wear to my bankruptcy class anyway.
“We have a problem,” I overheard him say. “Must be dealt with tonight...”
You have problems?
Out of their orbit, my attention focused on my impending deadline, and the increasingly angry psychopath waiting for a name.
I have to warn them. His threats be damned. They have to know their lives are in danger. Especially Frankie. Her husband is a walking shitbag, but he wouldn’t refuse watching the kids and getting them out of town until I find this guy and stop him.
In four days.
The majority of my two weeks were eaten up and there was nothing I could do about it. All I had was a theory about Sam Dillion, and if I was wrong, there was the final guy in their old crew and Cavendish’s girlfriend.
What do I do if looking for these people turns up nothing?
I didn’t know Cavendish. Who knew how he spent his time, or who he got close to after he killed his best friend and the others drifted away? The Letter Man could be his long-lost frickin’ brother who recently bonded with him over their shared love of blood and torture, and after big bro died, he decided to take up the mantle.
I stopped outside the building, taking a deep breath and holding it. Playing the what-if game wouldn’t do me any good. I needed a real, solid plan that didn’t rely on sudden mania and a perfect window of opportunity. The Bedlam Boys were hardly going to set that up for me again.
I’d change, spend the last hour till class in the library, and put together the pieces of Scott’s life. That night, I’d break away from the guys—punishment be damned—and tell Paris, Bella, and Frankie they were in danger and why. A twisted sadist stalking and threatening to kill you wasn’t something you shot off in a text.
They’d most likely demand we go straight to Sheriff Jack. Hell would open up at my feet before I sat in the same room with the man. I was prepared to tell my story to one of the Hunter’s Creek officers and show them the letter detailing in no uncertain terms what they’d do if I didn’t kill someone in two weeks.
The cops would assign them protection. My friends would be safe.
For how long? a chilling voice sounded. How long can any of us be safe from a shadow?
I looked down, throat tight, as doubt fought its way in.
It’s always behind you.
***
My first time in the university library, and it was becoming my favorite place.
A light scent of vanilla wafted in and out of the stacks. This library wasn’t like most I’d been in. Huge overhead windows and skylights dispelled the dark corners. There were study tables and couches placed everywhere, and in the front of the building, a little café that served me a chicken pesto panini that hit the spot better than Jacques’s logical breakfast smoothie.
I was dressed in a hoodie and sneakers from a girl who literally gave them to me off her body. I went up to her in Homer Green, asked if she was a size seven and how she felt about a trade for my pair of Manolo Blahniks. She whipped them off so fast, she took off barefoot so I wouldn’t have a chance to change my mind.
A thousand times more comfortable, I found a spot near the back and did a deep dive into the life of Sam Dillion.
Local Teens Injured During Fake Bomb Threat.
Sam Dillion’s name was added to that piece of news after Douglas ratted out his friends. That was years later, and another year after that, he left town.
My search into Dillion ended there the first time around. He wasn’t around, so I focused on the friend that was: Scott Cavendish.
