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“There was a dead mouse on her pillow,” he finally says.
A shiver runs up my spine, the chill that follows makes it almost impossible to breathe. Would Alec go that far to get at Ro? I want to believe that he wouldn’t, but the truth is I know he’s capable of doing something like this.
I scream as my toe touches something cold and wet at the end of my bed. My heart races as I scramble as far up the headboard as I can go and call out, “Da-ad. Daddy.”
There’s something in my bed. Under the covers. I can’t rip my gaze away from that spot on the bed even though I can’t see anything through the blankets.
“Daddy?” I call out, more quietly this time as I cling to the headboard. There’s something wet on my big toe. I bend closer to examine the stain. It’s reddish-brown. Almost like…blood. Oh my God, is it blood?
The au pair that had come to see why I wasn’t sleeping had found a dead baby squirrel in my bed. Of course she’d said it was the cat. But we didn’t have a cat…
“She’s freaking out. So we’re going there before we head to Rebel’s.” His lip curls as he guides the vehicle back onto the road. “It had to be that fucking bastard, Alec Hawthorne.”
It feels like my entire world rests on the precipice of a crumbling cliff and another rock slide has left it that little bit more likely I’ll fall. It has to be my brother. He wants to hurt them all.
I think about all the times he locked me in the dark cupboard under the stairs just to hear me scream. All the times he made me feel small and weak. He must know Rochelle is scared of him. Figured he could hurt her more by proving she can never be safe. A dead mouse. A quiet, innocent animal left as a warning that he can always get to her.
Like he can always get to me. Unless I can find a way to prove he should be locked up. But chances are it wouldn’t stick if Ro had him charged. It’s her word against his and so long ago. They’d speculate that she didn’t come forward quick enough. Didn’t have him charged. There’s no evidence. Nothing but a jealous friend as a witness. A guy she fell out with for over a year because he beat Alec so severely. And I know him; he’s good at playing the victim. Getting people to believe in him. He’d more than likely get away with it. Walk out a free man. And then what…? There are too many lives he can ruin.
Rebel’s and Summer’s.
Ro’s.
Rogue’s.
Adira’s.
Mine.
And who knows how many more.
So I will do what I have to do. I’ll give him the information he wants and, in the process, find a way to get him to reveal that he’s a monster.
My phone vibrates again. Dread settles on my soul as I take it out of my bag and tip the screen so Rogue won’t be able to see what’s written when I light it up.
Dearest little sister, I hope you enjoy the surprise I left for you. I figured you would be too soft, so I thought I’d give you a hand. You can thank me later when you bring me what I want.
As much as I keep hoping he’ll forget I exist, texts like this remind me that he won’t back off until I do what he wants. I jab at my phone like my life depends on it. This message…now…he had to have something to do with the break in.
Did you break into Rochelle Kitt’s? Is that what you did?
Have you been keeping up with your therapy visits? You sound a little unhinged. Like the last time you couldn’t look after yourself. Remember, I had to do it for you?
“You’re awfully quiet, baby.” Rogue covers my hand with his, jolting me out of my nightmare and into reality. “Who is that?”
“It’s no one. Nothing.” I shut down my phone just as another notification appears on my screen. “It doesn’t matter.”
He glances at me. Glances at me again. The frustration in his voice is as evident as it was when we’d joked about T-Swift. ”It doesn’t look like nothing. Who is ‘dickwad’?”
So we weren’t joking then. I wasn’t entirely sure, but now I am. He’d seen T-Swift’s name on my phone. Just like he’s just caught me texting Alec. My only saving grace is that I had the foresight to change Alec’s name in my contacts. And that Rogue asked Adira about my conspirator and not me.
I still have no idea what I would have said in the heat of the moment. As if I’ve ever met Taylor Swift. As if I would have the guts to talk to her if I were in her orbit. Not even for Adira.
Of course Rogue is frustrated; he knows I’m keeping things from him. But Adira… I can’t let him become collateral damage… I just hope I don’t screw everything up with Rogue to keep my friend safe.
“It’s that guy, isn’t it? The old creep.” He cuts his gaze from the road. “He’s still harassing you, isn’t he?”
“No.” Damnit. I could have rolled with it. Could have let him believe that Nathaniel is the one texting me. But I’m not a good liar, and even if I were, I don’t want to lie to Rogue more than I have to. There’s no way this stays secret in the long run. “It’s my brother.”
