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“I had to. He was working with someone who planned to hurt Scar.”
Chills ride down my body. “Hurt me? Who?”
“I don’t know,” Jude replies. “But I think it’s whoever is blackmailing me and who made me do all this horrible stuff. After I killed my dad, I ran away, but somehow, he tracked me down. I’ve never met him, but he left me notes. More than I left you. Endless notes. Everywhere. Threatened to turn me in for murder if I didn’t do exactly what he said, so I did it.”
The door flies open and voices come over my shoulder. I whip my head around and see Neo, Crew, and Jagger, all panic-stricken.
“Finally,” Crew gasps, throwing himself at me, “we were worried sick. What are you two doing here?”
“We—”
“Doesn'tmatter,” Neo says. “We’ve all gotta go right fucking now.” He grabs my hand and pulls me while I reach for Riley.
“Go where? What happened?”
Jagger grabs a roll of duct tape and rips a piece off then smacks it back on Jude’s mouth. I watch as he does it, replaying all his words in my head. Riley was right. Jude’s not a monster. He’s just like me.
“There’s a fucking news crew here,” Neo says, the tendon on his neck standing tall. “We need to get to Maddie.”
“A news crew?” I’m so confused.What the hell is going on?
Neo pulls me out of the room while I pull Riley.
“Somehow they caught wind of Maddie’s disappearance, and they’re here to report on it.”
“Oh shit,” I cry out, while picking up my pace through the tunnels. I look behind me and see Crew and Jagger locking up the room, then my eyes fall to my hand that’s being held by Neo. He follows my gaze before his eyes drag up to mine, then like it’s no big deal, he says, “I have to call my dad.”
ChapterTwenty-Four
NEO
I popthe top off a bottle of beer then slam it in one big gulp. When I lower my hand, I pound the bottle to Maddie’s dresser. “We all have to stay here. No one knows anything but us. They won’t get a story from anyone else.”
“Is your dad coming?” Crew asks, and my response is a nod.
Really don’t want him to. He’s the last person I wanna deal with, but this is his mess, not mine.
I open another beer.
Then another.
The next thing I know, two hours have passed since we’ve all been holed up in this room.
“They’re still out there,” Scar says from where she’s hiding behind the curtain.
“This is all my fault,” Maddie bellows. “Just tell them I’m here. I can’t hide forever.”
“It’s not your fault,” I sputter, pointing a limp finger at Maddie. “It’s that fucking Jude Beckett’s fault.”
Riley’s voice comes out of nowhere, like a sneaky mouse. “It is not! Jude didn’t do any of this. He’s being framed. Sort of.”
Scar gives Riley a twisted look, and I can’t help but wonder what unspoken words these two are sharing right now.
“What’s she talking about?” I ask Scar, unsure if she’s the right person to ask. I’ve probably got a better chance of hearing the truth from Riley at this point.
“Jude was blackmailed, the same way he blackmailed Melody. Someone else is behind this. He’s just another pawn in this sicko’s game.”
I finish my drink of beer then snap my fingers. “I fucking knew he had help.”
