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“Right, on the seat. No damage, nothing stolen, keys left behind. Sounds like a prank to me, Officer.” I watch the way he has to fight the urge to correct me again, his eyes narrowing in disdain. I want to smirk, fuck it. I do smirk. I let him see just how much he underestimated me. I may not be my father, but he sure as hell didn’t leave me defenseless. “The phone call?” I scoff. “Part two of the prank most likely.”
I roll my neck and relish in the crack. Sitting in this chair has been god awful. Even with the restroom breaks they’ve allowed. “Now, I’m guessing your forty-eight hours are coming to an end and you’ve got nothing else. So why don’t we stop this charade and just release me and my friends now, hmm?”
He pins me with those beady eyes and I wonder just how long he sat outside that mirror watching me. Trying to figure out just how to break me open and spill my secrets. “What makes you so sure your friends haven’t already told my guys everything?”
My smirk turns into a full grin. A predator’s smile. A baring of teeth. As easy for me as breathing. “What would they tell you, Officer? How they were at my house playing video games and eating pizza all Wednesday night?”
Discoloration rises up his cheeks in his fury. He thought he had us. He should know better. He pulls a key from his pocket. “You’re free to go, Mr. Knight. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
I roll my eyes as the cuffs hit the table with a loud clunk. “I expect my friends to be released immediately,” I order before stalking out of the room, leaving the fuming detective behind me.
It doesn’t take long for the guys to meet me at the front. Zaiden is the last who storms out of the doors, his green eyes wild as they roam over us, not landing on the one person we all immediately searched for.
“Where the fuck is Ellie?” he roars. I glare at him but Hudson gets to him first. Throwing a punch to his gut to get him to shut the fuck up.
“Not here,” I hiss. He lowers his head, even as his breath comes out in pants. Hudson hit him harder than was really necessary.
I usher them all to the black Escalade already here for us. As soon as we are behind closed doors, Zaide is back to demanding answers. I sigh. He always was the least patient.“Where the fuck is she?”
I keep one eye on the doors to the police station, waiting to see if she too exits the building, but I don’t think she was grabbed. I hit her name on my phone again and wait as it rings. And rings. And fucking rings.
Voicemail. Again.
“I can’t get ahold of her, but I don’t think they arrested her,” I tell the others as I hit her name again. “I asked the lady that gave me my shit back if any of my friends had been released and she said all three of you were still back there. Three, not four.”
“That’s not enough,” Zaide spits at me. I take a deep breath so I don’t fucking throttle him.
“Obviously,” I grit back and hit her name again. I’ve never hated the sound of a phone ringing more.
“The detective said someone phoned in a tip,” Hudson says, changing the direction of our conversation.
“The tip,” Ash whispers. I jerk my head to stare at him. He’s been so quiet since he walked out until now. He’s staring at his phone with shock and something that looks a hell of a lot like hurt flashing across his face.
“What?” Zaide demands.
Ash runs his fingers through his hair. His eyes dart to mine before looking back down at his phone and the betrayal is clear on his face. “The tip,” he repeats almost silently. “I think it was Bri.” The words barely come out as if he had to shove them past the emotions clogging his throat.
I flinch back, ready to deny the mere thought of her turning on us. That is until I see what he’s staring at. A picture on her Instagram that I never could have predicted. I guess she made her choice after all, and it wasn’t any of us.
Crystal blue eyes stare up at us, practically oozing smugness as he leans his chin on the top of our girl’s head. One hand wrapped around her waist, while the other gently cups her ass. I see red. Or maybe it’s green as the jealousy damn near burns me alive at seeing that fucking douche, Carson, with his hands on our girl. Our sunshine. Our single thread of gold that weaves us together.
“The caption,” Ash whispers. My hands shake as I take the phone and read four little words that change everything.
Again.
All bets are off.
17 MissedCalls
1 New Voicemail- Zaiden
Hey Sunshine. It’s Z again. I don’t understand why you aren’t answering any of our calls. Could you please just call us back? Call me back? We saw the post, but we aren’t mad, just confused. Since when did you and Carson even start talking? I don’t know if we can ever like the guy, but you know we will do anything for you. I can try for you. It might be hard, he really is a colossal douche, but I’ll try. Just call me back so we can talk.
15 Missed Calls
1 New Voicemail - Ashton
Bri, I’m scared. I’m scared we aren’t going to make it through this. Zaide and Hudson are fighting daily, they can barely even be in the same room anymore. Eli is silent. I’m lost and confused. You keep posting but you haven’t responded to any of our texts. I just don’t get it. This isn’t like you. Everything is falling apart. Everyone is falling apart. I just want my best friends back. I just want you back. We can still fix this. Can you please just let us fix this? I don’t think we’re gonna be okay without you. I don’t think they will ever be okay.
