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“Kind of expected it.” Rory shrugs behind me. “She’s been gunning for you since you came back. What’s her deal with you, anyway?”
Phoenix grimaces. “Her little brother was in my grade. He had a huge crush on Daisy, but he was a jerk. Remember him?” he looks at me, and I nod. “He tried hitting on her when she was thirteen, and I politely asked him not to,” Phoenix shrugs, like that’s the end of it.
“He broke his nose,” I supply, sensing Rory’s disbelief. “For sexting Daisy. It was a big thing. Pretty sure she’s holding a grudge, based on how she’s acting.” Rory makes a face at my words, but his deadpan gaze lands back on Phoenix, all of that sweet human charm draining out of him.
“You had that coming,” he informs his boyfriend coolly. “Stop shaking, Bailey. It’s okay. We knew they’d try to blame him and look for ways to prove he did it. We knew the moment we came here he’d be suspect number one. I’m actually surprised it’s taken her this long to grow the balls to actually accuse him.”
They…knew?
My fingers stroke over the skin of his arm as I talk, and I bite down on my lower lip. “Are you going to leave?” I ask, not sure what’s going on or what their plan is. “Or…stop?”
I’m expecting Phoenix to answer, but it’s Rory who chuckles and kisses my cheek sweetly. “No, darling Bailey,” he purrs in my ear. “No, we’re not going to do any of that. We don’t need to. This is why I’m here. And, even better, why you’re here.”
“No.” Phoenix’s voice is sharp. “No, I told you, Bailey isn’t getting roped into this—”
“Bailey roped herself into this,” Rory snaps. “And it’s not like I can force her. Either she wants to help, or she doesn’t. Either way is fine, by the way,” he informs me, eyes flicking back to mine. “But it would be really great if you could help us out.”
“Help you out?” I reply, my words slow and soft. “How? I’ve tried telling her—”
“No, there’s notelling heranything,” Rory laments, shaking his head. “We have to show her that Phoenix can’t have done it. We give him a concrete alibi, one that she can’t poke holes in.”
“How?”
“By killing Jayden while Phoenix is in plain sight.” His answer is instant, like it was obvious all along, but Phoenix shifts uncomfortably, his attention all on me.
“Then what do you want me to do? I can take Phoenix to the fair, or something? It might be a little obvious if we parade him into the police department, but I’m open to ideas.” Caught up in thinking of potential solutions, it takes me longer than I should to realize neither of them are saying anything. My heart seems to freeze, the beats of it taking longer than usual to pump blood through my body, and I feel slow, groggy, lethargic even for a few seconds. “But you already know what you want me to do, don’t you?”
“Don’t ask her,” Phoenix warns, shaking his head again. “I’m serious, Rory. This isBailey.She’s not me. She’s never wanted to—”
“How badly do you want to help Phoenix, Bailey?” Rory interrupts, his mouth pressed to my ear. “Bad enough to, I don’t know, put on his clothes and mask, carry his knife, and come with me tonight?” His teeth graze the shell of my ear, and I can’t help the full body shiver that goes through me.
“Do you like us enough to help me kill him, if it comes down to it, so the town knows that it can’t be Phoenix after all?” His voice is soft, almost inaudible in the small space between him, Phoenix, and me.
But I can feel every twitch of my nerves as the room stands still. I can feel my lungs filling up with air acutely when I take in a breath, and the scrape of Rory’s skin under my nails as I drag my gaze up and up, until I’m staring into the sapphire depths of Phoenix’s gaze. “Help you kill Jayden?” I repeat, my lips numb with the words. “You trust me to do that?”
“Yes,” Rory replies. “One thousand percent.”
“But he’s asking too much,” Phoenix argues, shaking his head. “Tell him no, Bailey. We’ll find another way, I promise. Just—”
“Yes.” The one, singular word that falls from my lips causes Phoenix to go quiet, and he’s so impossibly still I wonder if I’ve turned him to stone from shock. “Yes,” I say again, with the conviction I can actually feel replacing the cold surprise in my chest. I turn just enough to look at Rory, seeing the approving look in his eyes as I add, a moment later, “What do you need me to do?”
“Oh, Bailey,” he sighs, kissing my cheek. “You really are too perfect for us, you know that? Don’t argue, Phoenix,” he adds, looking up at his boyfriend again. “You need this, and she’s offered. Respect her choice, or leave.”
“Isit your choice?” Phoenix asks, kneeling in front of me, one hand on my knee. His nails scratch at my skin, and his eyes won’t let mine look away. “If you’re afraid, or you’re just doing this because you think there’s no other option—”
“No.” I interrupt him, shaking my head in case he somehow hadn’t heard my too-loud reply. “No, Phoenix. I don’t need you to try to give me a way out, or talk me out of this.” Surprising myself by realizing that it’s true. Idon’tneed a way out. Though, I’m definitely more scared by the idea than I want to let on.
“Let me do this. For you. For Daisy, and maybe just a little bit for me, too.”
Chapter28
Phoenix looks amazing in his murder clothes when he wears them.
…I do not.
Standing in the mirror of the hotel bathroom, I pull at the sleeves of his black hoodie, staring at my reflection in the mirror. I look like him, at least. Our heights aren’t too far apart, and I’m not well endowed enough that a sports bra can’t take care of the issue of my breasts being an obvious giveaway that I’m not a guy. But I just don’t look like him. I don’t look as menacing, or as, well, hot if I’m being honest as either of them do.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I mutter, tugging on the sleeves one more time. My hair is braided into a crown that loops around my head, making it appear shorter than it actually is so that when I pull the hood up, I’m a black-haired guy just like Phoenix. My face looks pale in the mirror, and I wince when banging on the door sets my heart racing.
