Dropping my head back and propping my hands on my hips, I take heaving breaths and close my eyes. I scrub a hand through my hair and flick my gaze to the coffee table, where my laptop and the efforts of my hunt for the truth lay. I can’t wait for Colt.
I grab a quick shower, leaning my palms against the wall while the hot water beats over my head. My dick gets hard because I let my mind wander again and Maisy’s sexy smile and those fucking yoga pants taunted me even when she’s out of reach. I don’t touch myself, rejecting the attraction to her.
Once I’m out, I throw on a loose pair of joggers and sit on the couch, opening the laptop. It loads to the last thing I was working on—a PDF backlog of medical journals my parents have been mentioned in or interviewed for. They praise my parents and Jacqueline Landry for the advancements their research team achieved. My brow furrows in concentration as I continue to skim through them.
The other side of the screen has my efforts to track down an incident report. It’s been a dead end so far, and what Colton was able to mine from Ridgeview Police Department’s server isn’t promising. If I can’t pin Chief Landry with the incident report, it could be another dead end. I could look into CCTV to place the Landrys there, but there’s no guarantee recordings from a decade ago were kept this long. Colton’s working on hacking his way past firewalls to turn up old bank statements to find out when and how much they were paid off to keep quiet. For all I know they hired a hitman to do the dirty work for them while those greedy bastards reaped all the benefits of eliminating my parents.
I’ve been trying to remember what my parents were working on, but those memories are blocked by grief and betrayal. All I remember is wanting to show Maisy what I found in the garage, but no matter how hard I focus I’m unable to picture what was in the hidden stash and files I showed her that day I picked a daisy for her.
Something in my gut keeps pushing me to follow this thread. The key to what got them killed has to be in these journals and in their research.
Thirteen
Maisy
With a few weeks left until graduation, I’m no closer to figuring Fox out. After his threats during detention before last weekend, he’s backed off. It’s like being back to his cold shoulder again, his walls higher than ever whenever we’re in the same vicinity.
It’s crazy, but I actually miss his attention, even when he’s promising my downfall. I also miss riding on the back of his motorcycle. Once was enough to make me fall in love with the thrill. I want to do it again to feel that rush of freedom. It didn’t hurt that it was Fox I was holding onto, or that he didn’t take me home immediately.
He still knows me so well and it makes my heart pang.
Instead of hunting me, he seems to be focused on the other thing that occupies most of his time. He acts increasingly shady—which is saying something given the way people in this town call him a black shadow—taking calls in the middle of class and disappearing. The teachers do nothing to stop him. They couldn’t control him if they tried.
No one controls Fox.
School lets us go early on Friday for the holiday weekend. We have off on Monday and one thought keeps snagging in my head—a three day weekend is plenty of time for Fox to stir trouble. My curiosity buzzes with the need to know what he’s been doing and where he goes. If I can find out, it might help me get past his walls to finally make him listen to me so we can work through this thing between us—his grudge and the way our bodies are drawn together by a magnetic lure full of heat.
At the end of the day, I’m absorbed in texting Connor as I head for the parking lot. He’s planning another crazy surprise for my best friend.
Connor: Don’t worry about the tickets. I’m taking care of everything. What matters most is that our closest crew is there. [GIF of money raining down]
A grin crosses my face as I type my response.
Maisy: Dude, she’s going to love it.
He is done with waiting to marry Thea. He’s taking her to Paris to elope and bringing our whole group of friends as a surprise.
The way it calls up the need for adventure in my heart has me excited to pack a bag. I’m glad Dad is wrapped up in the parade logistics for Memorial Day in a few days, so I can duck him easily. Mom will be the tricky one to evade. If I can get far enough away, she won’t be able to get me before I jet out of the country. Holden better help, because I’m not missing out on this chance to experience the world. I bite my lip as a giddy squeal works up my throat.
This gives me the same heady feeling as thinking about my road trip plans. The crush of excitement is a full body experience, tingling in my fingertips to my toes as I bounce with the happiness I can’t contain.
Paris. Thea’s always loved it and wanted to go. I’m excited just to leave the city limits of Ridgeview. I haven’t been out of town since our family vacation in California.
The sight of Fox’s matte black Charger parked not far from my car makes me pause in my mini mental celebration.
Glancing back, I find him on his way down the steps to the parking lot at the base of the hill. Keys in hand, the locks on his car disengage. He doesn’t see me because he’s scowling at his phone intently.
It’s not like him to unlock his car from so far away without doing a sweep of his surroundings. Sometimes he acts like Dad does, on high alert for any threat, always checking the exits. I thought it was a cop habit, but when he does it, he doesn’t look like a cop.
Opportunity calls to me. I rub my lips together, thumbing the corners of my phone case, a photo of the California coastline printed on the back. It’s always reminded me of the day Fox gave me the stones on my bracelet. Instinct flutters across my awareness, whispering for me to take a chance. Mom hates my impulsiveness, actively working to rein it in, but I shove the thought of her aside as I close the short distance to his car and open the back door before the idea fully forms.
I’m going to find out where Fox goes all the time. Instead of following him, I’ll stow away.
After throwing a quick look over my shoulder to check that he hasn’t noticed me, I slide into his back seat. The rich scent of leather, wood, and that faint hint of motor oil that I secretly like best surrounds me, but I don’t have time to appreciate it.
There’s a big canvas duffel bag, a tool box, and what I think is a small drone. It’s a really weird mix of supplies to keep in a car and none of it makes sense to me, making me burn with the need to know what he’s been up to. It’s a little cramped and I’m thankful for my obsession with yoga to help me twist my body into a comfortable enough position on the floor behind the passenger seat. Shrugging out of my uniform blazer, I use it and the bag to cover myself in case he checks back here.
Hopefully he doesn’t look, because in my impulsive rush, I didn’t think about a good reason why I’d be camouflaging myself against the dark interior of his muscle car.