“No. He hasn’t shown up yet,” Oscar says, licking the corner of his lip. “And he wasn’t injured at the racetrack.” There’s a small pause here before Oscar smiles tightly. “Unfortunately.”
We all seem to turn as one unit, scouting out Logan Charter in the crowd. He, too, was unhurt at the race. Things did not go as planned. The only positive I can discern in the whole mess is that I’ve finally snapped. My brain is painted with murderous watercolor, just red and black and violent.
“Bet he knows where Mitch is,” Vic muses, sliding his own tattooed hands into his pockets. I think about that day in tenth grade when the boys all showed up with fresh ink on their pretty hands. Instead of wanting to break their fingers the way I should have, all I could do was close my eyes and imagine those inked digits digging into my hair, pulling my face close, tracing the upper curve of my lip. Vic tattooed Oscar who tattooed Hael who tattooed Callum who tattooed Aaron … Victor tattooed himself. Explains a lot, huh?
You’re missing a part of that story, Bernie, I tell myself, my throat closing up. Callum tattooed Aaron who tattooed … you. I flex my fingers before turning to Victor. He’s the leader, after all. He should have all the answers.
“Logan is surrounded by Charter Crew; Kali is snuggled up to a cop. What’s our next step?”
“Follow me,” Vic says, and because the other boys know as well as I do how goddamn competent he is, we do. Because Aaron needs us, and I have a bad feeling that his time is running out.Aaron FadlerI have no idea how long I’ve been lying here, playing the odds, running through different scenarios. None of them are good, to be quite honest with you. I’ve been a part of Havoc long enough to understand how we work.
Bernadette and the others, they’ll go to the winter formal; they’ll start shit with the Charter Crew. But even though I know they’re well-equipped to kick ass, so what? As far as I know, only Ophelia, Tom, and Kali know where I am. And Kali could very well die before Havoc gets an answer out of her. She could run.
Best case scenario at this point is that Kali dies in her quest to murder Bernie, and I’m left here under Ophelia’s care. At least I won’t be raped. That, and I’ll have more time to figure out a way to escape.
Closing my eyes, I pull in a deep breath.
I might try to break my hand to get out of the cuffs, but it’s gonna fucking hurt. That, and if my plan fails, I’ll be in even worse shape than before. If only I could reach my goddam boot to get my shoelace.
As I’m debating the merits of giving that plan a try, I hear the sound of a car’s tires on the gravel drive and pause. Somebody’s here. I just hope to fucking god that it isn’t Kali. I clench my jaw until my teeth hurt, adrenaline pumping through me as I strain against my bonds one last time and then relax my body like I’m thoroughly defeated.
Not even close.
I would move heaven and earth to get back to Bernadette.
“Dad!” a voice calls out from downstairs, and I freeze. It’s a guy’s voice, probably around my own age. Dad. Is this Tom Muller’s son? What’s his name? David?
That’s right.
David fucking Benedict.
The guy who had sex with my girl because I wasn’t around to meet her needs. I grit my teeth so hard I’m surprised that none of them crack. Just the thought of her sleeping with someone outside of Havoc makes me want to start breaking necks. Inside of Havoc … I’ll deal with those feelings later.
“Dad, are you home?” the voice calls again, and then the door is opening and David is pausing in the threshold, his hand on the knob, his eyes wide. “Jesus Christ,” he chokes out. I make myself smile, even though the situation is anything but smile-worthy.
“Hello David,” I say, trying to pitch my voice low, the way Victor does, like he’s about to go on a murderous rampage but never does. Have to say, I’m pretty damn proud of myself for the way David shivers in response. “Mind undoing these cuffs for me?”
“Why …” he starts, but then he just steps into the room and closes the door behind him, putting his back to it. Already, I can see sweat beading on his face. His brown eyes flick back and forth in nervousness. He very clearly wasn’t aware that I was being held hostage in … well, wherever this is. A cabin of some sort, I guess. I know all about remote cabins: Havoc has one that we use on the regular. It’s how the boys were able to drop Danny’s body off, change, and meet Bernie and me back at the house so quick. It’s all of five minutes away from the house where Stacey held the Halloween party.
