Page 100 of Slapshot Obsession
“Why? You knew I was the only one who could figure out that you were her stalker?”
“Stay back!” Jodie demands, brandishing the knife. “Of course not. I was afraid you could tell the cops that you had seen us at the Gamma party the night of Tim’s murder. Then, when Taryn told me that the stalker chased her in the basement, and I realized that you were the person who was blackmailing me into sending her those texts.”
That doesn’t make sense. “Wait, what? What did you just say? Someone is blackmailing you to blackmail her?”
“Stop acting like you don’t know. If you come any closer, I’ll stab you. I’m not bluffing, Nash.”
I stop in my tracks. From the crazed look in her eyes, I know Jodie means it. She looks like a cornered wild animal. But what she just said doesn’t make sense. I need a second to think.
“So what you’re saying is that someone is making you do this stuff? “
“Of course I am. Taryn is my best friend. I love her like a sister. I would never do anything to hurt her.”
A bitter snort comes out of my mouth. “Could have fooled me. You’re some best friend calling Taryn a slut, leaving a doll’s severed head in her locker and spying on her. Did you kill Tim, Jodie? Did you drug Taryn and Tim and then try to pin the murder on Taryn and make her believe that she did it?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” She screams. “You killed Tim. And you’ve been blackmailing me and stalking Taryn. Are you working alone, or is Gen helping you?”
“I have nothing to do with any of this.” I yell. “Stop trying to shift the blame onto me. I hate Gen, she’s a bitch. Why would I be working with her?”
Jodie is holding the knife with white-knuckle force. Her hand is shaking, but her voice is firm. “You’re both jealous. You’ve had a crush on Taryn for a while, right? And Gen is convinced that Taryn and Mack are fucking behind her back. This is why you told me to make her break up withthem.You wanted Taryn to yourself, and Gen thought that if Taryn backed off, Mack would take her back.”
“Jodie.” I bite out. “I have nothing to do with any of this. I love Taryn and I would never hurt her. And I have a solid alibi for the night of Tim’s murder.”
She shakes her head. “Stop lying to me.”
“I’m not. If my alibi wasn’t airtight, do you think the cops would have let me leave the state so easily? The same can’t be said about you. Taryn told me what happened the morning after Tim’s murder. You were awfully quick to decide to run away.”
“There was blood everywhere, and Taryn was covered in it. She had the murder weapon. What was I supposed to do? I don’t know if she did it and I don’t care. I love her regardless. She’s my best friend. When I realized that she had been drugged, my priority was to protect her. I had to act fast.”
I’m not convinced. “Did you want to help her, or did you want to help yourself? If you had killed Tim, wouldn’t it be very convenient to let Taryn think that she was responsible? So you’d have someone to run away with you. That alone would be enough to call the cops, but the fact thatyou put an air tag in Taryn’s car and ambushed her and assaulted her last night is all the confirmation I need.”
“I did what?” Her eyes are almost bulging out of their sockets. “I was here all night. Ask Talia and Gen, they can vouch for me. It’s you, Nash. You did that and now you’re trying to blame it on me.”
“Try again. I was out running with Colsen last night when Taryn ran into me. Colsen can vouch that I was with him all afternoon during and after practice.”
Something shifts in Jodie’s expression. “Really?”
I take my phone out of my pocket, since it isn’t really dead. “Call him and check with him if you don’t believe me. We saw the person who attacked Taryn ride away on a black sports bike.”
Jodie lowers the knife. “I swear it wasn’t me. Talia is at dinner, but you can call her too.”
I want to believe her, but I don’t know if I can. “Jodie, if you’re lying to me, so help me God.”
She sounds sincere when she nods in the direction of her phone. “It was me who did the text messages and the headless doll. But I swear I did it to protect Taryn while I tried to figure out who wanted to hurt her. You have my phone. I communicated with the stalker via that app, but the first few messages came through my regular texts. I had to delete them because I couldn’t risk Taryn seeing them by accident. But before I did, I took screenshots. They’re in a folder called proof.”
I find the folder and look at the screenshots.
My blood curdles in my veins and my pulse quickens when I see that Jodie was telling the truth.
There are several messagesthat confirm it.
Unknown: I see you. Good job leaving Hemlock Beach, bitches. But I know what you and your friend did, and if you don’t do what I say, I’ll call the cops on you. In the meantime, put this app on Taryn’s phone. If you tell her anything about this, I’ll also call the cops. Keep your mouth shut and wait for my instructions.
The screenshots are date stamped. The first message is from shortly after Taryn and Jodie arrived in Star Cove. The app the message refers to is the spy app.
The messages escalate in tone, and the demands become worse with each new one.
Two days pass from the first message, and the stalker demands that Jodie download the app she has been using to text Taryn.
