Page 84 of Reckless Skye

‘We don’t like you,’ she said.

The comment didn’t surprise him. But it did hurt. There had been a time when he’d had only friends. Now, people he didn’t even know apparently hated him. The burn of that had him replying, ‘You don’t know me.’

‘You broke our friend’s heart,’ the black-haired one said simply. ‘That’s enough to put you at the top of our shit list.’

TJ, oddly, understood that. And it didn’t make him angry. It filled him with relief to know that she’d always have these girls in her corner. They were oddly terrifying considering neither of them could have been more than five-five. ‘I’m glad she has you.’

They both seemed a little taken aback by that.

‘What’s your game here, TJ?’ the brunette asked. ‘Skye has too much going on right now to worry about you too.’

TJ nodded slowly. ‘Her dad?’

‘That’s none of your business,’ the black-haired one told him.

‘Maybe not,’ TJ said carefully. ‘But who do you think is going to look out for her when you two go back to your lives?’ When they both just stared at him, he pushed to his feet. ‘Let me know once you figure it out.’

He started walking away. But he only got three steps before the brunette called, ‘Wait!’

‘What are you doing?’ the other one hissed when TJ turned around, eyebrows raised.

‘He’s right, Stevie. And as much as I don’t like him, he’s all we have.’ She turned her big brown eyes on him, said, ‘Fuck,’ with a dramatic sigh. ‘Please.’ She indicated the seat he’d vacated with a regal tip of her head. ‘Sit.’

TJ complied. But only because he assumed they had more information than him. If he was going to keep his promise to Mav, if he did one last thing for Skye, he’d make sure she was permanently free from her father’s abuse. Even if he had to kill the asshole, TJ figured he had nothing left to lose.

‘I’m Andrea. This is Stevie.’

TJ nodded. ‘Has he contacted her at all?’

‘Not that we know of.’ Andrea leaned back in her seat. ‘He contested the will a few years ago, but it never went anywhere. Her grandma’s attorney was able to shut it down without pulling Skye in. The only contact Skye’s had with home is weekly calls to her mom. They have a schedule: Sunday at three, Central Time – because her mom leaves the house for Bible study and calls Skye from her car on the way.’

TJ wondered what kind of mother could sit through Bible study after willingly putting her child through such restricted contact. ‘Do you think he’ll come after her?’

‘Not in the way you’re implying. Holden’s smart. He won’t do what you expect. He’ll play mind games from a distance, torment her, maybe use her mom as leverage and force her to change her mind about cutting him off.’

‘She’s scared,’ Stevie added. ‘But she won’t admit it. She thinks she knows Holden – and she does. But we know her. And when Holden uses Caroline, Skye will end up giving him anything he wants.’

Andrea looked out over the arena. ‘And if he does physically threaten her, he’ll use somebody else, make sure it doesn’t tie back to him.’

TJ spoke his thoughts aloud. ‘Which makes it worse.’

Stevie nodded. ‘Because it could be any stranger on any street corner at any time.’

‘Look, if it were up to us, Skye would have gone to the cops a long time ago. But all we had was video documentation after the fact, and she insisted that it would just turn into a “he said/she said”. The last time that happened, he ruined her life.’

TJ remembered that Skye had told him her father had had her institutionalized.

‘We’re planning to come back, alternate spending time with her around her birthday—’

‘But,’ Stevie said slowly, ‘we know there’s only so much we can do. And even we can’t be with her every minute of every day.’

‘I’ll think of something,’ TJ promised.

‘Holden is a goddamn criminal defence attorney.’ Andrea leaned forward and ran both hands over her face, clearly stressed. ‘He’ll know every trick in the book.’

‘I can handle him,’ TJ said coolly.

‘What do you mean by that—’