Archer narrows his eyes on me. “You wanna share with us what you’re getting at?”
Fuck, he must be more rattled than he’s letting on if he isn’t picking up what I’m putting down. I roll my eyes and beat my chest with my fist, my jaw tightening more and more by the second.
I can practically see the light bulb go on over their heads at about the same time. They get it. This is totally on me.
Kingston puts a hand up, palm out, giving me a stern look. “Oh, no. I know what you’re thinking, and you don’t get to put the blame on yourself. There was plenty of other BS happening this weekend.” His teeth clench hard. “We”—his gaze shifts from me to Archer—“as a group, chose to put this guy’s assholery on the back burner because of the Bainbridge event and the initiate game. And there was a lot of other shit taking our focus from him. So if you’re inferring that this happened because of the medical issue youcan’t control”—he meets my eyes, his jaw set—“I’m going to have to fucking disagree.”He scrubs a hand through his hair. “If you want to blame someone, fuckin’ blame me. I’m head of the house. I should have forced the issue, and I didn’t. And now that fuckin’ prick has her. And who the hell knows what he’s going to do to her. He’s already hurt her enough that she—” He pants as he looks wildly between us, then his eyes crash shut as he shakes his head. “Forget it.”
My eyes dart to Kingston, and I dig out my phone again, opening up our group text, and tap my thumbs rapidly over the keyboard.
You know something.
Kingston grimaces, scrambling for his phone. He exhales hard after reading. “What I know, I was told in confidence. But whatyouneed to know is that this guy—this fucking dick—is the one she dated for several years in high school. And I swear to Christ, I think he almost broke her. I guarantee you, the months she spent recovering from his abuse have made her as strong as she is.”
Archer scrubs his hands over his face. “First. If I’d been on top of things this never would have happened. Digging up every bit of information on him should have been my priority. Instead, I’ve allowed myself to get wound up in her and the million things that have happened since she’s arrived. I’ve fucking known about him since day one. I was aware he was a dick from his texts, and I even knew we needed to stop him from sending her this shit. But it didn’t ever occur to me that he could be dangerous. I should have been more thorough. I have no excuse for how I’ve failed her, and I won’t forgive myself for that, no matter what you say, so justdon’t.” He draws in an unsteady breath before continuing. “Second, there has to be a way for us to find her.” Archer squeezes his eyes shut for several moments.
I feel for the guy. He knows we’re looking to him to come up with something brilliant, something neither of us would think of.
“What about an app?” The question bursts from his lips as his gaze flicks between us.
Huh?My eyes narrow.
“Seriously,” he huffs, “where’s her phone?”
The look on Kingston’s face reads exactly like what I’m feeling. He quirks his brow at Archer, but hands it over. “You figure something out?”
Archer gets this intensity about him when he’s onto something. It’s kind of awe-inducing. My brain definitely doesn’t work the same way his does. Probably a good fucking thing, because I have all this pent-up frustration and nowhere to direct it. How the fuck are we supposed to figure out where Elliot might be if she doesn’t have her phone with her?
With a slight shake of his head, Archer holds up a finger requesting a moment before he taps Elliot’s passcode into the phone. 1-0-0-3-2-1. One hundred. Three. Two. One. Even simplifying it for myself, I’ll never remember it; my recall is so fuckin’ bad. My doctor keeps telling me it’s a side effect of epilepsy—a shitty memory. I don’t know if he’s right, but it sucks trying to pass classes when I have to figure out clever ways of memorizing course material. Anyway, our smart friend has it locked into his head, and I doubt anything would jerk it free. He scans through her apps, then finally comes to a stop.
“Wait.” Archer takes a steadying breath, then blows it out slowly as he scrolls. “The question is… does Nick have it? And are they still ‘friends’ and sharing their locations with each other? Because if they are, I can potentially use the map feature to see where he’s been. It’s a fucking long shot, but worth trying.” He’s totally talking to himself, so Kingston and I don’t interrupt. Archer swipes right, his eyes narrowing as he looks at the small screen and mutters as he searches, “Doesn’t look like she’s been on in a while, which is good. I’m surprised she hasn’t completely blocked this motherfucker. It was probably an oversight on her part if she doesn’t use this app very often.”
Kingston grunts, “The most important thing right now is getting to her.”
I’m still stuck on this social media app thing. It seems sketchy to me, allowing people to see where you are. I don’t have a clue about it, but I trust Archer, and from the calculated gleam in his eye, I think maybe he’s got something.
Archer flashes the phone at Kingston. “There. That’s him. Jackass was active within the last hour or so.” He swivels it in my direction, jabbing his finger at the avatar that clearly reads NICK beneath it.
I drag in a labored breath as my chest constricts at the thought of him with her. The words rip upward out of my throat on a rasp. “Let’s fuckin’go.”
Kingston places a hand on my bicep. “Hang on, we should make sure we’re all on the same page.” He squeezes my arm for a moment before letting go. His eyes flick to Archer. “We’ve fucking got him? You’re sure?”
“Not exactly, but we have his last location, and we know it’s valid as of an hour ago.”
Kingston gives a quick nod of his head. “Okay, then we should fucking move. Where is that?” His hands land on his hips, fingers digging in like he’s bracing for action.
Peering at the screen again over Archer’s shoulder, I make a disgruntled face that he doesn’t miss. My brows pinch sharply together because I know that place. It’s an old motel. Nothing good happens there. I’ve always thought it was strange how such a shitty place coexists so close to all the affluent areas surrounding KU, but there it is.
Our gazes connect, and Archer nods. “It looks like he has her about thirty miles from here. Fucker didn’t go very far.” His lips form a tight line. “Kinda makes me wonder if he’s expecting us to follow.”
I know the feeling. And I don’t like it. But what the fuck is Nick’s goal in doing this in the first place? They broke up. I don’t claim to know what their relationship was like but be a man. Leave her alone. My jaw works back and forth. He seems like a selfish, entitled asshole; the sort who can’t stand that his girl has moved on. I’d go as far as assuming it’s embarrassing to him that she’d dare leave. I feel it in my gut—he wants to make her hurt. There’s no doubt he’s harmed her in the past—at least emotionally, if not physically—especially from what Kingston said.
A strangled, dark laugh rolls from my lips. I would bet my entire inheritance he’s probably the perfect boyfriend in her parents’ eyes. Money. Looks. Family ties. He made it tough as shit for her to walk away from him. And he obviously didn’t like it one fucking bit when she got out from under his thumb… and even worse when she ignored his attempts at reaching out once she arrived at KU. Hell, he found out that she’shere.He’s a dangerous fuck. He somehow knows aboutus.
As we approach the SUV, Archer takes a long, hard look at Kingston, which makes me sit up and take notice. I don’t know why I didn’t recognize it before, but Kingston’s definitely been walking a delicate line ever since we showed up and found him about to choke the life out of Alec. One minute he’s got head-of-house control and the next he’s a man on the edge.
The three of us pause in our tracks as we come to a stop at the vehicle. It’s never up to me who fuckin’ drives, but my gaze connects with Archer’s, and I jab my finger in his direction behind Kingston’s back.
He bobs his head once, his eyelids shutting for a brief moment. We’re usually very up front with each other, but in this case, fuck. I don’t think Kingston should be the one driving. He’d take it the wrong way if I were to suggest he’s anything but absolutely in control and perfectly capable. Looking at the torment sliding over his features, though, I’d put myself behind the wheel before I’d let him drive right now, and that’s saying a fuck ton.
