“Where’s Jackson?” Natalie asks, looking over my shoulder.
“He went to try to find the guy I saw,” Thea says against Jesse’s back.
“Who was it?” Liv asks Thea, looking at her as if she’s trying to read her mind.
“I don’t know. It was a boy I remember from college. He was looking right at you. And then he turned and looked at me. He was angry.”
“What was his name?” Liv asks more urgently.
“I don’t know,” she cries. “Parts of undergrad are a blur now.He used to show up at our dorm room asking for you, but you were depressed and bedridden. I ignored all the Freshmen hallway socializing those first few weeks to give you time to adjust. I always turned him away, and eventually he stopped showing up. I totally forgot he existed until I just saw his face.”
“It’s okay, we’ll figure it out.” She hugs her friend, and I fight the urge to throw her over my shoulder to get her out of this bar. But there is safety in numbers, and I have to let myself take advantage of that now that I have it.
“There’s Nathan,” Callie says, looking on worriedly.
He pulls her into his arms when he reaches the table, and we all watch as Jackson stalks back towards our group.
“The manager won’t give me access to the cameras, and I don’t have the jurisdiction to force him,” Malec admits.
“What’s his fucking problem?” I fire out before I can control myself.
“He claims that the other bar patrons’ privacy is important to him, and technically, a crime hasn’t been committed here.”
“Liv’s stalker is on those fucking tapes, and we’re supposed to just sit here and let him get away?”
“I know, Hayes. I know,” Malec argues. “If I obtain evidence unlawfully, then Liv is screwed when it comes time to prosecute this jack ass,” he thunders. “If I don’t do this right, he’ll walk free.”
“He’s walking free now!”
“Stop, Hayes. He’s right,” Liv agrees, letting her head fall to my chest. I hold her tightly, letting my anger boil inside of me.
“I’ll scour social media. I can try to find all of the alumni from our university. Someone has to be mutual friends withhim,” Thea suggests, but Liv only nods against my chest.
The conversation flows around me as they all discuss ways to solve our problem, but I can’t focus on it. I’m struggling not to lose control of the temper that I’ve worked so hard to keep at bay.
The temper that will take me away from Liv when I’ve finally got her back.
In my peripheral vision, I watch Nathan kiss Callie’s head and slink away from the group, unhurriedly making his way through the crowd of people that still linger in the bar.
When my curious gaze catches her attention, she shakes her head subtly, telling me not to draw attention to his absence.
I don’t look at him directly, but I glimpse his back as it disappears down the back hallway…
Only a few moments later, he reemerges, continuing his casual pace as he threads through the people and back to our corner.
“He changed his mind,” Nathan says, holding a flash drive.
Malec sighs, glancing up at the ceiling in exasperation. “Don’t tell me what you did… Just tell me we don’t need to call a medic.”
“Nothing a janitor can’t clean up.” He smacks Jackson on the shoulder and glances at his wife, who is hiding her amusement behind her hand.
“I can’t look at this, legally,” Malec says, looking at Liv and me. “If we do this, there is no case.”
“I know,” Liv says, staring at the flash drive in Nathan’s hand.
I look at him, but he’s already watching me closely. He didn’t get the drive for Jackson or Liv. He got it for me because he knows prosecution is the least of mypriorities.
“Thank you,” I tell him earnestly, grabbing it from him.
