I shake my head. “Chase didn’t find out about the guys and me until later when Olivia told him at his party.”
“Or he already knew or worried about Damon having access to you.” Keira leans back in her chair. “I mean, we know he can act, so it’s a possibility. He has motive to want to keep you close. Maybe he thought it would push you over the edge. Maybe he didn’t think the guys would step up the way they did to protect you.”
Fuck, this actually makes sense. “But Jackson?—”
“Might have just really liked Mia and sucks at using his phone. Maybe he does like you, but doesn’t know how to start anything.” Keira blows out a breath. “It could fit either of them or be neither of them. It’s possible it’s someone else who just wants to fuck with you or fuck with the guys.” She glances at Brandt’s table. “Or wants to fuck with your play.”
“So we’ve gotten no closer to the truth than I was before?” I look over the timeline to see what I’m missing. There has to be something that makes one of these guys make sense.
“You have an awesome timeline, and we did prove it might be Chase.” Keira looks at everything. “He had the access to leave the rose. It’s possible he even let the air out of your tire on audition night, hoping you’d call him to save you. The pictures in the school. He knows your schedule.”
I hate to admit she’s right. Without all the information and just with circumstantial evidence, we don’t know who the stalker is, and the evidence can fit more than just Jackson.
Keira stares at the timeline. “If I had to say who was the stalker based on the information we have now, I’d say it’s Chase. But I also know he’s not that smart, so someone else might be steering the ship.”
“Yeah.” I rub my temples. “I wish we didn’t have rehearsal tonight.”
“At least the photos weren’t explicit. The writing is what’s scary.” Keira scrolls on her phone, and I see that the account is still active. “Could you imagine if they got a video of you?”
She shakes her head, but my breath catches. If someone knew I wasn’t in my bed, that means they might have access to the videos. Or they just guessed that Damon and I were hot and heavy.
I need to find out how secure Damon’s server really is. We need to make sure his setup hasn’t been sold to the highest bidder.
CHAPTER 27
Hawk
It’s latewhen we get on my bike to head home. Rehearsal ran long, and Annie seems completely exhausted, but she kept going. Fortunately no one said anything about the posts. She’s got some respect from her cast.
Maybe not all the cast since Sophie kept trying to flirt with me backstage.
Evan curls against me as we cruise down the streets.
“Did I tell you how I lost that bet forShakespeare in the Park?” I say over Bluetooth.
Her arms tighten around me a little. “You said you did it on a dare?”
“Yeah, there was this night we were all bored at a party. Really, the party was boring, so we rode out to the woods.” I smirk, remembering.
“Our spot?” she asks.
“Yeah, our spot. We didn’t want anyone to find us. It was hot for early summer, and we had beers with us. We figured we’d get wasted and then head back when the buzz wore off.”
“How responsible of you.” Her tone is flat.
I chuckle. “It’s not like we did it every night.”
I stop at a light and put my hand on her bare thigh. Her breath catches over the Bluetooth, and I smile. I love the effect I have on her.
“We were fucking around, daring each other to do shit. It was right before Damon was heading to camp for the summer. Cam and his parents were going on vacation in the Bahamas. And I was going to be left here on my own. Dad and Mom were in and out every now and then, but mostly it was just me.” I roll the bike forward and turn toward Annie’s house.
“So how did you end up with a dare to perform?” she asks, relaxing into me a little. I can hear the smile in her voice and really wish I could be facing her right now. She’s been pale since she found out about the account. It’d be nice to see a genuine smile from her.
“There was a lot of the usual shit like run naked through the woods, shouting I am a hockey god, and finishing a bottle of beer and then running in a circle. Stupid shit.”
“I wish someone had taken video of that.” Annie chuckles.
“I’m glad no one thought to.” That would be embarrassing. “But it was getting late, and we were practically sober when Cam asked what I was going to do over the summer while they were gone.”
