I run my hand through my hair and sit at Wilder’s desk in front of the window. I prop up my phone on the desk and start the video call.
Evan picks up on the first ring. Her pretty face fills the screen. Her blond hair hangs around her. Her blue eyes lift when she smiles softly and something loosens in my chest. Fuck, I’ve missed her.
“Hey,” she says. That sadness still lurks in her eyes, but it’s tempered by determination.
“Hey.” Fuck, I don’t want to be miles away from her. I want her on my lap, threading her fingers into my hair. Her body warm against mine as we sleep curled into each other. I miss fucking her, but not having her sleep beside me feels like an open wound bleeding.
“Fuck, I miss you.” She shakes her head. “We really need to figure our shit out and college too. I don’t think I’ll survive long distance.”
“I’m working on it, little devil.” I smirk. “Crowne Mawr is a good option.”
“Good.” She sets the phone down and Hawk and Cam come into view. Fuck, I miss all of them. How did we ever consider going our separate ways? It would have been torture not having these guys at my side.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Cam glances at the others. “The social media account isn’t down.”
“I get alerts when something new posts,” I say. It’s not frequent, but there were two new posts from this week and Cam confirmed those were new photos. I had to stop reading the comments because people suck.
“My mom talked to me tonight.” Evan folds her hands on her lap and meets my eyes. “We knew she had received some texts. They started about the same time I received my first text.”
I swallow. We knew about the texts but we weren’t able to get into Heather’s phone. I was hoping to find someone outside of Deimos to hack into both Jackson’s and Heather’s phones.
“She also told me why she was in a hurry to move us out of the apartment complex.” Evan takes a deep breath, and Cam rubs her back. She leans against Hawk, but her eyes meet mine.
“Just spit it out, little devil. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.”
“She wanted to wait until you were with us to tell us,” Hawk says as he takes Evan’s hand.
“Mom was being harassed by the neighbor whose husband was a cop, but that’s not why we moved.” Evan shivers. “Someone was breaking into our apartment and taking things. Little things. Mom noticed some of her panties went missing, and that’s when we moved.”
My insides boil. Jackson. It has to be him. He was at the complex, and he found her again. He’s fucking right here. I could take him out and the problem would be gone forever. Getting away with murder is hard. While everything points to him,it’s possible I’m letting my dislike for the guy push us in that direction.
“She never reported anything, and she’s not sure who it was.” Evan bites her lip. “I told our parents about my texts and Jackson.”
I don’t say anything. I don’t know what good it will do to tell them. But having my dad know there’s danger isn’t a bad thing.
“Your dad wants to take everything to the police. But without a name, there’s not really anyone they can file a restraining order against.” She blows out a breath. “And I’m not comfortable accusing someone when it might not be them.”
I’m glad it’s not just me in this. I’d be going nuts if she was alone. I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Even if our house is harder to get into than their apartment, it’s not impossible.
“Do you still think it’s Jackson?” I ask, wanting her read on it. She’s always thought it was him.
“Maybe.” She blows out a breath. “I told Mom and Adam about Jackson at the apartment complex. It might have been coincidence he kissed me and we moved shortly after, since someone had been in our apartment.”
“But there’s a good case for some of the recent shit to be Chase Chadwick.” Hawk runs his hand over his hair. “Annie and Keira worked out a timeline.”
“If we disregard the apartment complex as maybe someone just wanting us to move, then yeah, it could be anyone.” Evan looks down at her hands in concentration. “Chase really didn’t start paying attention to my existence until his dad pointed me out at the spring showcase.”
Yeah, I listened to the recording she sent of him bragging in class. I’m going to punch him in the balls next time he dares to talk to Evan.
“How do we untangle this?” Evan looks up at me. “Obviously Jackson isn’t taking pictures in our school. He’s hours away withyou, but someone is still taking pictures. Maybe the account isn’t him at all. Someone at the school could be doing some of it. Like the rose and the social media account.”
I press my lips together. Bringing up Brandt again won’t help anything. No one else heard what he said to me. Maybe Brandt isn’t directly involved, but I bet he’s whispering in someone’s ear. Telling them exactly what they need to know to fuck with Evan.
“It’s possible. We need to keep digging.” I blow out a breath. “Maybe I can lean into Jackson a little more in the last two days we’re here.”
“Don’t fuck up your shot for that asshole.” Hawk leans forward. “There’s something wrong with him. If you corner him, he might lash out, but it may not be you who takes the hit.”
