Nico’s phone vibrates in my hand with an incoming call.
Archer Ward.
Nico and I exchange a look as he takes it from me. “Rivera. What did you find?”
“I’m just going through the old files,” an unfamiliar male voice comes from the other end of the line, his voice slightly muffled but loud enough to hear. “I found something interesting, though.”
“What?”
Rustling of papers fills the line for a long second. “Nicole’s friend mentioned she complained about getting notes along with flowers.”
“What kind of flowers?” I rush out, my throat suddenly feeling tight.
There is a short pause, and I’m about to demand an answer when he responds, “Roses. Pink ones.”
I give Nico a meaningful look. My heart is beating wildly inside my chest, blood pumping through my veins as Ward’s words ricochet in my mind.
Roses.
“They wrote it off in the beginning, thinking it was an admirer of some sort, but then the messages started getting meaner.”
Pink roses.
Just like the flowers Jessica’s been getting.
“Jessica.” I bolt for the door, heart pounding, every nerve ending on edge. I scan the space for any sign of Jessica’s golden head when I enter the room, only to come up empty.
No, this can’t be happening.
It just can’t.
I pushed her away.
If I hadn’t done that, she would have been here.
Safe.
Fuck!
It’s all my fault.
I grab my phone out of my pocket with shaky fingers, finding Jessica’s name in my contacts and dialing her up. The phone beeps insistently, each loud sound like a punch to my gut.
“C’mon, Trouble. Answer me, dammit.”
A flash of red in my periphery catches my attention.
Hanging up the phone once it goes to voicemail, I dial again while I cross the room in a few long strides. Somebody calls my name, but my whole focus is on my sister, who’s talking to Mrs. Fernandez.
“Have you seen Jessica?” I ask, breathless.
The two women turn to me. Becky shoots me a death glare at my rude interruption, but ask me if I care.
“The last I saw her, she was talking to you out on the back terrace.” Her brows pull together. “Although ‘talking’ is me being generous.”
“Becky…” I grind through my teeth. “I need to find her.”
“Don’t youBeckyme!” she hisses, jabbing me in the chest. “You’ve been acting like a complete ass. And I get it, you’re hurting, but you’re not the only one, and that doesn’t give you the right to act this way.”
