“So? What do you want, Nash? I don’t want to burn my dinner, so let’s make it quick.”
I’m here to talk to Jodie about protecting Taryn, but before I do that, there’s something I need to make sure of. It’s just a hunch and I might be wrong, so I didn’t want to say anything to the guys or Taryn. But there’s a niggling thought in my head since last night and I’m not gonna be able to move on until I prove to myself that I’m being paranoid.
For once in my life, I hope my spidey sense is wrong, and there’s only one way to find out. I need to see Jodie’s phone.
I’ve been looking around the room since Jodie let me in, but I can’t see the device anywhere. It must be in her room, but even if I could find a way to go in there without giving away my intentions, I’m pretty sure that her phone must be passcode protected. So I need to have Jodie unlock it for me.
Here goes the lamest excuse in history. “Huh, Taryn and Tucker were gonna buy something for me while they’re out. I just changed my mind about what I want and I need to let them know. My phone just died. Can I borrow your phone to call Tucker?”
“Then charge your phone.” Jodie’s eyes are narrowed as the intensity of her glare goes up several notches.
My hand goes to the back of my neck as Jodie crosses her arms over her chest. “I can’t find any of mychargers. My teammates keepborrowingthem and never give them back.”
She rolls her eyes. “What kind of phone do you have? If it’s the type, I think it might be, I can lend you a charger.”
Fuck. “Yeah, but the battery is totally dead. It’ll take a while for me to even be able to turn it on. And it’s urgent. If they get the wrong thing, it’s gonna be a pain in the ass to go and exchange it. And it’s something I need right now.” I sound whiny even to my own ears.
“What could be so urgent?” She looks unimpressed.
“It’s a ball rash cream. I get really irritated when I manscape and I run out. But I forgot to tell them that I need the type for sensitive skin, or it’ll make things worse. I’m really suffering.” I couldn’t come up with anything better on the fly. But I hope that if it’s something gross, she won’t question it and help me out to get rid of it.
The horrified look on her face tells me that I was right. “That’s disgusting.” She scrunches her nose. “Couldn’t you ask for one of your teammates’ phones? I don’t have Tucker’s number, by the way, so I doubt borrowing my phone will help you that much.”
“Tuck’s one of my best friends on the team, and he’s also my emergency contact here in California. I know his number by heart.”
She gets even more suspicious. “Really? That’s a fast friendship. You just got here.”
Can she be any more suspicious? “What can I say? Tucker took me under his wing since I’m the new guy here and we hit it off. Can I borrow that phone now?”
Jodie rolls her eyes again, clearly fed up. “Fine. Wait here. If the oven timer goes off, turn it off, please.”
She’s back a few moments later. “Here.” She unlocks the screen. “Make it snappy.”
The second I have Jodie’s phone in my hands, I go to her general settings. My stomach drops when I see the icon of the same spy app that was in Taryn’s phone. I then go to her message app, but there is nothing suspicious there. I come out and slide my fingers over the main screen to see all the apps that are there.
I immediately spot an app that’s widely used by people to send free text messages to all its registered users. I have it too, so I don’t have to pay to text people with a different provider. I know for a fact that this app lets you send anonymous messages.
“So?” Jodie taps her foot on the floor, impatient. “Are you gonna make a phone call, or not?”
“Yeah, sorry. I typed it wrong twice. I have fat fingers.”
She extends her hand, palm up. “Give me that. I’ll dial it for you.”
“No, no. I’ve got it. Sorry.”
When I flick the app open, it’s all there in black and white. But that’s more a figure of speech, since the app is in color.
Rather than giving the device back to Jodie, I pocket it.
“Nash, what the fuck? If you aren’t gonna call Tucker, give me my phone back. And while you’re at it, fuck off. You’re acting weird and I need you to go. If you don’t leave right now, I’ll call the campground security.”
I take a step toward her. “Or,” I bite out, furious as I’ve never been before. “I’ll call the cops, and you’ll explain to them why you’ve been spying on your best friend and terrorizing her with these nasty texts.”
She rears back, stopping only when she hits the kitchen island. Her eyes are wide with shock. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I advance on her, brandishing her phone in front of me like a weapon.
Rather than being intimidated, Jodie twists around to grab the knife she was using to chop vegetables for her salad. “Stay away from me, Nash. I told Taryn to stay away from you from the start. I wish she had listened to me.”
