Page 185 of Their Wicked Secrets: Untouched, Vol 5 of 6

“Good. There’s some footage where the guys were a little too loose lipped. It’s not a smoking gun, but it proves they have possession of drugs. Also some dates and times that might be something.”

“That may be enough. We need to catch them distributing though.” We need to shut Zach down. But with the way this town works, they’ll get out with a slap on the wrist, or they’ll get some time for unlawful possession of prescription drugs without a prescription.

Eli nods and heads over to where Luke is working with the kids.

“You know who’s distributing drugs in the school?” Darius steps up beside me. He doesn’t look at me but stares across the field at Eli.

“No one said anything about that.” We don’t trust adults. At least most adults.

“Jack, I heard what Eli said.” Darius raises an eyebrow, daring me to deny it again.

I shrug. “What does it matter? It’s not like anyone can do anything about it. If you say something, you’ll lose your job. This town has this shit locked down. Even the police are in the pocket of the rich men who run this town. So what do you want to do?”

“Fuck.” Darius scrubs his hand over his face and looks like he’s trying to decide something. “I need to talk to you, but not here.”

Even though we’re off to the side, a couple of kids are running toward us.

“I don’t know what you think that will accomplish.” I glance at the others, and Caden is watching us closely. His lips are pressed into a thin line. He can’t seriously still be worried about me and the coach, right?

“After football practice.” Darius steps forward. “I swear I won’t take a lot of your time. I just can’t talk here.”

“We’ve got a tight schedule today.” I shake my head. Caden wouldn’t be down with me talking to Darius on my own. He thinks Darius is trying to get back in with me, but that ship sailed a long time ago.

“Make time. This is important. I swear. It has nothing to do with you and me.” Darius lowers his head. “We can help each other. Trust me.”

He walks away to intercept the kids. Trust him? Fuck. It’s hard for us to trust anyone outside our group, but I’ve trusted Darius with a lot. And he’s trusted me too. I could have gone to the administration and told them about our affair.

Fuck. I know I’m going to go and listen to what he has to say. But Caden will try to talk me out of it.

“No.” Caden grips the steering wheel tight as we head to the school.

“What if he can help us?” I stare out the side window and try to frame this in a way he’ll understand. “He’s not from here. He’s not invested in the William Foster train yet. What if he has some contacts that could help us?”

When I finish, I turn to look at Caden. The muscle in his jaw twitches. He needs more.

“We can’t do all this shit on our own.” I run a hand through my hair as we pull into the parking lot of the school. It’s daylight, but the fair ground is quiet. Is the electricity still out or is it just too early for the fair to be open? “We’re going to need help outside of this fucking town to get some of this shit done. They let Zach go last night. After he trapped Harper. After what he threatened to do to her.”

Caden pulls into a parking space and throws the car into park. “You don’t think I know that? You don’t think I haven’t thought about going over to that prick’s house and making sure he’s no longer a threat to Harper? Permanently?”

Caden’s green eyes flash with rage.

“Let me see what Darius has to say.” I reach out and touch Caden’s arm. “You can’t honestly think he has any chance of changing my mind?”

Caden shakes his head. “No, but I don’t want him toying with you. Telling you he can help when he’s just another adult stuck in this town with no way out.”

“I’ll give him fifteen minutes, tops, and then you can come get me out.”

Caden nods and gives me a fierce look. “You feel anything’s off, you get the fuck out of there earlier.”

“Deal.”

The locker room lights are on, and the showers are warm as we get ready after practice. Our coach wanted us to run through some drills. He’s working with the other coach to figure out a time that makes sense for a rematch to finish our game.

But all I can think about is being alone with Darius off campus for the first time since the last time we fucked. Neither of us are in that space anymore. He was clear he didn’t want to continue our relationship even if I was interested in it.

Which I’m not.

I dress. There was a note in my locker when I open it.