I smile back. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“Me neither. So I am going to not beat around the bush, son. Did you see Jaxson or Nathanial yesterday?”
“Not at all,” I say quickly. I think a moment and say, “Actually, Jaxson picked up Elle at the guest house last night. A security guard saw her leave with him.”
Arthur Cain nods his head to that comment. “The same security guard told me you ran after them. I’ll ask again, son, where did you go last night?”
I take another drag of my cigarette and put out the bud in the espresso cup, looking at him intensely. “I took our talk yesterday to heart. I do not want to let you down. I figured Jaxson came here to pick up Elle to finish the Ritual. I did not want him to win. I wanted to be Alpha. I tried to stop it, but couldn’t find them.”
“I see,” my father says, not changing his expression.
My phone rings in my pocket. I take it out and see its from an anonymous number. I intuitively know who it is, but let it go to voicemail.
My father looks at me sternly. “You actually wanted to win, son?”
I nod my head. “Looks like I was right, too. Elle went out with Jaxson and never came back. Looks like I lost.”
My father nods his head. My phone starts to ring again, breaking the tension. I reach into my pocket and turn off my phone. “Sorry, I know I let you down.”
“So where is Jaxson then?”
“How should I know? Maybe celebrating with his scumbag friend Nat somewhere.”
“Who is calling you, son?”
I laugh. “Wow. You went from a complete hands-off parent to be a helicopter one. Since when do you care what I do? It was—”
“The guidance counsellor? You have your application coming up, right?” He thinly smiles at me again and leans in closer. “I can smell your bullshit a mile away, Lancelot. If I can, others will too. Did you kill them? Tell me now, son, and I can help you.”
I stand up. “Help? Me? You have done enough already, getting me into your murder cult. I cannot believe you did this yourself once. Who was she? The one you murdered.”
My father pushes me back down into my chair. “I don’t know what you’ve done, but I hope it isn’t what I think it is. You know the rules if a member hurts another member, right?”
I nod. “Out of the billion rules we have, I know that much. I do not know where Jaxson, Nat, or Elle is. Any other questions?”
Arthur Cain folds his hands together. “Everything I gave you in this life, and you threw it all away, didn’t you?”
“If I knew what you paid to get me this lifestyle, I would have happily been an orphan.” He did not like that answer. “Or mom would have happily divorced you.” His whole face tenses.
He really did not like that answer.
I stand up in front of him and meet his gaze. I wait for him to make a move. If he touches me again, I do not think I would be able to contain myself. Luckily, he doesn’t. Arthur Cain unfolds his arms and leaves the balcony.
I turn back on my cell, and sure enough, I get a text almost immediately.
“Come to the house right now!”
I park my car a few blocks away from the Smithson’s vacant house to not make it so obvious. Wearing some workout clothes, I start with a light jog down the street until I get closer to the Smithson’s house.
Earl Smithson was famous in Ryland, but not for good reasons. A rich and powerful businessman, who lost everything in the 2008 recession, was now a scary reminder for his rich neighbors. When Earl Smithson lost everything, he packed up what belongings he could, and him and his family took off to who knows where, leaving his billion-dollar house behind.
Nobody bought it. Even when the house was eventually discounted to half of its original asking price, nobody would even go for a viewing of it. Rich people are funny like that. Its completely superstitious. They do not want to go where dead money is buried. It is bad luck.
Now it is just used as a secret party house, or in our case, a secret hideout.
My cell phone buzzes several times in my pocket. It is an emergency text from The Beasts. I open the message and it states, “Calling all members. This is an emergency message. Notify a ranking member immediately if you see Noelle Maven, Jaxson Davis, or Nathanial Price. Delete this message now.”
Fuck, that is going to make things more difficult.
I jog onto the property and run my way to the Smithson’s backyard. I knock on the backdoor lightly until it opens, and Jaxson is staring at me.
“What the fuck is it?” I ask him.
He ignores my abrasiveness and looks at my eye. “How’s that shiner I gave you?”
I ignore him. “How’s Nat?”
That shuts him up.
Danna shoves Jaxson out of the way and smiles at me. “Thank god you’re here! She’s gone!”
I gesture for her to lower her voice. “How? Both of you were here, right?”
Danna raises her eyebrow. “The window in her room, she jumped out of it.”
I roll my eyes at Jaxson. “You had one fucking job!”
Jaxson lowers his head. “I don’t think it happened too long ago. She couldn’t be that far.”
I nod my head.
“One more thing,” Danna says. “She took her cell.” I look at Jaxson, who raises his hands in a who me gesture. Danna chimes in before I give him shit. “I left it there for her. I wasn’t thinking, I didn’t want her to wake up scared in some strange room. I thought it would be comforting.”
“Let’s hope she didn’t call the police,” I say. “She does that, it’s all over. The Beasts will find out right away where she is.” I bite my lip to not let more nasty words escape
