“Jordan,” Talon grumbles from behind me as he comes closer, “Get your dirty fucking hands off her now!”
“I need to get out of here.” I push myself off from Jordan.
Damnit, my car isn’t even here.
Regardless, I keep trudging back down the lawn. I’ll walk home if I have to, err back to Shay’s. My arms cross over my chest, and I heave a drawn-out breath with each step because I know they’re right behind me. So close that I can smell Talon’s cologne.
“Haven’t you realized by now that you can’t escape me?” He speaks casually, like his words have little to no effect.
“Watch me.” We’re walking side by side now. I don’t slow down, and I don’t speed up. I just keep walking, unsure of where I’m even going. “Where’d your posse go?”
“Left them behind. We were planning to talk to you together, but apparently, that didn’t work out like we planned.”
“How can you even talk to Lars after what he did to me? Are you buddy-buddy with Zed again, too?” I chuckle, and it’s loaded with sarcasm. “Oh, right. The pact. Your loyalty lies with them.”
“It’s not like that. Lars was being blackmailed. He’s just as much of a victim as you were. Zed threatened to expose him for some serious shit if he didn’t do what he was told. But he tried to amend the situation. He called and told me everything and offered to help once the guilt ate away at him.”
I smirk, with even more sarcasm this time. “Oh, good. All is forgiven.”
He grabs my hand, stopping my movements, but I jerk it away again. “Would you stop walking and listen to me for a damn minute.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I grumble, “I’m listening.”
“Lars would have never hurt you. He knew we’d come find you, and you’re safe. Isn’t that enough?”
“Alright. Let’s forget Lars for a minute. I don’t even care about fucking Lars. I wanna know about my dad and his place in all this.”
His fingers weave through his hair and he lets out a sigh. “It’s messy, Marni. And really fucked up.”
I speak each word slowly. “Did my dad really hand me over to you guys just to keep his secret?”
“Yes.” That’s all I need to know. “But there’s more.”
27
One month earlier
“His car is right fucking there.” I point out the window. “I know he’s watching her. Probably jerking off in her front yard as we speak.”
Josh Moran is going to pay for not listening to me. He will pay.
“What do you wanna do about it?” Tommy asks, as he lingers beside me from his bedroom window.
“He needs to be stopped,” I tell him, while he pulls a black hoodie over his head and slides on his tennis shoes. “What are you doing?”
“Let’s go stop him.” He opens his drawer and pulls out a taser.
“Where the hell did you get that?” I laugh, as I grab it from him and inspect the little device.
“Stole it from the cop that tried arresting me for spray-painting under the bridge.”
I stuff the taser in my pocket. “Alright. Let’s just give him a little scare. We only use this if we have to. We’re not hurting the boy. Not yet.”
We walk outside and the night is completely still. Not even a cricket chirps. “So what’s with this guy? Why’s he honing in on your girl?”
“She’s not my girl. She’s my pawn. I just need to find a way to get her on my side, so I can lure that bastard Mike Porter in. She's got the body and she’s got the guts. Shouldn’t be too hard.”
As soon as we round the corner, I notice a flicker of light coming from the road. “What the hell is that?” I jog closer. “Holy shit.” My hand claps over my mouth.
“Is that—”
“Yeah. Dude. I think he’s fucking dead.” I lean closer to get a better look. The flashlight of his phone is on about five inches from his body. “It’s definitely Josh.”
“Fuck, man. We need to call the cops—an ambulance—someone.”
Giving Tommy a shove, I push him out of the way. “Get back, there’s a car coming.” We run and hide behind a bush. “Get out your phone,” I urge him. When he does, I grab it from his hand and press record on the camera app. Holding the phone up, I record the car coming down the road. “He might have just got hit. They might be coming back.”
“Fuck!” Tommy shrieks at the same time I do.
“Oh my god.” My hand covers my mouth once more as I continue to hold the phone up.
The car rolled right over Josh’s body like he wasn’t even there. Then backed up.
“The driver’s getting out,” I say in a hushed tone. “Wait a minute. That’s Anderson Thorn, Marni’s dad.”
Anderson takes in his surroundings, checking for witnesses. Takes one look at Josh, mumbles something with wide eyes, then gets back in his car and keeps heading straight. This time, driving around his body. Driving right past us while we hide behind the bush. I stop recording. “Do you think he’s the one who killed him?” I ask Tommy.
“Nah. He looked scared shitless. No way. Someone else did this. Someone hit him and left his body out here.”
“Who would fucking do that?”
We sit quietly for a good ten minutes then a devious plan creeps into my mind. I try and shove it back down, but it keeps crawling back in and filling every crack and crevice of my head. “Anderson did look scared. Like he thought he hit and killed him. Then he drove off out of fear.” I look at Tommy, who isn’t following one bit. “We have a video of him running over Josh. What if we crop it and make him think he did kill him? We could get whatever we want.”
I can immediately tell that Tommy doesn’t like this idea. “What could
