“Yeah, so why do you want to talk to Lonnie?”
“I want to talk to him about Lacey Foster.”
When the line went dead, I realized I’d said the wrong thing. I stared at the phone as I called back, but no one answered.
“You tried,” Shepard said.
However, I recognized the disappointment on his face.
“Don’t worry about this. You have to work on your project. Can I help you with anything? Research?” he offered.
I bit back frustration and answered him. “Thank you, but I need to figure out if this is what I want to do. So I have to go about this by myself.”
He nodded, and I trudged back to my room.
I was researching an abandoned warehouse near my hometown when my phone pinged with an incoming video call. It came from an unknown caller, but my gut told me to answer.
My screen filled with a good-looking guy with blue eyes and a ball cap covering what looked like dark hair.
“Beatrice?”
He resembled the pictures I’d seen of him in articles. “Lonnie?”
“You’re cute, but how do I know who you are?”
“I’m a student at Layton, and my boyfriend has had a run-in with Lacey.”
He snorted. “Figures you have a boyfriend. Still, why call me, and how can I trust you?”
I dug into my purse and came up with my school ID. I held it up to the camera.
He inspected it a second before asking, “What do you want?”
“You must know if you FaceTimed me.”
He lifted his hat off a second before resettling it on backwards.
“I shouldn’t be talking to you. I signed one of those NDAs.”
Because of my dad’s private equity company, I’d heard of non-disclosure agreements.
“Then why are you?”
He licked his lips, and I could see why Lacey had picked him. I wasn’t interested, but I also wasn’t dead.
“You mentioned a boyfriend. Tell me what happened.”
I quickly gave him the watered-down version with very basic details.
“She did that to me. Never touched her. I had a girl back home.” He shook his head. “Next thing I know, I was hauled down and put in jail. She ruined my life.”
“But you got out.” I leaned on my bed putting my phone down, angling myself so he could still see me.
I started braiding my hair as I absorbed his story. His tale was almost chilling. If his family hadn’t scraped up money for a private investigator, he might not have gotten out of jail by agreeing to leave school and the state.
“Thanks,” I said when he was done.
“Yeah, don’t mention it. And I mean that literally. Don’t tell anyone how you got the information.”
“I promise.” I tapped a notebook where I’d written down a phone number he’d given me that could prove to be a game changer.
When I shared Lonnie’s story with Shepard, his eyes shined, but he didn’t shed one tear. We called Sawyer and Shelly after we’d called the number Lonnie had given me. Shepard was to meet with his lawyer tomorrow morning.
I didn’t, however, tell him my plans the next day. Though we had what we needed, I wanted insurance.
Plotting made me hungry, and I ended up downstairs with a bowl of ice cream when Finn rolled in.
“Expecting company?” I teased.
He grinned with that dimpled smile of his. “My TA just left.”
“Ohhh. Get any work done?”
I couldn’t help myself. Finn’s social life eclipsed mine.
“Yes. Though Sawyer would argue about the type of work we were doing.”
I arched an eyebrow, and he chuckled.
“He likes to call her my tits and ass. And she does have an impressive set of—”
“I get the picture,” I said amused. “Though I wonder what she would think about her nickname.”
I’ve lived with three guys so long, I’d become immune to crude jokes and turned the tables when I could.
He nodded. “She would probably embrace it, knowing her. She wants to take me to a club.”
My jaw dropped, and he laughed. “Got you.”
I wasn’t sure why I had been fooled. There weren’t clubs anywhere near the university. I cooled off my embarrassing flush with a dip of my spoon into the creamy goodness and took another bite. Finn was quick with jokes.
“Things are going well with you and Shepard, I see,” he said.
“Yeah, actually. I think we’ve found something that will totally clear him.”
Finn listened in, and I told him about Lonnie. Then I took a chance and shared my plan with him. He had a few ideas I hadn’t thought about.
That’s how I found myself in the girl’s locker room in the main sports complex after practice the following day. I’d stashed my duffle on the field and had gone straight there after in hopes of running into the cheerleaders.
“Finley,” Emily said on her way out. Her startled guilt dissolved into a questioning gaze. “Why are you here?”
“Has everyone left?” I asked instead, craning my neck to get a glimpse around the corner.
“No, Lacey and a few others—” Her eyes widened. “Don’t. She’s toxic, Finley.”
“Who said I’m looking for her? Maybe I want to see my supposed friend who’s been ducking me these past few weeks.”
The last I’d spoken to her was a week ago when, as promised, I’d sent her a text letting her know that I’d found August.
“I’m sorry. Between classes and cheerleading—”
“And your boyfriend?”
There was that guilt again.
“I was serious when I said Kevin and I were done. But I can’t talk about it now.”
A tear spilled from her eye. She covered her mouth as a choke escaped her. “There’s so much I want to tell you, but I need to talk to August first.”
Then she fled, her abrupt shifting of moods left me with more questions than answers. Something I had to figure out later as voices headed in my direction. I quickly dipped into the first aisle of lockers and pulled out a button-down shirt from my bag. After donning it, I tied the ends around my waist, turned my phone’s video on, and dropped it in the front
