Dark Tangled Truths (Lust & Liars #3)

Chapter 1

Hawk

Annie’s hurt, and I try to take in what happened. Her wet hand is washed of blood, but blood still accumulates on the wounds. Blistering wounds. Little pinpricks of blood everywhere. My stomach twists, but I focus on figuring out the cause. The time for panic is later.

I glance around the black box theater, trying to get my thoughts under control. Annie trembles in my arms, too focused on the pain to talk to me. She needs me, and I have her.

There’s a rose lying on the desk, forgotten, along with some papers with spots of blood dried on them.

The rose thorns must have cut her. It’s the only sharp thing nearby.

A rose thorn shouldn’t burn unless Annie is allergic.

Maybe? Or else there’s something I can’t see that cut her or something on the rose that’s affecting her.

Annie is my priority. I need to get her to either the urgent care or the hospital as soon as possible. But I also need to secure what hurt her so we can figure out what it is.

A group of actors stands nearby, watching us. Their eyes are wide and worried. Jason stands next to them. There aren’t many people here. Most are using the break. Jason seems like a good guy, and I need to trust someone to make sure nothing is disturbed until we can figure out what happened.

“Jason, stay here and don’t let anyone touch anything on this desk until Keira gets back.”

“Got it.” Jason looks worriedly at Annie, but he takes up the post.

My next problem is transportation. I only have my motorcycle. I don’t think she can ride in her current state.

We need a driver. Almost everyone is doing fuck knows what during the long break. I carry her out into the hallway. Maybe Mark or Mia can give us a ride. But I’ll take pretty much anyone at this point. I head out to find someone, anyone.

“I’ve got you, Annie.” I study her tear-streaked face.

Annie’s gone silent except for the occasional whimper. Her hand is tucked against her body protectively. She’s focused inward on the pain.

“What’s wrong with her?” Chase straightens from the wall. Just what I need to deal with, this dick. He must have a brace on his knee under his pants because he’s been walking stiffly all rehearsal.

I pull her tighter against me. She’s still whimpering in my arms, and my chest aches at seeing her hurt. She’s stopped mumbling, but I can tell she’s holding in the pain.

“I don’t know,” I grit out. He’s the last person I want to ask to drive Annie anywhere, but if he’s our only option, I’ll have to take it. I won’t let Annie be in pain just because of some pissing match between Chase and us.

It’s not ideal. But we need a ride. The sooner the better.

“Hey.” Mia hurries to my side from behind me. She’s got a bunch of paper towels. “Keira said Evan’s hurt. Fuck. That doesn’t look good. Mr. Watson will be a minute.”

I blow out a breath. Annie’s fingers are red and swollen. Her good hand shakes as she takes the napkin from Mia. She drapes it over her wounded hand with a hiss, careful not to press on it. When the blood seeps into the napkin, Mia pales.

“You got a car?” I look at Mia. I’d rather deal with her than the asshole any day.

When I glance at Chase, he watches Annie with a worried expression. Is it fake? For all I know, he’s the reason she’s hurt. Payback for what we’ve done. Fuck, what if we’re the reason she’s been hurt?

A fist squeezes around my heart, but I can’t deal with my own emotions right now.

Mia nods and pulls out her keys. “Let’s go. Where’s the closest emergency services?”

“There’s an urgent care a few blocks away. The hospital is on the other side of town.” I follow her to the parking lot, glad to be moving.

“Hawk!” Mr. Watson yells behind me.

I glance over my shoulder. Not pausing, I call back to him, “We’re going to the urgent care on Clarkson. Can you tell her mom?”

He nods and pulls out his phone.

Mia holds open the back door of her car. I get in with Annie and strap her in. Tears stream relentlessly down her face and she rocks slightly, hunched over her hand. I want to fix this for her, but there’s not much more I can do.

The fact she’s not insisting we go back into rehearsal tells me this is bad. Nothing gets in the way of her rehearsal.

“What happened?” Mia says as soon as she starts the car and puts it in gear.

“I don’t know.” I pull out my phone and text the group chat. “She hasn’t said much except that it’s bleeding and it burns.”

Me:

Annie’s hurt. Something on her table during rehearsal

Annie inhales sharply and glances at me. Her eyes are strained. Her lips pinched, but she bites out, “The rose. Thorns. Burning.”

I tear my gaze from her and focus on the text. My insides scream to hold her and tell her everything is going to be okay, but I know we need to find out what actually is hurting her. We can do that, and then I can focus on her.

Me:

Someone needs to come get the rose and anything else on her table

Find out what hurt her

On our way to urgent care

Cam:

I’m on it

When Annie leans against me, I wrap my arm around her shoulder. My hand trembles.

“I’ve got you,” I whisper softly into her hair, wanting to hold back everything that could ever hurt her, but knowing something got by on my watch.

Cam was home, but at least he saw my texts. Damon is probably training. I don’t know when he’ll find out. Hopefully, he doesn’t come storming in when he does.

“Take a left on Lucas,” I say.

Mia turns and goes as fast as traffic will allow. Her knuckles are white on the steering wheel and she glances at us in the rearview mirror, but she keeps her focus on the road.

Whoever did this... I can’t even finish that statement in my head. This fury swirling inside me begs to find a target. But right now, I need to concentrate on getting my girl the help she needs. I’ll deal with whoever did this after I’m sure she’s taken care of.

Cam

“Oh good. Another of EvanAnn’s fuckboys is here.”

I glare at Chase. He stands with his phone in his hands just outside the doors to the black box theater. Part of me wishes the fucker would have taken the out and joined the other play. I don’t like him having any access to Evan.

But I also know Evan thinks he’s the best for the character.

I walk past him through the doors and resist the urge to fuck him up, even if he didn’t do this. Anger boils under my skin. Someone fucked with my girl, and this asshole is just begging to eat my fist.

Decking Chase is out of the question though. Mr. Watson has been at practices lately and there’s probably a security camera pointed this direction in the hallway. While I really want to wipe that smirk off Chase’s face, I don’t want to get suspended and a lecture from my dad.

So instead, I ignore him as he scoffs and follows me into the theater room. I passed the other play rehearsal on the way in. It’s happening at the same time in the smaller room. Meaning there are twice as many suspects.

Chase walks over to the seats where other students wait for their parts in the play.

I don’t bother trying to sneak in. Hawk and Annie left about ten minutes ago for urgent care with Mia. The cast is back to rehearsing, but down two major players and the director. The show must go on.

Keira stands near the table she and Annie sit at, overseeing the rehearsal. I walk to where the rose still sits, along with its bloody thorns and the papers it’s on. Keira turns to me.

“I haven’t touched anything. The papers look like EvanAnn’s script and notes, but the top paper doesn’t look like something she’d use.” Keira talks softly as Mark Green gives a speech on stage. “I didn’t see who put the rose there. I didn’t even notice the rose until after EvanAnn touched it.”

The top paper has some blood on it, but it’s folded over and has a jagged edge like someone tore it. Knowing the blood is Evan’s makes my insides boil hotter.

I take a few pictures with my phone before sliding it into my pocket.

Using the tongs I grabbed from the lab on campus, I pick up the rose and slide it into the plastic bag I was carrying. There’s no telling what’s on it, but if it hurt Evan enough to send her to urgent care, I’m not taking any chances.

I use the tongs to lift the note by the corner too. It opens as I slide it in. After I seal the bag, I pick up the script with another plastic bag and slide it inside, just in case. “Until we figure out what the fuck is on this or it’s cleaned, I recommend not touching the desk in this area.”

Keira nods. Her green eyes are wide as she looks up at me. “Will you text me when you find out what happened? And let me know how EvanAnn is?”

“I can do that. I need a list of everyone who’s at the school today. This rehearsal, the other one, and anyone else fucking around. Can you get me that?”

She nods and stares at the bag. “What does the note say? Honestly, I was afraid to touch anything on the table.”

It’s probably a good thing she didn’t. Something is toxic on this shit.

I glance at Keira. It’s hard not to think about carrying her limp body at the party a week ago.

Yeah, both of them being hurt at the same time would have been awful.

I lift the bag with the note and read it through the plastic, tipping it so she can read it too.

Enjoy your men, pretty girl.

They’ll only leave you burned.

“What the fuck?” Keira narrows her eyes as she looks around at the cast as if she’ll be able to pick out who left it here.

I don’t know what all Keira knows about Evan’s situation, but maybe it’s time to read her in.

She might notice something we haven’t. But I’ll wait and see what the others think.

I take a quick picture of the note.

“There are too many people around.” I shake my head when she glances my way. “Whoever did this was careful not to be noticed. It’s easier to hide in a crowd.”

“We should really have cameras set up.” She squints up at the corners of the ceiling.

Damon said the same thing after Chase stormed into rehearsal last weekend.

Chase could have been suspended for how he came at Hawk, not that Evan wants one of her leads to be suspended.

But putting wireless equipment in the theater room might interfere with the audio equipment. Evan didn’t want to risk it.

Now I wish we had. Then I’d know who targeted my girl. Not that we don’t know.

Jackson Riordan. It has to be him. Evan said he called her pretty girl at the game. The problem is, I can’t see him going unnoticed as a stranger on set. Is someone working with him? Someone on her play?

Or could it be Chase paying us back for fucking with him in the woods? Or is there another threat out there we aren’t aware of? Girls can be more fucked up than guys when they want something another girl has.

“If you see or hear anything, let us know.” I nudge Keira’s shoulder with my own to get her attention.

She blinks a couple of times and then looks at me. “Of course. I just don’t know who would have done this. Or even when they might have put the rose on the table. They would have had to wear gloves or something, right? If something was on it?”

She stares at the rose like it will give her information. I glance over the table and chairs to see if I notice anything else Keira might have missed, but there’s nothing else on them.

“We’ll figure it out.” I nod to her and head out.

The great thing about a school like Deimos is if I need a specific nerd, I have one on speed dial.

And Mike Duncan happens to like me. I get him tickets to the hockey games and invites to the best parties, and he tests the shit that goes around school to make sure it’s not corrupted with something toxic.

The hallways outside of the theater wing are empty on the weekend, especially on the Deimos side of the building. Sundays are usually a day off for sports. The Anteros side is busy with students, practicing or working on projects. Busy little ants.

I make my way to our science wing, a gift from some donor years ago. When I get to the chemistry lab, I knock on the door and wait.

Mike opens it and gestures for me to come in, like we’re doing something nefarious. Usually we are, but not this time. After he closes the door, he looks at the baggie in my hand with the rose and the note.

“What have you got for me?” He pulls on some latex gloves and holds out his hand.

I pass him the bag. The rose has tons of thorns. Some have poked through the plastic on the bag. Hawk said there was a lot of blood. Fortunately, someone had cleaned up the floor. I don’t like the idea of Evan bleeding that much.

“My girl got stabbed by the thorns, but the pain was intense. She said it burned and she got blisters from whatever got in the wounds.”

“Hmm, allergic reaction or chemical?” Mike studies the rose inside the baggie with an intense look. “The stem is shiny. Maybe there’s something coating it. I can run a few tests and see what we’re dealing with.”

“How long?” I step to the sink and wash my hands to be on the safe side.

“An hour or two, depending on which tests give me results.” He’s already working. “We just got a new liquid chromatograph I’ve been jonesing to use.”

Mike takes a clipping from the stem with some of Evan’s blood on it and puts it in a petri dish. He hands me back the bag. “You might want to take this to wherever your girl is. They might need to confirm my findings.”

Mike begins preparing his workstation. I study the rose.

It’s evidence, but we’ll have our own results to go off.

He makes a valid point though. I’m surprised Mr. Watson didn’t call the police to come investigate, but he probably didn’t suspect someone of actually tampering with the rose.

Just that Evan had been cut and it was bad.

He’ll have to fill out a form at the school for the injury. Mr. Watson wasn’t in the room when I went in to get the rose. Hawk can find out what Mr. Watson knows and if we need to do damage control.

“You’ve got my number,” I say. It’s not a question.

Mike nods, but he’s not really paying attention to me at this point. He’s got a mystery to unravel, and I’ve got a girl to see.