Chapter 33
Cam
I trust you is what Evan said to me when I explained what we’d need to shut it down and who I thought would work best for this operation. Because there are multiple parts needed to get into a social media account.
Mia stands waiting for us when we get to the school. I nod toward an empty classroom, and Evan, Hawk, and Mia follow me in. Once the door is shut, I turn to Mia.
“You thought Abby was up to something?” I ask.
“She’s a fucking bitter bitch, so yeah.” Mia glances toward Evan.
Evan steps forward. “We want to close that social media account.”
“Okay, what can I do to help?”
We ran through videos to find when they logged into the account. Chase isn’t very good at typing, and Abby had to tell him the password multiple times, so we have the password.
“We need Abby’s phone or at least the access number that pops up on it.” I lean against a desk and cross my arms. “Do you think you can get close enough to get it, and give us the code, then wipe all evidence of us accessing it from her phone?”
Mia smiles. “You mean you want me to help you shut her down. It would be my fucking pleasure. And yeah, I’m an actor. I can be whoever you need me to be.”
Getting the website down over lunch went smoothly. It was a relief for all of us and knowing it was Abby and Chase means they’ll be too lazy to recreate it. Thanks to Abby’s phone we deleted all the images they stored on her cloud account.
My phone buzzes with a text. I’m in afternoon lecture and while I’m sure the history of the Vikings would be fascinating on the first read through, this isn’t my first time hearing about them. And Mr. Carter doesn’t add anything new to what I already know.
Damon:
Need to talk
Gotta moment?
Me:
Yeah
I’ll call
I raise my hand and Mr. Carter stops his monologue to call on me.
“Can I take the bathroom pass?” I ask.
He glances at it.
“Yes.” The word has never come out more depressed than when Mr. Carter uses it.
I take the pass before heading out of the room. His class is toward the end of a hallway with an exit. There’s a vestibule between the hallway and the outside. If the outside doors are opened, a warning alarm will go off, but not the doors to the vestibule. It’s the perfect phone box.
I lean against the wall and call Damon.
“Had an interesting conversation today,” Damon says.
“Anything has to be better than history class,” I glance down the empty hallway.
“Mr. Carter?” Damon’s wince can be heard through the phone.
“Indeed. I got shit to share too. You’re coming home tonight, right?” I can’t think of another reason he would call. “I didn’t tell Hawk because he would punch you twice, but Evan cried about you last night.”
After we went to bed, I woke once to her on the couch with the light of her phone making her face glow, so I know he talked to her. She always sleeps better after they message each other.
“Yeah, I’m coming home.” He blows out a breath. “Jackson says he’s been in contact with Mia. That all the times he was talking to them, he was talking to Mia. He thinks that Mia might be Evan’s stalker. I need some fucking clarity, so I called you.”
“Did you check the number?”
“It’s not like he handed over his phone. It’s possible it was a dummy text.”
I glance out the doors and think about what I know about the timeline. “Okay, Evan received her first texts after the football game where Jackson sat with them. Mia was there. Mia had access to Evan’s desk for the rose and knew we thought Jackson was stalking her and his nickname for her.”
“So what doesn’t fit? Because I’m not about to blow up Evan’s friendship unless we’re fucking sure.”
“There are the texts Heather received. Mia might have known you two slept together, but she wouldn’t know Heather’s phone number.” I try to think through everything that’s happened. “The social media account isn’t Mia.”
“Why wouldn’t it be? All she’d have to do is suck off a nerd to get him to do it.” Damon blows out a breath. “Mia’s warned us off Evan before.”
“Evan found a video of Chase’s room last night.
The social media account was created by Abby and Chase.
We took it down at lunch. It doesn’t exist anymore.
Mia helped us get Abby’s phone for it. We also took pics of her text conversations with the guy she got to help with the photos.
That part we at least know what happened.
But we don’t think they did the rest of it. ”
Damon lets out a huff. “It could be Mia doing the rest. Jackson said she was jealous of Evan.”
“You really think she’d do this to Evan just to get in our pants?
” I have my doubts. We’re hot, but not go illegal to get us hot.
“Yes, Evan gets a lot of attention at the school, but Mia’s new, but she’s not doing bad for herself.
Besides, Mia seems to genuinely care about Evan.
She was waiting at the urgent care, just as worried as I was. ”
“Maybe the rose was more effective than she thought it would be. Maybe she was worried about getting into trouble.” Damon growls.
“Fuck, I don’t want to think it’s her, but what if it is?
She showed us her phone with no messages from him, and he just showed me messages he received from her.
Even said he thought she was jealous of Evan. ”
“Why? Because she has us?” I scoff. “Come on. The girl can get any guy she wants. She’s not like Olivia looking for a relationship. She just wants a fuck. And she’s got Liam and Fletcher for that. I think Jackson might be trying to set her up.”
“Or she’s trying to set Jackson up. Maybe they’re in it together? I need you to make sure Evan isn’t left alone with Mia.” Damon blocks the receiver for a moment, and I hear him talking to someone else. “I have to go. I’ll be home tonight.”
“I’ll work the puzzle to see if Mia fits.”
I walk into the smaller black box theater once hockey practice is over. Chase is on stage with Mark. I spent the rest of my afternoon classes outlining what we know. There’s some really damning evidence to say Mia did it.
Jackson could have given Mia all that information just in conversation. Or they may be in it together, and Jackson is pushing the blame onto Mia.
There’s one thing I haven’t checked, and it kept slipping my mind.
With the social media account, we didn’t look into Brandt’s sister.
Hawk knows some guys on Jackson’s team, but they may not run in the same circles as he does.
I pull up Kentwood Prep where Jackson goes to school.
Elizabeth Stanwell should be easy to find if she goes there.
A search of their website doesn’t give me much, but then I try her social media.
Because, if she’s anything like Damon described, she’ll be on all of them.
And at some point, she might have a pic in her school uniform.
That would be the hope. Of course, with a famous father, she has her social media set to private, but it’s easy to pinpoint her with Brandt, who definitely doesn’t mind riding his father’s coattails.
I pull up one of my accounts I use to slide into DMs, before I was with Evan, of course.
I ignore the multiple DMs waiting for responses they’ll never get and friend request Elizabeth’s account. I also friend some of her friends. Can’t hurt.
It’s a Friday night, so I post about going to a party, hoping to hook up with new people. My account is not private, so when she looks it will be the first post.
I lean back in my chair and watch Evan give stage direction. Her tone is gentle, but her voice carries. I can’t imagine anyone being mean to this girl.
When I consider Mia’s meet cute with Evan, it seems like it could have been a set up. It was easy to slot herself into friendship when Evan didn’t have any close friends. Mia’s an actor. It doesn’t mean she’s lying, but if she is, we might not be able to tell.
Evan’s done everything to help Mia. Mia is the lead in Evan’s play.
Why would she want to throw Evan off her game?
The only one who really benefits from Evan’s play not doing well is Brandt.
And if Damon is right and Brandt was the one who made Chase look twice at Evan, then he had to know Chase would fucking break her heart.
He’s a manwhore with a horrible reputation. If he’d been a little more attentive to Evan, she probably could have fallen for him. I shake that out of my head because now I want to kick Chase’s ass even more.
Jackson has a lot to gain by blaming Mia. It gets us off his scent. And if we bring Evan to Crowne Mawr, he can try to woo her away from us. It won’t work, but he doesn’t know that.
Fuck.
Hawk comes in and sits in the chair beside me. “What’s Chase done now?”
“What?” I turn to look at him.
“You’re glaring at the asshole like he kicked your puppy.” Hawk leans back in the chair and puts one foot on the seat in front of him.
“Damon talk to you today?” I ask.
“Not yet.” Hawk arches an eyebrow at me. “Why?”
“Jackson thinks Mia is behind the texts and the stalking,” I say it quietly, but no one is around us.
Hawk sits with it for a moment, and I can see him going through all the evidence in his mind to see if it adds up for Mia.
“What would Mia’s motive be?” Hawk doesn’t look disturbed by the thought of it being Mia.
“Maybe she’s working with Brandt? Or Chase? Or Jackson? Maybe she’s mad Evan got us.” I shrug. I don’t like the idea of girls fighting over us. Before Evan, I thought it was hilarious. But now, fuck that. There’s only one girl for me.
“Collusion makes it harder to figure out who’s responsible.” Hawk leans his head back and rests his eyes.
“Didn’t you get enough sleep?” I noticed he was dragging on the ice too.
“My parents. Them finding their family again is going to fucking kill me. I’m considering running away.” He opens his eyes and turns to me. “Can I come and live with you? Your parents are normal.”
“Man, if you’re going to run away, go to Damon’s.” I scoff. “You must be tired if you think of me before climbing into Evan’s bed.”
He chuckles half-heartedly. “Wake me when it’s time to fuck Annie.”
I shake my head and glance down to see my friend request hasn’t been answered yet. I need to get to the bottom of this.
Rehearsal ends, and Evan packs up her things. Keira left practice earlier. Mark leaves with Chase, leaving just Hawk, Evan, and I.
“Do we know when he’s supposed to be back?” Evan bites her lip when she glances my way.
“Eager to see your stepbrother, goody?” I tease.
She sticks her tongue out at me and zips up her backpack. “I’m just ready to deal with the consequences. I hate putting things off. This week has sucked for so many reasons, but having this unresolved thing hanging between us is the worst.”
“Worse than the social media account?” I arch an eyebrow as I pick up my bag and kick Hawk’s foot off the chair.
He wakes up swinging before he realizes where he’s at. “What the fuck, man?”
“You said to wake you.”
He looks around the black box theater room. “We doing this here?”
He starts unbuttoning his shirt.
“Hawk!” Evan chastises and has the audacity to look around like she’s a fucking nun.
“What, baby girl?” He smirks. “Feeling shy? Don’t want to put on a performance they won’t forget? I know I won’t.”
She rolls her eyes, but she smiles. “Let’s go get something to eat.”