CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
REBEL
I hated nothing more than telling Storm she couldn’t come to the party tonight. She’d been in the hospital only days ago. I understood that she wanted to be involved, but she wasn’t ready. She couldn’t even sneeze without screaming in pain because of her ribs. I wasn’t taking any chances.
My friends and I had a plan in place for River. If Storm was present, she would only serve as a distraction. That might put us all in danger. It was a risk I wouldn’t take.
She’d done her best to change my mind. Pouting, pleading, and batting those long lashes at me. Because she was my weakness, I had almost succumbed. Putting my foot down on this one hadn’t been easy. All that mattered was keeping her safe, and I couldn’t do that if she put herself in the line of fire. Anything could happen tonight.
I made sure that news of the party had spread around campus. People loved our graveyard parties. Venom attended more than they missed. I knew there was a chance River would stay away after what he’d done to Storm. However, I was banking on his ego convincing him otherwise. Staying away would make him look like a coward, and he wouldn’t allow me to think that of him.
I thought much worse of him than that. He’d always been a slimy little shit, going out of his way to get my attention and prove himself to me. Back in high school, he’d seen me as competition, which led to his creation of Venom. Needing to establish himself as some kind of badass had made River pathetically predictable and desperate.
Going after Storm had been the one mistake I would not overlook. Surely he understood that was an act of war. Trying to frame me for Chase’s murder was one thing. Touching my girl was another.
Since River had not yet gone to the cops with Chase’s phone, he must have realized that such a move would come back to haunt him. Not only would it prove nothing, the entire thing was fake. My own personal phone records would show no such interactions. Once the cops determined I didn’t send those messages, they would look harder at River. He really hadn’t planned this as well as he seemed to think he did.
“Do you have the stuff?” I asked Dominik as soon as he arrived at the graveyard.
The five of us had shown up early. I wanted to be there before the party got underway. My plans for tonight included plugging River full of enough drugs to get him spewing the truth while I recorded his confession.
“Yeah, I’ve got it. Enough to drug a horse.” Handing me a bag containing a vial and a syringe, Dom nodded at the row of kegs I’d had delivered. “Really going all out tonight, huh?”
“Fuck yeah. The party needs to be sheer chaos for us to pull this off. We can’t have any witnesses.” I sat down on a crumbling headstone, scratching my chin as I went over my plan in my head.
Dominik pulled a cigarette from a pack in his pocket, tucking it between his lips. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. Nobody stays sober enough at these parties to know what the fuck is going on.”
“What about the rest of Venom?” Auryn asked. “No doubt they’ll be sticking close together tonight.”
I snickered. “That’s where Tessa Baker and the other campus cheerleaders come in. I made a little arrangement with them to get cozy with the Venom guys. They’re going to slip some GHB into their drinks. Turn the tables for once. That should keep them out of the way.”
It hadn’t taken much to convince Tessa and her friends to help out. A few hundred bucks and they’d been all too willing. Venom had more enemies than they did friends. Since I didn’t hang with Tessa much, Venom shouldn’t have a clue she was working for me.
“Damn, that’s devious,” Dom laughed. “You really did think of everything.”
“Can’t be too careful. They’re just lucky that I only want River tonight.”
As the hour grew later, people began to show up. Music blasted from car stereos as people littered the graveyard. By midnight there had to be almost two hundred people on the property and inside the church, as well as a few who snuck off into the forest to fuck.
Needing to keep a level head, I didn’t drink much. I did, however, help myself to a few tequila shots to take the edge off. Keeping to the shadows near the church, I watched party goers arrive.
The first Venom guy I spotted was Damon. To my absolute delight, he’d arrived with Tessa. So far so good.
My impatience grew despite my efforts to stay calm and cool. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on River Harris. When I finally noticed him across the graveyard with a group of people, I turned to Auryn for help.
“Whatever you do, don’t let me attack him in front of everyone. All I can think about is choking the life out of him.”
Auryn clapped a hand on my shoulder, holding tight in case I tried to take off. “No worries, bro. I’ve got you. Focus on the long game. This all ends tonight either way.”
He was right. I could bide my time for a few hours, if that’s what it took. Rushing things would only fuck up my perfect plan.
River wasn’t a complete idiot. Every now and then I caught him glancing around, looking for me. Our eyes locked. He had the audacity to nod as a huge grin spread across his face. Motherfucker really thought he was untouchable.
When at last I saw him slip into the trees with one of the cheerleaders, I almost burst with excitement. Soon. This would all be over soon. I was going to enjoy every damn second of making him sorry that he’d ever come for me and my girl.
“Almost showtime, boys,” I said, making sure my friends were ready to take action any second. “One of the cheerleaders just took River into the forest.”
Casper puffed on a joint, nodding to where Tessa sat next to Damon on the ground near a few headstones. Damon’s eyes rolled in his head as he slumped against a headstone. Good. We wouldn’t have to worry about him interfering.
I sent Stray on a little tour of the party to check up on the other two Venom guys. Since Noah wasn’t into cheerleaders—or women for that matter—we had to get a little more creative with him. Dom had followed him around the party, waiting for the right moment to slip some GHB into his drink.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure it would work. All it took was Noah setting his drink on a headstone while he went to take a piss. The damn idiot left himself wide open. A woman would never have made such a foolish mistake. Lucky for us, most guys never thought twice about that kind of thing.
Stray returned from his little tour, a satisfied smile on his face. “Noah is completely passed out in the church. There’s no sign of Colt anywhere. I assume he left with one of the cheerleaders. Looks like we can make our move anytime now.”
“Good,” I said, practically rubbing my hands together like an evil movie villain. “I can hardly wait.”
We broke away from the party, slipping into the woods where I’d seen the cheerleader leave with River. We hadn’t gone far when we ran into her on her way out. She tugged her skirt back into place before fixing her blonde ponytail. Did she screw him? Good for him. Might as well go out with a bang.
“I was just coming to tell you that he’s all yours.” She pointed to a large tree several yard yards away. “He’s on the other side of that tree. He can barely stand up. Remember what you said, Rebel. We had nothing to do with this. I don’t even know what’s going on.”
“You really don’t.” I could barely keep the smile off my face. “Thanks again. We owe you ladies one.”
We waited for her to return to the party before approaching River. He was just as she’d said, slumped on the ground, barely conscious. Casper and Dom hauled him to his feet.
I gave his face a slap. “Stay awake, motherfucker. We’ve got a score to settle.”
River’s eyes rolled in his head as he struggled to focus on me. “Go fuck yourself, Kane.”
I was happy to see that he still had his fighting spirit. This wouldn’t be nearly as fun otherwise.
“Let’s take him deeper into the woods. We don’t want anyone sneaking off to screw to come across us.” Motioning for the guys to follow, I led the way through the trees, using my phone light to help guide us.
When we were at least a mile or more away from the party, I came to a stop. Pulling the vile and syringe from the bag stuffed in my pocket, I wasted no time shooting River full of enough drugs to make him talk.
He grunted when I jabbed the needle into the side of his neck. “What the fuck? What the hell did you just give me?”
“Something to make you talk. You’re going to confess everything tonight, River.” I searched his pockets until I found his phone. This had to be recorded on his own device as well as mine.
“Screw you,” he slurred. “I’m not confessing to jackshit. What’s wrong, Rebel? Feeling the need for some payback? How is Storm anyway? That was a nasty fall she took.”
My fist smashed into his face before either of us realized it was coming. Pain slashed through my knuckles. “Fuck. Storm is just fine. She’ll be fucking awesome after I kill you tonight.”
That seemed to chase some of the drug fog away. River’s eyes widened, and he struggled harder to break free of Casper and Dom.
“You must really want to do some jail time. There’s no way you can kill me and get away with it. There’s already so much stacked against you. You’ll never see the outside of a jail cell again if you do this.”
“I wouldn’t worry about me,” I said. “You’re the one who’s short on time. You really fucked up when you went after Chase. But you signed your death warrant when you touched my girl.”
The beautiful thing about injecting drugs was that they took effect so much faster. We didn’t have to wait long before River was ready to talk. I’d helped myself to his phone, forcing him to give up the passcode. When he handed it over with little struggle, I figured this should be a breeze.
I also took out my own phone. I wanted a recording for myself, although I wasn’t stupid enough to make the mistake of sending it to my phone from his. Holding both phones, I made sure that River could clearly be heard. An audio recording was safer than a video under these circumstances.
“Now let’s get started, shall we? First question. Did you kill Chase Masters?” I made sure not to hit record until after I had spoken. I didn’t want my voice in the recording.
River’s face contorted as he fought the urge to spill the truth. His eyes were glassy, rolling in his head from the myriad drugs bombarding his system.
“Eat shit and die, motherfucker. You know I fucking killed him.” River’s knees buckled. He hung between the two guys, dead weight.
Momentarily pausing the recording, I asked, “Killed, who? I need specifics.”
“Chase fucking Masters. I fucking killed him. I cut out his fucking organs because everybody in this shithole town knows you’re a black market organ dealer.” River’s head hung as he sucked in deep, shaky breaths.
I didn’t love his remark about my business, but nobody could prove a damn thing, and he did just admit that he tried to frame me.
I made sure to pause every time I spoke and record again when River responded. He struggled to remain upright. Eventually, Casper and Dom let him go to his knees but continued to hold his arms. I sure hoped the bastard didn’t black out on me. I wasn’t done with him yet.
“When did you kill Chase Masters?” My tone was calm and even despite my urge to break the guy’s face.
“The night he went missing. The night of the party. I don’t remember the goddamn date.” Every blink River took seemed longer than the last. He wouldn’t be conscious much longer.
Still, I pressed forward. “Why did you kill Chase Masters?”
“Because I’m sick of your shit. You’ve been riding me for years now. This shit with Storm was the final straw. I think you only wanted her because you couldn’t have her. You saw me talk to her, and that was enough. Your obsession isn’t with her, it’s with me. It always has been. You have this sick need to always prove you’re better than me.” With every word River spoke, he began to slur more, making it harder to understand him.
I couldn’t help but laugh. This idiot thought I was obsessed with him? He was the one who’d been following in my footsteps since we met. After I started the Graveyard Kings, he started Venom. When I fucked the prom queen in high school, River made sure to go after her a few weeks later.
I didn’t bother to point this out to him. It didn’t matter, and it wasn’t really about me. This was about making it very clear who really killed Chase.
Turning off the recording on both phones, I said, “I think we got everything we really need. Let’s finish this.”
“Yeah, you better finish it, Rebel. Kill me. That’s what you’re good at. Are you going to take my organs too? I guess they’re probably no good with all this dope in my system.” Trying and failing to focus on me, River gave up and closed his eyes. “Just get it over with already.”
Although it would’ve been a lot more satisfying if he’d been able to fight back, I was perfectly fine with this too. I nodded to Stray who held a backpack. He pulled out a lengthy coil of rope.
“Do you think this tree is strong enough?” He pointed to the tree we currently stood near.
The tree was wide and tall. Definitely strong enough for what we had planned. Stray fashioned the rope into a noose before slipping it around River’s neck. I’d been happy to play this game with him for years now. Not once had I truly planned to kill him. That all changed when he went after Storm.
Maybe it was easier with him being passed out while we did this. I didn’t want to listen to any begging or bargaining. We strung him up and left him hanging from the tree. Because I needed to make sure this was done right, I stayed until I was sure that River was dead.
“I guess it was going to come to this eventually.” Auryn eyed River’s hanging body, an uncomfortable grimace on his face.
“No doubt,” I agreed, wiping my prints from River’s phone. Tucking the phone with his audio confession into his pocket, I turned to leave. “Let’s go party.”
Sure, his confession may have come under duress, and there may be suspicion that he hadn’t hung himself, but nobody could prove a damn thing. He admitted himself that he was behind the death of Chase.
River’s own death would most likely be ruled a guilty suicide. There was no evidence to prove otherwise. I didn’t worry about the authorities looking into me. They could look all they wanted. They wouldn’t find a damn thing.
We returned to the party, needing to blend in and make sure we were seen. It was our party after all.
Casper nudged my arm, holding his phone out for me to read the message he’d typed. “Do you think the rest of Venom will try to avenge him?”
I shrugged. “I dare them to fucking try.”