Chapter 44
Selena
The call I was dreading came the next day.
An unknown number flashed on my display. I answered, muting the TV. I was lying on the couch at home, watching reality TV and generally dissociating from my problems. It was actually kind of wonderful.
“Hello?” I answered thickly, my throat suddenly dry.
“Selena Carmichael, budding adult star.”
I recognized Officer Preston’s voice immediately.
I stayed silent, waiting to see where he was going with this.
“I hope you haven’t been going too crazy waiting for me to call.”
His voice sounded arrogant, but he didn’t know that I’d learned from the best when it came to arrogance. Officer Preston’s bravado didn’t hit for me.
“I forgot about it, actually.”
He was quiet for a second too long.
“Sure, bitch. Let’s see if you forget about it when I post the video.”
“You know revenge porn and posting things on sites without the participant’s approval is illegal, right? I know you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed, but being a cop, you must know something, right? Please say that you know that and restore some of my faith in Hade Harbor’s civil services.”
“Shut your dirty mouth,” Preston rasped, clearly getting pissed off that the conversation wasn’t going the way he wanted it to.
Cal had been lying on the sofa opposite mine, napping. Now he opened his eyes and lay there listening. He tapped his ear, like he wanted to hear. I put the phone on speaker.
Something I’d come to realize over the last few days was that Brody and Cal had no secrets. He knew everything that was happening, and weirdly, I was okay with it. Cal was a vault.
“Listen to me. You’re going to meet me tonight, at the Chickadee Diner. You’re not going to tell anyone where you’re going, or what you’re doing. If you don’t want the video released, you’ll bring ten grand in cash to that location—”
“How do you think I can get ten grand?”
“From your billionaire stepdad; I’m sure he has some safe in that fortress of a house you call home. Or take advances on your credit card, I don’t care. Get it, and come to the diner. If you treat me well, don’t piss me off, and make me feel really good, I’ll think about getting rid of the video.”
I glanced at Cal. He considered the offer and gave me a thumbs-up.
Swallowing my nerves, I mentally prepared myself to see Officer Preston tonight.
“Okay, I’ll be there—I don’t want to be, but I will,” I added, feeling like it might make Preston suspicious if I gave in too easily.
“Yeah, of course you will, you little whore. I bet you’re looking forward to it. Maybe we can have a viewing party of your video back at my place after… get in the mood,” Preston laughed.
My skin crawled, then the call disconnected.
The worst, most traumatic night of my life was just a joke to this guy. Leverage to get money and sexual favors. I let out a deep breath to stop myself from tearing up and simultaneously screaming with rage.
“You’ll go, you’ll record him, and then Cal and me will come in and take over. We just need evidence of his blackmail attempts, according to our lawyers,” Brody’s voice said from behind me.
I jumped. He leaned against the archway to the kitchen. He’d clearly heard everything. His hands were bunched into fists.
I nodded, and he pushed off the wall, his jaw tight.
“I’m going for a run,” he tossed to Cal and left the room.
I watched him go.
“You’re worried about the plan?” Cal asked.
“No, just wondering why Brody isn’t forcing me to exercise. Like he usually does,” I muttered. Maybe actually hearing Preston talk about the video was too much. Maybe it made him think differently of me.
“He’s too mad to run with you. He’s furious. He wants to hurt someone, preferably Preston, but since he can’t, he’s going to go and hurt himself.”
“I get it,” I murmured, and I did. I really did.
That night, I let Brody tape a goddamn wire between my breasts in his car, like we were in an episode of one of my favorite crime dramas.
“This is going to work. There’s no risk to you. It’s simple. Go in, get him to say something incriminating, which will be easy because this guy is thick as mince, and then get out. Cal will be waiting for you. Go home, job done. You never have to hear from him again.”
“Right. Because plans always work the way we want them to,” I said, sweating from anxiety.
“Selena, listen to me. I’m going to be with you the whole time, right outside the diner. Nothing is going to happen to you, sweetheart.” He cupped my face. “Remember when I told you I was keeping you?”
My heart now pounded for entirely different reasons. I nodded.
“I don’t say things I don’t mean. I always take care of my things. You are no exception.”
I smiled at Brody and put a hand on his crotch. His cock jerked under my palm.
“Call me your possession one more time, and I’ll cut your balls off while you sleep,” I said sweetly.
He laughed and pressed a kiss to my temple. “And that’s what I fucking love about you, heathen. Now, off you go.”
He leaned over and pushed my door open, and I stared at him open-mouthed. He’d just come dangerously close to saying something incredibly intimate and personal. I had no idea what to make of that. The word love being thrown around freaked me out completely.
I got out of the car awkwardly, and Brody pinched my ass as I went. It broke my inertia, and I turned around and slammed the door, giving him the finger.
He laughed.
I turned away from the car and set off. He was a block away from the diner, so it wouldn’t look like he’d dropped me off if Preston was watching.
I felt eyes on me and knew it was Cal. He had parked closer to the diner, so he could would wait for me to leave and take me home. At that point, Brody would take over, and we’d have all the evidence we needed.
Did our plan have more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese?
Maybe, but unlike last time, I wasn’t keeping my secrets and letting people who wanted to hurt me use my silence as a weapon.
If it hadn’t been for Winter, Asher, Marcus, and the Harbor Hounds MC, I didn’t know what would have happened to me the year before.
This time, I wasn’t going in alone.
The diner came into sight. It had always been a popular hangout spot when we were in high school, and there was still a fun nostalgia to going there, especially during summer.
Now, I walked up to the entrance feeling like I was going to my own execution.
I was so nervous. My palms were sweaty, and I felt like my makeup had slid off.
My tummy squirmed, and there was a slight chance that a panic attack could descend on me out of nowhere, triggered by something Officer Preston said, but it was a chance I had to take.
Brody and Cal were trying to make sure that the video didn’t come out. They were planning on getting Officer Preston in trouble for what he’d already done, and whatever he planned to threaten me with tonight. If the plan went well, then this sudden threat to my fresh start in life would be gone.
If not… I’d have to cross that bridge when I came to it.
I pushed open the diner’s heavy front door and stepped inside. The place was bustling, like always. They had a popular menu, and the prices had barely changed in ten years, hence why it was such a hot spot.
I glanced around at the booths and immediately homed in on the back of Preston’s head. He twisted to look at the door, no doubt wondering where the fuck I was. His eyes met mine, and he smirked. It made my skin crawl and fury pour through me simultaneously.
I felt powerless and murderous all at once. It was disorienting, but then, I’d started to get used to the duality that existed inside me.
Since the attack, I was a victim, but I was also a survivor. I was damaged goods, but I was grateful to be alive. I was afraid, and I was furious.
Of course, those same two sides had existed long before the attack as well. I was a mean girl but desperate to be liked. I was a queen bee but lonely.
“You see him, cheer captain?” Brody’s voice spoke in my ear, through the smallest, most discreet earpiece I’d ever seen.
It was what the big bucks bought you. He was listening, and everything was being recorded. He was with me, inside my head. I put my shoulders back and approached Preston’s table, and he half stood awkwardly.
“Don’t bother getting up. This isn’t a date.” I slid into the booth across from him.
He stared at me, his eyes narrowing, before he chuckled.
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m just not sure how I should be treating you, considering how all of this is starting.”
“First time blackmailing and extorting someone? I’m honored I get to pop your cherry.”
“Heathen, sheathe your claws. You don’t want to scare the poor guy before he drops himself in it.”
Preston shook his head. “You’re not like I thought you’d be about this.”
“Aren’t I? I guess I’m not a first-timer, like you. Don’t worry.” I leaned forward. “I’ll be gentle.”
Brody chuckled in my ear.
Preston looked me up and down and licked his lips, an involuntary movement that twisted my stomach. Gross. My banter had turned him on. I resolved to be boring as hell going forward.
“I don’t know if I ever told you my first name. It’s Drew.”
I waited for him to continue.
“So, did you bring the money?”
I nodded. “Did you bring the video file?” I asked, blinking like a wide-eyed ingenue.
Drew smirked. “Of course not, that wasn’t the deal. The deal was that you bring the money and then we go back to my place, and if you make me happy, I’ll let you watch me delete it.”
“You’ll let me delete the only copy?”
Drew’s smirk only widened. “Of course.”
God, he had to think I was the dumbest bitch out there. As if a guy like him would stop at ten grand and one night of rape. Tonight would only be the beginning. Still, I had to play along. I slid the envelope of cash Brody had given me across the table.
“What do you need the money for?”
He grinned widely and shoved it into his pocket. “None of your business. You’re not my girlfriend… are you?” Drew said.