Chapter Six
“It was the Crows. I bet you anything it was one of them,” Paris said. She paced the length of the room. “They knew their boy was about to lose, so they shot off a gun to end the fight early.”
“How did you get in here?” Cairo mused. “Who let you in?”
Paris picked up the nearest thing and threw it at his head. It happened to be her shoe.
He caught it out of the air and tossed it back. To be fair to him, he and I were just out of the shower and gearing up for round two when she burst in, but I had no problem giving Paris the time she needed. The night before, we were so close to getting rid of the Crows for good. How could she feel safe when they were right down the street and itching for revenge?
“Danny, this is serious,” she snapped. “You were going to win. The Royale should’ve been called in your favor.”
“An almost win isn’t a win. Jacques can’t give it to me, and the watchers wouldn’t back me if he did.”
“So, we do it again. Another Riot Royale. I’ll fight if I have to.”
Cairo was shaking his head before she finished. “The Crows won’t be tricked into another trip to the den. I can challenge Ellis again head-on, but he’s got no reason to agree. He has his own plan to get us out. Why risk another beating when he—?”
“—can beat me instead!”
“That won’t happen. Hey.” Cairo raised his arm. “Evie, come here.”
She climbed onto the bed, stuffing herself under his other arm.
“The Crows will never put their hands on either of you again. That’s a promise. I whispered a parting message in Ellis’s ear while everyone was running around screaming. Anything that happens to you two within the next eighty years. If you trip and scratch your elbow, I will hold him personally responsible, and I’ll kill him.”
I swallowed. If Cairo delivered his message in the same tone he used then, Jeremy heard him loud and clear.
He meant it.
“Thank you,” Paris said, eyes welling.
There was a time when I thought Paris didn’t know the real Cairo. At that moment, my doubt vanished. These siblings were closer than most. They saw each other for exactly who they were.
Paris gave him a wobbly smile. “I knew you loved me.”
“Less and less so by the second.”
Laughing, she snuggled in, reaching up for the remote.
I popped a kiss on her cheek. Popped one on Cairo’s too.
“I have to go. See you in a bit.”
He hooked my dress’s drawstrings. “Where are you going?”
“To the store. We’re running low on a few things. I want to get you an ice pack,” I said, tracing the edges of the cut above his eye. “And stuff to make butterscotch muffins. They sell them in the library café and I’ve been dreaming about them ever since.”
“We don’t need ice packs or muffins. It’s too risky to be out walking alone right now.”
“I’ll ask Jacques to go with me.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You can be there when I ask and watch us leave together, love,” I said. “But we do need milk, ice packs, bandages, toilet paper, and food. If the Crows force me to hide in here, too afraid to leave, they’re the real winners.”
“Subtle manipulation, Rain.” He released me. “Jacques goes with you.”
I crossed the hall to Jacques’s room and let myself in.
“Two,” he said without looking up from his laptop. “What do you want?”
I jumped on his bed, earning a three and not caring. I said Legend’s room was the secret room behind a bookcase. Well, Jacques’s was the library that housed that bookcase. Three walls were nothing but shelves and books. The fourth boasted his television, dresser, and two small bookcases.
“I need to go out for a while,” I said, “and I need you to stay here, and say you didn’t.”
“Why?” he asked simply.
“I can’t tell you now, but it’s important. I won’t be gone long, and I will be safe. I just need to do this alone.”
Jacques didn’t slow his typing. He might’ve stopped listening after “I” for all I knew.
I soaked him in.
Jacques Stone was everything I didn’t know I liked. Growing up, my crushes were on the rough-and-tumble farm boys, throwing around bales of hay and riding tractors before they rode cars. Brainy dudes with their heads in a book didn’t make the cut. And beards?
Before Grandpa passed away, I loved his loud smooches, but I didn’t love the scratchy whiskers that came with it.
Yes, a year ago I would’ve taken one look at Jacques, said he was handsome, but dismissed him as not my type. Like I mentioned before, I didn’t know myself very well.
I laid my hand over his. “I’ll tell you everything when I get back. All of it, Jacques. No more secrets.”
His typing slowed. He flicked down to my hand.
“Go.”
“Thank you.”
I was downstairs and out the door before he changed his mind. Frankie rolled up to the bus stop at five seventeen on the dot.
“If it isn’t my favorite kind of Rainey day.”
“Hey, Frankie.” I claimed the seat right by her. “How are my favorite godson and goddaughter?”
She laughed. “You got my kids believing you are their godmother. They asked my mom if you’re the same as a grandma. Keep this up and you’ll have responsibilities if anything happens to me.”
“You’re not going anywhere. But if anything did happen.” The Letter Man’s threats were stark in my mind. “I’d always be there for them.”
“That means a lot,” she said. “Are we off to the farm today?”
“I don’t feel safe there after what happened to Bella. I won’t feel safe until her killer is caught.”
“I was going to say, dear. I’m not comfortable leaving you out there on your own.” I felt her sigh in my bones. “Bedlam’s not what it used to be.”
We tried for lighter topics for the rest of the ride. I waved bye under the street sign for Bay Avenue.
I headed to the only place I could go. I was buzzed in immediately.
The front door hung open.
“Hello?” I called. “Jeremy?”
I stuck my head in, then the rest of me. Tiptoeing down the front hall, a boot came into view, propped on the coffee table.
“Jeremy, I—”
Hands grabbed me.
“Hey!”
Gael threw me on the floor, ricocheting pain up my knees. I gasped as Asher wrenched my head back. His arm circled my throat.
Micah, Bentley, and Zeke stepped off the staircase, joining the silent Jeremy on the couch.
He looked terrible.
Black and blue bloated his nose. One eye swelled shut and the other glared at me through a black ring. Bandaged cuts. Weeping lip. His arm in a sling. Jeremy’s own mother wouldn’t recognize him.
“Did you know?”
“What... is this?” I croaked. “Let me go.”
“Did you know?” he repeated.
“Know what?!”
He waited me out.
“Jeremy!” I punched Asher’s thigh, earning his constriction around my throat. “Get... off! I can’t—”
I punched him again, desperation sending my strikes wide as black spots crept into my vision.
“Ease up,” Jeremy said mildly.
Just like that, the pressure was gone. I sucked in deep lungfuls, gaze burning Asher where he stood.
This fucker is next.
“What is your problem?” I shrieked, thrashing in Gael and Asher’s grip. “You said I had to come so we could plan our next move.”
“We would,” Jeremy clipped, “but I got a notion in my head last night when Sharpe was pounding my face in. Maybe you planned me. You set a trap for us and we walked right into it.”
“No.”
“You are in love with those fucks who hit, abuse, and treat you like a dog. And as their faithful bitch, you lured me out there knowing I couldn’t turn down the Riot Royale unless I wanted all of Bedlam believing I’m a coward. Cairo goes off like the rabid animal he is, and the Crows are nearly forced out of town for good. Just like your owners want.”
Leaning forward, I opened my mouth and drew out, “No.”
“Stop lying!” he exploded, kicking away the coffee table. “I know it was you!”
It flipped and crashed into the window, shattering two panes. Could have been a scary display if I didn’t tempt killers and bruisers to lower their hackles and let me in every day before breakfast.
“Jeremy, listen to me.” I tried to get up and was pushed down. “Look me in the eye and tell me if I’m lying. I did not know about the Riot Royale. I didn’t know people even did those anymore. When Cairo challenged you, I was as surprised as everyone else.”
He jabbed a finger at me. “But he did tell you to get me out there, didn’t he?!”
“Tell me to—! Are you listening to yourself?” I cried. “Did those punches to your head delete our conversation from your mind? I told you, Jeremy. Word for fucking word, I said it wasn’t a good idea for you to show up at the den where you’ll be outnumbered by people who won’t be putting the Crows on their Christmas card list. I said if you did, you may not walk out of there.”
I cocked my head. “I believe your response was to cuff my chin and say I was cute for being worried about you. Didn’t I warn you, Jeremy? Didn’t I?!”
A hundred emotions flashed across his face, and showing stark among them: doubt.
“How was I setting you up when I told you not to come?”
He settled back in his seat, studying me. A thick, oppressive silence blanketed the room. I bore it, holding Jeremy’s gaze the whole time.
“Alright,” he finally said. “No lie, you did warn me, and I didn’t listen. I fucked up.”
He nodded at Asher and Gael, who let me go.
“But that went down way too smoothly,” Jeremy continued, gesturing for me to sit between him and Micah. “Could the Bedlam Boys know you’re working for me? It may not have been an accident you overheard him talking about getting people to the den.”
Slowly, I squeezed between them, schooling my face to hide the discomfort. “If they thought I was betraying them, I’d be out on my ass. The guys are possessive to put it politely. They don’t share. Period.
“But I’m betting they assumed word would get back to you some way. Especially if they told people to spread it around. Did it?” I asked. “Did you hear about the den from someone other than me?”
“I did,” Bentley admitted. “A girl I hook up with mentioned something was going down in Buller’s Den and we might want to check it out.”
“There you go,” I said, laying it on a bit too thick. I pulled back. “Anyway, it’s over now and a winner wasn’t called. Cairo can’t pull that again unless you accept.”
“Nah.” Jeremy absentmindedly rubbed his reset shoulder. “I’ve got something better in mind for those guys that doesn’t involve scrapping in the dirt, or letting a mob run them out for me. I’m going to carry their bodies across the town line myself.”
I reeled back. “Jeremy, I’m going to give you more advice that you’ll probably ignore. Don’t let vengeance cloud your judgment. Whatever is it you and Daddy Ellis want from this town, you won’t get it in prison.”
To my surprise, he smiled.
“Ah, but then, you don’t know what it is we want.”
“Why did you call me out here?” I looked away. “Was it just to get your muscle to assault me? Again.”
“I’m sorry.” He rubbed slow circles on my back. Disgust rippled up my spine. “I apologize to you a lot. I’ve always been a hothead—doing before thinking, but I recognize if I listened to your warning last time, last night wouldn’t have gone down the way it did. So, I’m learning from my mistakes.
“We’re planning our next hit together. You’ll tell us where to go, how to act, what to watch out for, so this time it’s the Bedlam Boys who don’t see it coming.” His smile hardened around the edges. “A foolproof plan, and if it goes wrong this time, I won’t accuse. I’ll know exactly who to blame.”
Jeremy was looking for a flinch, a wince, a tell. He didn’t get it.
“Before we get into all that, and what I think of another dose of your implied threats, I need you to tell me something.” I flicked between the six of them. “Was it one of you who brought the gun and shot it off?”
Blank faces looked back at me.
“I won’t be a part of killing anyone, Jeremy. Screw the contract, and the farm, if that’s what it comes to. Gran wanted it in our family, but she’d never want me to get it back this way. So, if the plan we’re making is toward the goal of peacefully bringing about the return of Crystal Canyon, then bust out the whiteboards and dry-erase markers.
“If it’s a plan to hurt anyone—innocent or Bedlam Boy—I’m out. Understood?”
He put his hand, just the one, up in surrender. “Absolutely. What did you think? We’re not planning a hit. I just want to know more about them. Their history, their family, weaknesses, hobbies, friends. And Bedlam’s history while we’re at it. I got caught out with that Riot Royale thing. That’s not going to happen again.” Jeremy bore into me. “Unless that’s a problem?”
“No problem at all. Where do you want to start?”
JACQUES
Rainey burst into my room.
“Four.”
“Jacques.” She ducked between me and the desk, blocking the laptop. “The Crows, I think they’re going after you next.”
I grasped her hips and slid her out of the way. That done, I returned to my essay. Professor Valdez changed his ridiculous midterm topic. We now had twenty pages on a specific instance of society’s changing ethics influencing law. I suspect the inflation in pages was an attempt to punish me using his minuscule scrap of authority.
It was another in his long list of failures. I was enjoying myself researching the creation of child labor laws, child abuse protections, and minimum ages for entering into marriage. Essentially, there was a time when young people were essentially seen as small adults. The shift to viewing them as children with innocence to protect was relatively recent. And not a changing standard accepted into the Stone family.
“Have you started his paper yet?” I asked. “I’m curious which topic you chose.”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“I heard you say you’d tell everything you’ve been hiding, de Souza. Including what sent you running out of here and back, shouting about something I’ve known since Arsenio’s car caught fire. Start from the beginning, then I’ll decide if it’s worth closing my laptop.”
Sighing, she settled on the edge of my mattress.
“Jeremy called me out to his house. He’s in bad shape,” she said. “Looks like he went through a meat grinder, and he’s raging about it. I figured you guys wouldn’t want me anywhere near him after one of the Crows most likely pulled a gun. None of them admitted to it, by the way.”
I hummed, finishing up my last sentence on the marriage section.
“They grilled me, Jacques. They wouldn’t let me leave till I told them everything about you guys, from what you eat for breakfast to your favorite cologne. They were specifically interested in you.”
“Not a concern seeing as you know very little about me,” I said mildly.
“Don’t I?”
Rainey curled over my typing fingers. Pointedly, she lifted my hand, clearing the way to swing her leg over and straddle me. The screen blotted out as my vision beheld her soft waves, piercing eyes, and full, chapped, pink lips.
“I know you love chocolate but you’re rigid about how much of it you eat. A sweet tooth, but it, like everything else, does not get to control you. I know most people don’t understand you, and the effort they put into trying is the effort you give back. You’re okay with questions, curiosity, and discussions... but no one asks.
“I know you think your new little cousin is the most fascinating bundle of wonder you’ve ever seen. That she’s proof that no matter how much you know the world, it can still surprise you. I know you like comedies because they’re the twenty or forty minutes of the day you can shut your brain off, but you hide that because it wasn’t encouraged.”
Rainey stroked my stiffening jaw.
“At all times you had to be learning, pushing, striving to be and seen as the best. All those competitions and academic decathlons your parents entered you in when you were young. I dug up the articles. They were years where you did, and won, up to six events in a year. I don’t imagine that left you much time running in the park, skinning your knees with the other kids.
“I know your favorite color is blue. You’re ambidextrous. You love history, and you don’t have sex.”
My brow twitched—a half a millisecond movement, but she noticed.
“I’m not saying you won’t or never had sex, but”—her fingers trailed along my neck, tickling my collarbone—“even though you clearly enjoy me bare-assed in front of you, rocking back on your fingers as you whip me raw.”
My cock hardened—rising, as if seeking her to show just how much he enjoys it.
“You don’t take it further or let me return the favor because then I’d see something no one is supposed to see: Jacques Stone lose control.” Rainey kissed the corner of my mouth. “How many times after our morning spankings did you retreat to your room to masturbate?”
Every time.
“How many nights did you picture me on my knees, worshiping your cock like I do Legend’s? Playing your dirty little whore like I do for Arsenio? Indulging your every socially unapproved fantasy? Or extracting your mind-blowing orgasms on the point of pain?”
I clutched the chair arms to stop their shaking. Didn’t work.
Rainey vibrated on top of me, brushing against my dick. She moved slowly up and down, and my lips peeled back.
“I would do all of that and more for you, Jacques Stone, but I can’t until I’m someone you trust to see you lose control.” She kissed me, snarling and all. “I know that because I know you. So don’t tell me I don’t.”
Breathing hard, I got myself under control. Slowing my pulse. Balling and unballing my fists. Smoothing my expression. Bringing down the mask. When I trusted myself, I spoke.
“I underestimated you, so you punished me,” I said, glancing at the erection that would not be tamed as easily. “I apologize, de Souza. You know me—possibly better than anyone.”
Surprise flickered in her eyes. She wasn’t expecting me to admit it, but it’s a vain fool who doesn’t recognize he’s been bested, or in the presence of his match. As Rainey revealed, I was many things, but a fool was not one of them.
“Now that I know this, it is worth closing my laptop.” I brushed my lips over hers, catching her small gasp as melting chocolate on my tongue. “How much of that did you tell Ellis?”
“He wouldn’t let me leave until I gave him something.”
“Answer the question, de Souza.”
Rainey cupped my cheeks. “None of it,” she whispered. “I just told you that you won’t give yourself to me until I’m someone you trust absolutely. Why would I risk that for the likes of Jeremy Ellis and the Crows?”
“Hmm.” She was soft and sweet, peppering me with kisses—claiming my eyes, nose, cheeks, and lips. “I find myself growing attached to you.”
I could’ve been speaking about the weather, and I was. Rain had come into my life, washing away my bullshit to reveal the true man crouching beneath.
“I would not appreciate it if you left,” I said.
“Don’t.”
“I won’t, Jacques.” She rested in the crook of my neck. “I’m not going anywhere.”
We sat there for a long time, saying nothing. Doing nothing to someone looking in from the outside. But Rainey knew what was changing. As did I.
“If they have no usable information,” I spoke up, shifting her to the bed. “What has you concerned? They were always coming after me. What’s changed?”
“Riot Royale. Someone brought a gun and Crows were all standing there stone-faced when I asked if it was them. That I had to give them something damning, so I told them you barely sleep or eat, and you’re hooked on pills to help you stay awake studying,” she rushed out.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but this is one of those ‘he said, she said’ accusations that can’t be proven unless someone drug tests you. Jeremy can’t say I lied, and no one else can say... it’s... true. I thought this was... the best way...” Rainey trailed off as my guffaws reached deafening.
I clutched my stomach, tears leaking from my eyes—laughing louder than I had in years. “Gave me a pill addiction?” I wheezed. “And he bought it?”
She nodded, eyes wide.
“Guessing you did the s-same for Arsenio, Cairo, Legend, and Roan?”
“Um, yes.”
“I gotta hear this.”
“Cairo has a foot fetish. Snaps pictures of women’s feet when they’re not looking. Legend got a girl pregnant and their baby was put up for a closed adoption. Roan picked up a few communicable diseases. Arsenio and his mom are a little too close. He calls her mommy when he thinks no one is around.”
I stopped breathing, I was laughing so hard.
“So, you’re not mad?”
Shaking my head, I wiped my eyes. “Nah. You had to give them something. Might as well be unprovable bullshit.”
“That’s not it,” she continued. “He wanted to know about your parents. The judge, the mayor, the dean, Mr. St. James, the sheriff, and Nora Keller. Jeremy reminded me they were all influential in the community and the main opponents to the new town.”
“What did you tell them?”
“There wasn’t much to tell. Not more than people already knew. The divorce between Cairo’s parents was brutal and the sheriff wasn’t fully over it. The mayor doesn’t believe a negative word against her son, and Nora wants to rekindle her relationship with Cairo. Mr. St. James is a hard man to do business with and a bit of a cheapskate, but he did pay Gran for deliveries even if he argued about it first.
“For your mom, I told him you didn’t talk about her and I never met her, so there wasn’t anything to say. By that point, I wasn’t comfortable with how many questions they were asking about you.”
“I wouldn’t be concerned about my mother.” I straightened in my seat, regaining my composure. “Even in a small town like Bedlam, she’s had no shortages of threats made against her and two attacks on her life. She takes every precaution.”
“I have a bad feeling, Jacques. You didn’t see the look in his eyes.” She drifted over my shoulder. “I’m starting to become familiar with that look.”
“He’s not going to hurt my mother. My father moved to New York after I turned eighteen and they no longer had to pretend they loved each other for my sake. My cousin and her family live hours away. A rich man’s reach is long, so I will warn them to be on alert, but I doubt they will take their vendetta across town lines.”
“Okay,” she said, though I could tell she wasn’t convinced. “In the end, the plan we settled on was inviting your folks and other influential people in the community to a party with his father and other Foundry board members. All this secrecy and double plays in the dark, it doesn’t come off well and makes people distrust them right off the rip.
“If they came out in the open and talked about their plans for improving the lives of Bedlamites and bringing out positive change, they could lure people to their side without any more beatings.”
“That’s a good idea, de Souza. So good, it might work better than we want.”
She cringed. “I had to prove I was on their side. Give them an idea that would work on Bedlamites where no one would get hurt. This was the best I could come up with. They want to do it soon. Micah was on the phone to their dad before I left. Next weekend or the weekend after.”
“We’ll be ready.”
She got up to leave.
“You should get ready too,” I said, stopping her at the door. “I have a feeling soon I’ll lose control.”
Rainey spoke without turning around.
“Polygamy,” she said. “That’s the topic of my paper.”
She closed the door softly behind her.
Very, very soon.
RAINEY
I walked into Cairo’s room. He tossed me a grin in the middle of his phone conversation.
“She just came in, Mr. Gold. No, thank you.” He laughed raucously. “You too. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
Cairo held out my phone, his grin curling up. “Dear, the detective you’ve been cheating on me with is on the phone for you.”
I called my feet to move three times. Slowly, I approached and let him place the cell on my palm.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Rainey. Is now a good time?”
“Yes.” I turned my back on Cairo. “Is there any news?”
“I’m in that slow period of waiting for contacts to get back to me and searches to turn up information. I got a hold of Andrew Clein’s ex-wife, hoping she might give a clue to his current whereabouts. She faxed a list of places he might be, a few of them out of state. Walker Lewis I was able to find,” he said. “I asked what his connection was to Andrew Clein. He said he never heard of him and I wasn’t to bother him again. He hung up on me mid-sentence.”
“That’s a little weird, right?”
“Yes. It was oddly abrupt. I’ll try again in person,” Gold said. “Have him look me in the eye when he says he doesn’t know Clein.”
“What about Dante?”
“I hired a hacker buddy of mine to track his IP address and location. So far, the source is pinging all over the world. It’ll take some time to crack, but she’s confident she can.”
Hope soared. “That’s something. Actually, that’s everything. Dante is the Letter Man, Mr. Gold. I’m sure of it.”
“Then, we’re closer, Rainey. Stay strong, stay safe.”
“I will.”
“Before you go,” he said, stopping me ending the call. “The number you gave me for your sister is disconnected.”
My face fell.
“I tried looking her up by name, but it turns out there are a fair number of Ivy de Souzas in Chicago. Do you have any other means of contacting her? Name of her workplace would do.”
“No,” I said softly. “I can give you her old email address. She hasn’t responded to any I sent her, but you may have more luck. I have to go. Bye.”
I hung up quick lest he heard the tears clogging my throat. Ivy wanted rid of me so badly, she broke the final straw. I hadn’t tried calling her since she told me to get my own life. Now I know there wouldn’t have been a point.
“Rain.”
“I’m fine,” I said, swiping the back of my hand across my eyes. “I left my phone here and you picked up Gold’s call.”
“Had to know who was calling my girl.”
He was damned casual about it too. Leaning back on the headboard—his arms folded behind his head. I climbed on his lap.
“Did he tell you what he’s doing for me?”
“He said he was a private investigator. I put two and two together.”
“I’m not cheating on you with him. Though that’s an interesting way of putting it.” I took a deep breath and released it slow. “I got another letter.”
He dropped his arms, sitting up. “What? When? Where is it?”
“It’s in my backpack. Cairo, he knows what you told the police. About the man in the shiny black shoes. He knows and he put two and two together. I told you about him,” I said. “I broke the rules and he was already mad at me. He said I’m going to pay for it. The last time he said that, Bella d-died.”
My tenuous hold on control snapped. Wetness gushed down my cheeks. “I won’t let you be next, Cairo. Not you, Arsenio, Jacques, Legend, or Roan. I can’t do this alone, but I can’t do it with you guys either. Please understand.”
“I do understand.” Cairo grasped my chin between two fingers, drawing my forehead to his lips. My eyes fluttered shut as he kissed me. “I understand, and I’m tempted to count you down myself. Start you at ten instead of one like Jacques.”
“What?” I blinked up at him. “Why?”
“How many times I gotta say I can take care of myself? Even if I couldn’t, risking myself for you is my choice. What the fuck kind of person am I that I’d sit on my ass doing nothing when my blood wronged yours? Let alone let some sick fuck play games with you when the only sick fuck allowed to do that”—he thumped his chest—“is me.”
“Cairo,” I whispered.
“Don’t make me tell you again. The truth. All of it. Now.”
Smile tugging at my lips, I went to the bathroom, splashed water on my face, then went back to him. He didn’t interrupt while I told him what Gold found so far and the digging he was doing into the rest. I also told him about the trip to Westchester Youth Center, and Cavendish’s mentees.
“Walker Lewis,” he repeated. “I’ll see if my dad has a file on him.”
“Have you found anything in his files so far?”
He shook his head. “That’s why I didn’t say anything. The old man isn’t completely irresponsible. The important case files he brings home are kept locked in a safe. I haven’t been able to get the combination out of him—drunk or sober, so every night since you were arrested, I’ve tried all the combinations I can think of.”
“Do you think the file on my grandmother is in there? Maybe the autopsy report?”
“I saw inside once when he had it open and didn’t know I was home. There’s a lot of old files in there. I don’t know if it relates to you or your grandmother, but it’s worth a look.”
“Absolutely,” I said. “I could come with you tonight. Help.”
Cairo smirked. “Don’t know if I trust you around my old man.”
“I’m not going to kill him,” I snapped.
“Took a long time to say that, and you only did now that you want something.”
I grabbed hold of my temper, reminded it he was risking a lot to help me, and shoved it back down. “Cairo, please. Gran was... everything to me. She was there when Ivy and I had no one. She raised us to be strong and never give up, and in two years and so much pain, I haven’t. I won’t sit on my ass either. I need to be a part of this.”
He gave me a long, unreadable look. I didn’t know what he would say, but I was willing to fight if I didn’t like it.
“Fair enough. I won’t sideline you.”
My tension ebbed out.
“I’ll let you in after he’s in bed. You leave before he wakes up. No arguments. Agreed?”
“Yes.”
Cairo flipped me over, pulling a squeal from me. My pants and underwear were shortly around my ankles. A soft sigh escaped as two fingers slipped in.
“Where’d you get the money to pay Gold?”
At some point it was decided interrogations would come with orgasms. I was not mad about this.
“Jeremy. I pitched his car in the pool and got six thousand off him. A thousand for Gold and five for the new autopsy.”
He paused a second, then resumed his task. “When’s it happening?”
“Won’t be soon. I have to get a license and arrange transport. Plus find an examiner I can trust. Still, I have the money now. Some paperwork and a car is nothing to how helpless I was trying to raise that kind of money.”
“You might have heard Jacques has an in with a judge. Let him know if he can help speed up the process.”
“I will,” I said, sneaking a hand under his shirt. “I looked up Craig Brown. He goes to Bedlam U and he’s on the football team. Tomorrow I’m going to ask him what he knows about Cavendish and Blake Jensen. Want to come?”
“Divide and conquer. You got four names. You meet Craig Brown in a public place. Jacques, Arsenio, and I will get the others. Roan and Legend will look up their files.”
“Okay— Ah.” I spread my legs for easy access. “We’re close, Cairo. I can feel it. The Letter Man is out of time.”
THE NEXT MORNING, THEREwas a black letter in our mailbox.
Legend saw me through the window. Footsteps pounded the floor, then he was there. He tugged me inside, slammed and locked the door. We were both quiet as I opened it.
Hey, Angel.
I said a lot of things in my last letter. What can I say? You betraying me got me a little heated. I was all set to put Paris Keller in this letter. Order you to kill her peacefully, or I’d do it slow.
Choking, I shot up to Legend—eyes huge in horror.
“Keep reading,” he said gravely.
Then the Crows jumped you.
I admit, I was still fucking angry, but now it wasn’t at you.
No one gets to hurt you but me. This is our show, and I don’t like improv. Though, I was impressed with the lengths the Bedlam Boys went through to protect your honor. The punishment fit the crime, and although I couldn’t allow the Crows to leave Bedlam just yet, I decided the Bedlam Boys deserve a gift and you forgiveness for your error in judgment.
Wednesday morning at eight a.m., stand on the third step outside Bedlam Hall, looking out over Homer Green.
If you’re there, I’ll know you’re ready to put Verlice and Hope behind us, and start over. If not, gifts can always be returned.
Stay psycho.
Love ya, XOXO
Legend broke the silence. “What are you going to do?”
“What would you do?”
He looked me in the eye. “I’d be there Wednesday morning at eight a.m. Homer Green is swarmed by that time. You’ll be surrounded by people—one of them me. This doesn’t say you have to stand there alone.”
“Legend, this guy’s idea of a thank-you is—” Laying me on an unmarked grave surrounded by flowers.
“Is what?”
“Psychotic,” I finished. “Whatever this gift is, the only one who’ll like it is him.”
“He told you what the alternative is.”
I slumped against the door. “I know. He would’ve ordered me to kill Paris. Who is this guy?!” I burst out. “What does he want from me? Why won’t he say? At least Cavendish was clear from the beginning. It was him or Jennifer. This guy’s gonna dangle me on his hook till either one of us is dead!”
“Yeah, him,” Legend said, “and that’s coming soon, Rainey. I can promise you that.” He wound his fingers through my hair, soothing me though I didn’t want him to. “I’ll have Roan post double the security around Homer Green on Wednesday. What do you say?”
Unbidden, my head moved up and down. “I’ve seen what punishment is. I’d rather take my chances with a gift.”
I spent most of the morning in a fog. I walked in and out of class with blank note pages and wah wah wah where the memory of the lecture should be.
I didn’t take proper note of where I was till I looked up and saw the football field.
Craig Brown.
If there was anything important I had to do that day, this was it.
They practiced on Monday mornings. Dozens of padded-up guys running across the field to practicing cheerleaders and the onlookers who hung around for a taste of the glory.
The field was empty that morning. I headed to the locker room, crossing my fingers that they were gearing up and practice wasn’t canceled.
Voices and slammed lockers reached my ears. I found a spot on the wall as guys trickled out, loaded down with gym bags and gear. They weren’t in uniform. Didn’t look like there was practice that day but—
There he is.
Craig Brown came out laughing, slapping his friend on the back. “—be epic, man. Can’t wait. BU!”
“BU,” the team shouted.
Looking at him grown up and out of pictures, the gawky young teenager became a handsome, confident man. His coarse teddy-bear-brown hair shaved close to the scalp and an easy grin hung on his lips. I decided then that if Blake Jensen was an alias, it wasn’t his.
The Letter Man was dead inside. I had no doubt that when I finally laid eyes on him, the emptiness would shine through too strongly for a fake smile or forced laugh to hide. I would know that man when I saw him.
“Excuse me, Craig.”
He slowed down.
“Over here,” I called. “Do you have a minute?”
“Uhh. Just one.” He peeled away from his friends, loping over to me. “Do I know you?”
“No. I’m Rainey,” I said. “We haven’t met. I just had a quick question for you. Was Scott Cavendish your mentor at the youth center?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“I’m trying to track down one of his—”
“Craig.” His friends stopped at the entrance. “What are you doing? We have to go.”
“We have an away game,” he explained, taking a step back. “Bus is waiting.”
“Real quick. Did you know someone named Blake Jensen? Another one of Cavendish’s mentees?”
He brightened. “Yeah, I know Blake. Wasn’t with the center though. Just hung around after school and got tight with Scott. We all did. He was a great guy.”
Not so much of the great.
“Yo, Craig! Want to walk to New York?”
“I’m coming.” He faced me, walking backward. “That it?”
“Last thing.” I scrambled to get the photo out of my pack. “Blake. Is he in this photo? Point him out.”
“Blake’s not—”
“Craig,” the coach boomed. “On the bus. Now.”
“I really got to go. That’s Blake.” He jabbed a face in the pic and took off running after his teammates.
I spun it around, scrutinizing them.
Blake Jensen did exist, but he was one of the floaters the coordinator spoke about. Not signed up, but still joined in and got close to Scott Cavendish.
Is he the one I’m looking for? Blond hair, pointed nose, and pimply cheeks. Dye can change the hair and acne cream was doing wonders these days. The other features would’ve grown with him into a pleasantly attractive young college student who liked to smoke outside farmhouses and snatch women out of crowds.
I didn’t recognize that face, or know what to do with Roan’s word there wasn’t a Blake Jensen enrolled as a student or working at the university. That fact wouldn’t trip me up yet. The Letter Man was smart. Concealing his identity on campus clearly wasn’t hard by how easily he blended in with the mob.
Fishing out my phone, I called Cairo.
“You don’t need to meet up with the other mentees,” I said by way of hello. “Craig Brown backed up that there was a Blake and he was tight with Cavendish.”
“Know what he looks like?”
“He’s in the photo.”
“Then bring that ass back here. I need a midmorning fuck to get through the rest of the day.”
I rolled my eyes though my feet were already moving. “Something happen?”
“Yes. I’ve been invited to dinner tonight.”
CAIRO KEPT THE DETAILSto himself as he chased me through the house, tackled me on the stairs, and fucked me raw where I fell. He didn’t have much to say when he returned that night either.
I sat at his desk, working on my midterm paper for Professor Valdez.
Cairo came in and picked up my backpack for me.
“Bring the laptop,” he said. “You’ll wait in the car until I come get you.”
“Do you want to talk about...?”
His steely expression silenced me.
I followed him out to the car. We were quiet for most of the drive to his father’s house—a route I knew well. As the bungalow loomed in the distance, I spoke.
“You’ll tell me everything one day,” I said. “All your secrets, hopes, fears, and worst sins. You’ll pour it all into me, knowing the woman who can handle all that is you, is me. One day, you will, Cairo, and I can wait. But there is something you’re going to tell me tonight. Right now. And if you don’t, it’ll change everything between us.”
He killed the engine in the driveway. Cairo pocketed the keys, but didn’t get out. He waited.
“My grandmother was harassed, threatened, and ultimately murdered because there’s something about my farm that’s worth killing for. Is what makes de Souza farm special, the same secret of this town?”
Cairo didn’t speak for a long spell.
“Cairo, you understand that if you know why my grandmother was killed and you keep it from me—” My throat tightened. “There’s nothing worse you could do.”
“I know,” he rasped.
“Then don’t do this to us. I don’t need the details, or the history, or to know who ‘she’ is. This is about Gran. Why did she have to die?”
Expelling a long breath, for the barest second, the feral light in my beast went out. “I can’t be sure about your farm, but if I were to stack the odds, they’d swing heavy one way. The farm’s secret is all of Bedlam’s secret.”
“Wha—?”
He spun on me. “You need to understand something. People have died for knowing this, and others have killed for it. Our grandparents and their grandparents went to their grave with the promise of Bedlam forever being the random dot on the map with the weird name. If anyone knew, all this goes away. And Foundry is doing their best to make that happen.
“You will not repeat what I’m about to tell you to anyone for any reason. As far as we’re concerned, as soon as we get out of this car, this conversation didn’t happen.”
“I understand, baby. Please, just tell me.”
He reached for me, stopped short, and dropped his hand.
“There’s only one reason someone would come for your grandmother’s land as aggressively as AgriProspects did.
“In Bedlam,” he began, “the town that used to be Crystal Canyon, there are diamonds.”
I sat there long after he left, my sobs the only sound breaking the silence.