Jaden by Tijan

CHAPTER TWELVE

When I awoke, Corrigan wasn’t beside me. I frowned. The bed felt vacant, but I had slept with him for so many nights before, when I only wanted to be held and comforted.

Knock, knock.

I lifted my head at the door. That’s what had awoken me.

Knock, knock.

It came again. Sitting up in bed, I gazed around, saw the darkness outside the window and wondered how long I had been sleeping.

“Sheldon?”

It was Bryce. Hurrying to the door, I opened it, but looked around behind me. Was Corrigan in the bathroom? Should it matter? But it did. Bryce had lifted his hand for another knock. He lowered it, his eyes penetrating mine as he asked, so soft and so damn tenderly, “You okay?”

Normally I would lie. “No.” I didn’t this time.

He nodded, his face clouded with concern and wariness. He cleared his throat. “Is Corrigan with you?”

My eyes flung back to him. He knew. I swallowed back a small amount of guilt, raking my fingers through my hair. “He was. I—” How did I put this? How could I explain it? “I needed someone and—”

Bryce nodded, finishing for me, “I know.”

I hadn’t asked for him. That unspoken message seemed to hang between us, and I felt how heavy the atmosphere turned. Shit. I caught the hurt in his eyes. I reached out, again not thinking, and touched his arm. He didn’t move back, but he didn’t take my hand in his. I hadn’t wanted him to. I just wanted to reassure him. So I said, “Corrigan’s been there for me. You know this. After Marcus—” I stumbled on my words. My cheeks flushed. What was wrong with me?

“Sheldon,” Bryce squeezed my hand, lifting it from his arm, but he let it go. It fell back to my side. “I understand. I really do.”

Did he? He didn’t think he was needed. I read that thought and surged across the space between us, or I started to. I stopped. Fear slammed me back.

I was scared of reaching out to Bryce. I was scared of comforting him, of telling him . . . what? I had no idea. I finally just admitted, “I want to come to you. I do, but my feelings are locked inside me. Corrigan’s always been there for me. I’m not saying you haven’t, except about Guadalupe, but that’s partly me. I pushed you away. I left you for him. Screwing another girl, I can’t really get mad at you for that, but . . .”

“Sheldon,” he started again, pointing down the hallway.

“I’m sorry.” I needed to feel vulnerable. I needed to peel open my doors and let whatever happened happen, but that’s what I was fighting against. Not Bryce. Just whatever would happen when I did that.

I didn’t want to feel vulnerable. That’sallI was now.

“Hey.” He stepped closer. His tone turned soothing and he cupped the side of my face. His thumb rested on my cheek, and a tender smile looked back down at me.

God. My chest filled. The tenderness there was loving. My pulse started to pick up, and I was struggling to stand still. I felt my knees starting to knock against each other. His hand was holding me in place. My entire body snapped to attention at that small touch from him. Without thinking or realizing, I lifted a hand to rest over his own, but his words were a slap to me.

“The police are here.”

“Oh.” My hand thumped back to my side, and I retreated back to my room, moving from his shelter. I looked, as if they would be coming up the hallway, coming to arrest me once again. “Where?”

“At the front door. The hotel thing. They’re pissed.”

“Why? I didn’t violate anything.”

He lifted a shoulder, frowning darkly. “Who knows, but they’re here, and they’re pissed. I guess your dad was supposed to have informed them when we left his house and came here, but he didn’t.”

Police were a pain in my ass on a normal day. Pissed police were going to be a fucking hangover that could never be nursed away.

I groaned, my faculties quickly coming back to me. I needed to fight.Get it together, Sheldon.I needed to be clear, calm, and rational when I went down there. They were the enemy now. I’d have to fight. I always had to fight.

“Okay. I’m ready.”

“You sure?”

I nodded. “Let’s go.” I gritted my teeth. Bryce started forward, and I followed, shutting my door. As we went downstairs and back to the front entrance, déjà vu came over me. I’d just been there. The same group had been there, with the same concerned and angry expressions. Skimming a quick eye over them, there was no Mena this time. The two detectives who had interrogated me had hostile looks on their faces.

Okay.

I stopped and turned toward them. “Defectives.” It was game on.

The woman rolled her eyes, then rested her hands on her hips. The ends of her suit jacket were pushed back from the motion, her badge and gun were clipped to her hip. She wore a buttoned-down shirt, tucked inside her jeans that showed off her trim figure. She didn’t look the hostile mess she’d been at the police station. Her hair had been in a messy bun, the ends loose, but this time her hair was swept into a pristine-looking bun, clipped at the base of her skull. She looked the epitome of a professional, then I caught the sideways glance at Denton, and her lips pressed together for a split second.

“Denton Steele was a witness as well.” She sighed. “I’d like to get his witness testimony.”

Her words came back to me from the interrogation room. I had thought it was a manipulation to get me to talk, but maybe not. As her gaze lingered on the movie star, she pressed her hand against the side of her head, making sure her hair was in place.

I grunted. A smart-ass comment was on the tip of my tongue, but I caught Bryce’s look. His eyebrows shot up and the message was received. He had caught the look too and he was right, I swallowed my comment.

Her eyes narrowed, then when I kept my mouth shut, she said, “We’re not here for a fight, but we are here for some extra measures.”

“Extra measures?” My dad materialized from behind me. As he moved in front of me, he held Beth’s hand in his behind his back. She paused next to me and glanced sideways at me. My dad cleared his throat. “What are you talking about?”

Officer Molls shifted so she was facing my dad squarely. “Your daughter was supposed to notify of us of her whereabouts.”

“She did.” My dad amended, “My lawyers did when they posted her bail, and we notified you about why we moved to this home.”

“Yeah. They did.” The female detective shifted so she could see me around him. “But Sheldon’s not a normal suspect. She’s out, but pending house arrest.”

“This is ridiculous. She’s not been found guilty ye—” Neil bit back what he’d been about to say.

Yet.

She’s not been found guilty yet. That’s what he’d been about to say. At that understanding, I moved back a step. My dad thought I was guilty. I crossed my arms over my chest. That meant he thought I had done it—I had killed Grace.

My throat burned.

My own father didn’t believe in me.

Bryce stepped close to me. He didn’t reach out and touch me, but the back of my elbow rested against his chest. It was his way of being there for me and I closed my eyes, feeling him move in even more. I drew in his strength.

Corrigan came to my other side. They were both flanking me, showing their support for me, then we heard Denton speak. All three of us looked at the same time.

Denton said, “What do you mean ‘pending house arrest,’ officer?” He moved closer, cutting off my dad as he’d been about to speak again, and as I watched him, Denton transformed into his movie star persona. His eyes squinted slightly, becoming darker and beckoning. His head lifted so it was at a seductive slant, and the corners of his mouth curved up in an alluring grin.

In that one second, he had gone from my childhood neighbor to the guy who graced billboards all across the nation.

And it worked.

Detective Molls’ chest rose and held still. Her eyes widened and her lips parted. Then her cheeks reddened and her hand lifted back up to flatten her hair against her head. It stayed there, as if holding the side of her head and she seemed paralyzed, gazing into Denton’s eyes for a moment.

“Molls,” her partner rasped out. He snapped his fingers, drawing his partner’s attention back to the room.

“What?” She jerked backward, breaking her gaze from Denton to look around the group. Her voice was hoarse. “Huh?”

Denton’s grin grew, becoming even more mesmerizing.

Her gaze skirted back to him and she swallowed. “Um.” Her hand fell back to her side, flattening over her badge.

I narrowed my eyes, wondering if that was a nervous tick. She touched her badge when she was nervous? No. She was still looking at Denton, like she couldn’t turn away. She was off-balance. She was star struck; that’s what she was. He had stripped away her control.

“Get ahold of yourself, Molls.” Her partner moved so he was standing in front of her, addressing the group. The same no-nonsense attitude he had at the police station was with him again. His eyes snapped to mine and he narrowed them, lifting a package that he’d been holding in his hand. “You get an ankle monitor, Princess.”

I started to surge forward. To be honest, I wasn’t sure which pissed me off first. The babysitting bracelet or the fact he called mePrincess. I snarled. I’d show him a princess, and my hand formed into a fist, lifting to swing.

“Oh whoa.” Bryce grabbed me by the hip and pulled me backward.

“Shit.” Corrigan saw it, too.

Both of them came together in front of me, like two ends of a curtain closing in one brisk movement.

“What?”

Bryce spoke loudly, “How does that work?”

“This?”

“The ankle monitor, yes.” Bryce’s elbow nudged Corrigan.

“Yeah,” Corrigan added. “Like does she only have so many feet to go or what? You said she’s under house arrest. Is that legal? She’s not been convicted. Isn’t that when that punishment happens?”

The male detective’s voice was strained, tense. “Not that I have to explain the actions of our judicial system, but she’s not technically under house arrest. She will,” his voice grew clearer, and I could tell he was moving toward me, “need to wear this so we know where she is at all times.”

Bryce and Corrigan held firm.

The guy stopped right in front of them, then he said in a low warning, “Move aside, gentlemen.”

“It’s fine, you guys.” I touched both of them on the back. They moved aside, but only after another moment of standing guard for me.

As they did, the male detective raked a hard eye over me before he knelt at my feet. I lifted my pant leg, and he put the ankle monitor on me. Just like that, no big fuss, and I was tagged like an animal. I glanced down, lifting my ankle so I could see it better.

I was a walking GPS alert now. This was awesome. I groaned. “Can I shower with this thing?”

“Nope.” He hoisted himself back up. There was no sympathy on his face at all. “Stick the leg out and wrap it with a bag if you don’t want to get electrocuted or have the police department at your house. There are no alerts set if you wander out of the house. You can go about as much as you want, which I doubt is much since everyone and their long-lost aunt knows you’re The Queen Bee Killer, but whatever rocks your boat. Just know we can always find you now.” He smiled a very nice fuck-off sort of smile, and he winked. “Have a good day, now.”

Sliding past Bryce and Corrigan, he gave them both a once-over, then looked to Denton. He was thinking something. I could see it on his face, but all he did was grunt and shake his head. Then he murmured, back at the door, “Come on, Molls. I’ve got a handkerchief in the car for your drool.”

She sucked her breath in, it was such a slight sound that it was barely heard, and she hurried after him. Her voice carried back to us as she said, “I wasn’t—”

Corrigan burst out, “Who the fuck cares?” And took two steps to close the door, letting it slam shut by itself. He gave it a mock salute and then flipped his hand around so his middle finger was extended. “Good day to you, police dicks.”

“Well.” My dad looked around, his eyebrows raised high. “That was . . . unexpected.”

My scowl deepened. “I can’t shower. ‘Unexpected’ is not a term I would use to describe this visit.”

“Fuckheads.” Corrigan slid his hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders. “That’s the term I would use.”

My dad sighed. “Well, I can’t say that I’m not a little grateful. Sheldon, with that monitor, if there are any more murders, they’ll know where you were or where you weren’t. This could help in the case.”

“That’s lovely.” I gave him two thumbs-up. “Here’s hoping someone else will die now.”

“Sheldon,” he said quietly.

Beth spoke over him, resting her hand on his arm, “Your father’s just worried. That’s all.” Giving his arm a squeeze, she held her chin high, and left for the kitchen. As she did, the back of her silk robe swayed back and forth behind her. Then I noticed the rest. They were all in their pajamas, somewhat.

Corrigan was wearing grey sweats and a plain white shirt. Bryce had on black sport pants and a grey shirt, while the movie star had on oversized blue scrub pants . . . and no shirt. I wolf-whistled. “I must be really out of it not to notice that.”

His eyebrows bunched together. “Notice what?”

I waved a hand up and down. “It’s a Monet of muscles, the six-pack, pectorals, it’s just . . .” I pretended to kiss the air. “A masterpiece.”

He rolled his eyes. “Nothing you haven’t seen.” He smirked. “Twice.”

I shot back, “I don’t remember any clothing being taken off for the second round.” Then I winced and realized the stoic expressions on both Bryce and Corrigan’s face. “Uh . . .”

“Shut it.” Bryce smirked. “You’ve seen me naked the most here—” He halted as Corrigan abruptly swung around and left, heading down a hallway. “Uh. Never mind. Enjoy Denton’s masterpiece all you want.”

I pressed my lips together. There was another comeback there, a crude joke just asking to be told, but I kept quiet. There’d been a time when Corrigan would’ve said it for me. He would’ve winked, and delivered a better joke than I could ever think of, and he’d follow it up with pinching my ass.

Not this Corrigan.

I watched as he kept walking away. This Corrigan was tense, quiet, moody, and dark. His shoulders were rigid and his head was bent forward. As he turned to go to the bedroom, I caught his side profile. His dark blond hair fell over his forehead. His jaw was hard, and his anger emanated from him.

I felt a little tingle inside me.

“Sheldon?”

Bryce distracted me. “Huh?”

He frowned, rubbing at the side of his face. “Do you want someone upstairs with you? I know Corrigan was there earlier?”

“No.” That word ripped from me quicker than I could stop it. “I mean, no. Thank you, though. I’m awake. I’ll probably go watch a movie alone or something.”

“You sure?”

I nodded. “Yeah.” That damn tingle was bothering me, more than I wanted to admit. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay.”

He lifted a hand and headed toward where Corrigan had gone. As he did, Denton swung his head to me. “Wanna get drunk by the pool?”

I groaned. “God, yes.”

“See you out there. I’ll go get the good stuff.”

“That’s why we’re friends.” I laughed.

Denton started for the basement, but looked back. “For my wine?”

“That and this.” I waved my hand up and down at him. “If I’m Princess, then I’m just going to call you Superstar. How’s that? Or maybe Super Stud? Celebrity? What about Movie Stud? I like that one.”

“Har-har, Sheldon.” His voice trailed off as he descended the stairs. “Mock me if you want to, but I can tell when you’re still hot and bothered. Don’t deny it . . .”

He had moved farther inside the basement so it was just me left in the front entrance. Me, myself, and I. Denton’s words echoed in my head. ‘Don’t deny it.’ I groaned again. I wanted to deny it. I wanted to deny it so damn much.

That tingle was still with me, and an image of Bryce holding the side of my head at my door kept flashing in my mind at the same time.

Hell. Getting drunk wasn’t going to do it. I’d have to be drinking all night long, and with that thought, I headed to my room for a sweatshirt. I’d need it if we were going to be drinking until sun-up.

When I got back downstairs, Denton was sitting on one of the loungers by the pool. Stepping outside, the cool air hit me first. It was a fresh wave of oxygen and for a moment, I just stopped, closed my eyes, and breathed it in. It was dark out, but the moon was high above. Its reflection was mirrored in the pool. When I went over to sit in the lounger next to Denton, there was a wine bottle on the floor between them.

Chuckling softly, I sat and grabbed that thing. Hello. It was the good stuff. Denton always had the best of the best. When I finished taking a drink, Denton was watching me with an amused grin. I asked, still clutching the bottle, “What?”

He shook his head, still grinning. “Nothing.”

I held the bottle to him. “I see wine, and I grab. It’s as simple as that.” Waving it at him, I smirked back. “You should know this by now.”

“I do.” He reached down on the other side of his lounger and pulled up another bottle. “I brought red out for you. The white stuff is for me.”

“Oh.” Then I laughed. “You do know me.”

“Very well, Sheldon.” His tone turned soft, and he gazed back out over the pool.

We were alone in the backyard. I couldn’t say we were alone in privacy, I had a feeling someone was watching us from the house, but for right now, it was just the two of us by the pool. Speaking of that, I murmured, leaning back in the lounger and getting comfortable with the bottle, “What is your sister doing back here?”

I didn’t want to talk about the ankle monitor, or anything else regarding my current legal predicament. As I said that, a shiver went down my spine. I had a feeling one of those prying eyes was hers, watching from some window above us.

Denton let out a loud sigh. “I have no idea.” He looked down into the bottle, frowning. “She wants to start new, and she’s doing well. What kind of brother am I to turn her away?”

I straightened in my seat, sitting forward. This was a different Denton. Years earlier, he would’ve barked at me for asking that question. He was protective, too protective at times, but there’d been a reason. Mena was mental. True blue crazy. She needed meds. She needed supervision. She’d been in a residential program for a long time.

“Do I need to worry about Corrigan and Bryce?” He glanced up to me. Still frowning. I had a feeling Denton would be frowning from here on out. Mena had that effect on people.

“You know they don’t like her. I don’t think they ever will, and now that we’re all under the same roof . . .” I let that sentence hang between us for a minute. Truth be told, I had no idea what either of them would do. Bryce hated Mena with a passion in high school, and Corrigan seemed to feel the same now. I lifted a shoulder up, but I didn’t let it drop. I didn’t know if I should shrug this off or not. “I think they’re just protective of me.” And after a moment’s consideration, I added, “Really protective of me. If Mena doesn’t do anything, things will be fine.”

Denton grunted, stretching out his leg on the lounger. “Then I have no clue what to do. My sister’s asked about you a lot over the years. I know things ended weirdly with you two, but you reached out to her in high school. That’s stayed with her. I think over the years you became some kind of hero to her. She wants a friendship with you.”

I let out a deep sigh. “I liked Mena. Bryce and Corrigan didn’t, but I did. Then she turned crazy and . . .” I had to stop for a moment as the history crashed down on me. The last time I saw her had been at my party. She had screamed at Denton that night,“You didn’t want me to be friends with her because she was yours! You just didn’t want to share her.”

“Grace visited her.”

Denton looked over to me. He nodded. “She did. Mena always asked how you were doing through Grace.”

Another friend turned enemy. No, that’s not right either. She apologized. She’d been remorseful, but I refused to accept her apology. I had turned my back on her, then she was murdered. My eyes were becoming itchy so I wiped at them, saying, “Grace didn’t deserve what happened to her, whoever did kill her.”

“I know Grace got caught up in being accepted at college, but before that and even during that, she kept visiting Mena.”

“She did?” I knew she had gone before that. “She kept going? During the year?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Mena’s staff told me that they noticed my sister did better after those visits, too.”

“That’s good. Grace would’ve been happy hearing that.”

“She’s here for school.” His tone dipped down to a serious undertone. “I told her you were staying here when she asked to live with me, and she was okay with it. I told her about the whole group too, and she never hesitated so I really think she’ll be fine this time. She’s reassured me that she’s here for school and no drama.” There was a hesitation in his voice. “I hope that’s true.”

Remembering how it had hurt him the last time when he needed to send her away, I reached over and squeezed his hand. “She stood up to Bryce and Corrigan. We’re not the complete assholes we were in high school, but they were still harsh there. She held her ground. If she could handle them, I have no doubt she’ll be just fine at college.”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, and he gave me a shaky grin. “That’s what I’m hoping for. I hope everything will be fine. Our parents are a joke. My dad’s always hated her. Our mom’s never had the time for her. She’s only got me.”

Feeling moved by what he was saying I squeezed his hand again. “And me.” On second thought. “If she wants me. She might not want me, being that I’m a hated murderer and everything.”

Denton chuckled, lifting the wine bottle for a sip. “For some reason, Mena’s always unfazed by the media stuff. Even with me, there’s a new girl at my side in the magazines every other week, but she’ll still ask about my love life like she’s got no clue.”

“Maybe she doesn’t?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I pay for her subscriptions. She got all of the magazines. She wanted them. At first, I wasn’t sure if I should let her have them. I didn’t know if it would add to her stress, but the staff told me she seemed fine. Her psychologist explained it seemed to be an added connection she had to me. Even if she was home with them, and I was across the country, it still made her feel like she saw me every day. So I let her have them, but she’s never once mentioned them to me or asked any questions about anything the magazines have said. To her, I’m just Denton as usual.”

“You’re her brother. She knows you’ll never leave her, and you never have.”

He whispered, closing his eyes, “But I wanted to once.”

I stopped, shocked at his admission. Denton had only been protective, loving toward Mena’s stability. That’s all I had ever seen from him.

He added, his throat full of choked emotion, “There was a time when I thought about walking, and I feel horrible saying that now. She’s my sister. I have to be at her side for the rest of her life.”

“Denton.” I reached for his leg and rested my hand there. “You’re not a brother to her. You’re her parent. Wanting a vacation from that responsibility is normal, I think. Hell,” I grunted. “I don’t think I would’ve been half as nice as you. With the bitch that I can be, I would’ve kicked her to the streets and had her learn that lesson to grow up.”

Denton laughed. “Something tells me that Mena would’ve been just as fine out there.”

“Yeah.” A grin escaped me. “Your sister is tough. That’s for sure.”

“She is.” Then he shook his head and lifted a hand in a helpless gesture. “What am I doing? Worrying about my sister when I know she’s tough. She can handle anything. You’re right. Even if she goes off the rails a little, she has a spine of steel. She always has, as far back as I can remember.”

I nodded. “If you think about it, she must be doing something right. Even if the guys bark loud, I know she’s got Bryce and Corrigan scared. That must say something.”

He laughed, then tipped his head back and finished the rest of his wine. I assumed he would stop after a few sips. I didn’t think there was much left, but as he kept drinking and kept holding that bottle up, my eyebrows lifted. He drank almost half the bottle at once.

I whistled in appreciation. “Where were you when I learned to chug beer for the first time? That would’ve gotten us in trouble.”

He closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifted in a slight laugh. “I was here, Sheldon. Always here.” One of his eyes opened, and he peeked at me. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you were hardcore with Bryce at that moment.”

I barked out a laugh. “You’re right. That was in the beginning when we were too scared to be together. We screwed, then fought, and screwed someone else, then fought again before screwing each other. Shit. We were messed up back then.”

“No.” Denton’s eyes were still closed as his head moved from side to side, resting back against the lounger. “You were messed up. I remember it in detail. Bryce loved you and wanted you. You were the scared one.”

“Yeah.” I couldn’t hold back a grimace. “I was really dumb sometimes.”

“You were lost,” he noted, almost to himself. “Your mom’s a piece of shit, and your dad, well…” His arm lifted, gesturing to the house. Then it landed back down with a thud. “He basically abandoned you back then. Kinda nice to have him back, though, huh?”

I shrugged, turning so I was facing forward. My gaze lingered on the pool, being drawn in by the depths of it. “We’ll see on that count. The jury’s still out for now.”

“No, no.” He was shaking his head. I caught the movement from the corner of my eye. “No jury. No court talk. None of that. Your dad is here, that’s something. Our dad won’t have anything to do with us, well, with Mena. He’ll talk to me as long as I don’t bring her up. How’s that for father of the year, huh? Now that’s screwed up too. It’s no wonder my sister’s had some problems. She’s had to deal with him as a parent.”

“Yeah,” I echoed, softly. “You’re right.” And because I couldn’t help myself, the feeling of being watched was too much, I glanced up to the house.

There she was. Standing in her window on the second floor, right above where Denton had me sleeping, stood Mena. Our eyes caught and held for a second, then her hands went to the curtains, and she pulled them shut in front of her.

I had a feeling she still stood there, able to see through them, though.

I waited, holding my breath, and a moment later, a shadow moved away from the window. I’d been right. She had been watching us the whole time, but her window was shut. She couldn’t have heard us. I didn’t think so.

*

“No way in hell!”

Corrigan’s voice woke me the next morning. As I dragged myself out of bed, quickly dressing and brushing my teeth, I continued to hear his raised voice. There were others, but I couldn’t make out what was being said. When I got to the kitchen, Corrigan was standing against the wall. He was shaking his head, his jaw was clenched shut, and his arms were folded over his chest. He said again as I stopped in the doorway, “No. No way. I’m not leaving.”

“Who said you had to go?” I asked, combing my fingers through my hair. I’d thrown a shirt on and sweats, but I grimaced now as I looked down at what I was really wearing. The shirt was almost see-through so my bra was noticeable, and my pants stuck like glue to me. Then I stopped caring. I was hiding from the public. Who cares what I looked like behind these walls? I shrugged to myself and went to take a seat at the table.

Mena was at one end, eating a piece of toast with a glass of orange juice. Bryce was at the coffee pot and Denton was standing in between. He turned to me. “I did. Mena’s going to college today. I asked if Corrigan would take her—”

I sucked in my breath and grimaced. “Do you have a death wish?” I shook my head. We’d talked about Corrigan and Bryce hating Mena last night. He wants to put them in a car with her now? “You’re nutso, Denton.”

“Thank you.” Corrigan threw his hands in the air. “See? I’m not taking her to college. I’m not riding in a car with her. I’ve covered myself. All my professors know I’m doing online learning this semester. Why would I go back to campus now?”

“Because my sister’s going, and I need someone to watch her!” Denton’s voice rose to equal Corrigan’s. The two were involved in a standoff, both glaring at each other.

I held a hand up. “Wait. Hold on. Why does Mena need someone to watch her?”

“Exactly. Thank you again,” Corrigan huffed.

Bryce was keeping quiet, but he was watching the exchange intently.

“I need someone to watch her and make sure everything is fine.” Denton rubbed at his forehead. “I need to know everything is okay with her. I just… I can’t go. I would’ve asked Sheldon, but obviously she can’t go either and Bryce,” he lifted a hand to him, “he doesn’t go to college. That leaves you, Corrigan. Please. One day. That’s all I’m asking for.”

If Corrigan could’ve killed him with a look, Denton would’ve been dead three times over by now. Corrigan’s eyes were almost bulging out, his lips pressed tight together. Then he muttered, “I can’t fucking believe this.”

“Maybe it’s not such a bad idea.”

All eyes went straight to Bryce, who held his hands up in a surrendering motion. “Don’t kill me. Just hear me out, but maybe it’s not a bad idea.” His gaze fell to me, lingering for a moment. “You can ask around to see if there are any new rumors about who killed Grace. I have a hard time imagining her sorority has kept quiet. I bet they might know something.”

“Oh my god,” Corrigan mumbled to himself. “You were my ally, Bryce.”

“I still am, but think about it.” Bryce stepped away from the counter. He glanced to me again. “I’m thinking about Sheldon. I mean, that’s why we came back to town. We wanted to find something out. After our stint at the hotel, maybe something’s come up. We can’t find out holed up in this house.” His tone was soft, so soft. “You can be our eyes and ears now.”

“Do you know how awkward it will be, just showing up on campus? The media’s going to be called. The only ones I know who won’t betray me are my frat brothers.”

“So go to them,” I spoke up. I couldn’t believe I was agreeing with sending Corrigan along with Mena, but—

“Bryce is right. Go there. Have them ask around for you, that’s considering they agree with you and think I’ve been framed.”

“They do. They told me right away when you were taken in. They said if I needed anything, not to hesitate.”

“There you go then. Ask them now. Have them scout around campus for you.”

“I could just call to do that,” Corrigan grumbled, shooting Mena a dark look. “I don’t have to drive to campus to get that done.”

“Just go.”

Corrigan sent Bryce a withering look. “You go.”

Bryce sighed, rolling his eyes before he turned back to the coffee pot. Filling his cup, he came over to the table and slid into a chair beside mine. “It doesn’t hurt to have eyes and ears on campus. You know we’re right.”

“Screw all of you,” Corrigan burst out.

He was going. We all saw it then, and Bryce relaxed next to me. I said, “Just ask questions. Don’t do anything stupid when you’re there.”

Corrigan rolled his eyes. “I will probably have an hour before someone calls the press. People are going to be taking pictures of me, just to sell them to those tabloids.” His gaze locked with mine. “You know I’m going to be harassed like crazy when word gets out I’m on campus.”

“So go in disguise.”

Corrigan froze. Denton whipped around. Bryce sucked in a breath, and I lifted my own eyes. All four of us turned at the same time to Mena, who had just spoken. She bit her lip at the sudden attention, but shrugged one of her dainty shoulders. She said again, “Go in disguise. Isn’t that what you guys did for the hotel? You snuck in just fine. No one knew you were there, at first.”

Denton looked around. “You could, you know. I could do a different disguise, or I could call in my makeup girl. She could change your ethnicity if you wanted.”

“That is an option,” Bryce added. “Even if we already used disguises, that’s the thing with them. You can change them, and people won’t know.”

Corrigan grumbled, knowing he had lost. When he finally agreed, I was still watching Mena. She flushed, ducking her head down as she continued eating her toast, but she was right. Denton had a makeup girl. If she could make Corrigan a different ethnicity, she could do the same to me. Then my ankle monitor suddenly felt like it gained thirty pounds. It was weighing me down.

But if I could get it off, if I needed to for some reason, I could disguise myself. That thought was tucked to the back of my mind.

If I could get it off, if I ever had to get it off.

I didn’t want to think about that time, for what reason that could be, and I took Bryce’s coffee from his hand and gulped half of it down.

“Sheldon! That’s hot.”

I didn’t feel it and pushed it back over to him. “Thanks.” Then I left and went back to my room. Denton was in the hallway on the phone. As I passed him, I heard him say, “Hi, Monica? Yeah, can you come over with your makeup kit? I have a favor to ask.”

I shut my bedroom door and leaned against it, closing my eyes. Sliding down to the floor, I sat there. My elbows rested on my knees, and I rested my head in my hands.

I needed a moment, just a moment.

A sense of dread like I had never experienced stirred in me. It was filling me up and somehow, someway, I knew there’d be a time when I would have to get the ankle monitor off.

That was when I knew—the killer was coming to me.