Page 222 of The Forbidden Note

Shouts erupt from outside.

Dad’s goons see that I have him against the window and rush to unlock the door so they can help him. I pounce on the opportunity, throw my door open and rush through the desert.

I have to stop this.

I have to get to Grey.

CHAPTERFIFTY-SIX

GREY

I’m uneasy the entire time I’m giving the speech.

Something’s off.

Wrong.

I can feel it in the pit of my stomach.

A bunch of mikes are shoved in front of me, balanced on the podium. Cameras from the news reporters, from the very networks that rejected my story six years ago, hover around me.

Here to pick apart my story.

Vultures on a carcass.

Rats on a dead body.

There’s a foreboding feeling gnawing, growing, preparing to explode.

I’m fine.

This is the truth.

Harris is one name I can cross off my list for revenge, but why does it feel like I’m trading the bass on the hook for a tiny tadpole?

“Miss Jamieson?” One of the reporters squints at me. “Was Principal Harris the only one involved in the Redwood corruption?”

I grip the edges of the podium so tight, my knuckles go from brown to white. The security guards stand at attention. Black sunglasses. Black shirts. Army pants. They’re all intimidating and silent, forming a fence around me.

Even with their protection, the lump in my throat grows, and with each word I say, the feeling that I’m making the wrong choice gets worse.

Jarod Cross made this happen.

I should be grateful.

And yet, it feels like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.

As the silence lengthens, I remember our conversation last night.

* * *

“You said you want me to believe in you.” I approach Jarod while mom is in the shower getting ready for bed. “Prove it.”

“I’ll help you in any way I can.”

The Kings are cutting me loose. It was all over their faces when they came back from their little meeting in the kitchen. I’ve faced rejection during my six years of investigating Sloane’s case enough to know when I’m being dismissed.

Jarod Cross takes my silence for hesitation.