Page 57 of Brutal Little Secrets

“Who?” Hawk asks.

“Jackson Riordan.” I wait while they absorb that. Neither of them likes the asshole.

“She thinks these are from him?” Hawk looks like he’s trying to figure it out.

“She said it could be anyone, but yeah, there was real fear in her eyes when she talked about him.” I hate Chase Chadwick and think he’s an overprivileged dick who needs to be brought down a few notches, but Jackson is different. He’s not from privilege. He’s talented and eager to escape his circumstances in life. It makes him more aggressive in a lot of ways. Willing to do anything to climb out of his situation. But it also makes him take what he wants.

“He was looking at her when he asked about the blond at the game.” Hawk glances at Cam. “I knew he wasn’t interested in Mia. Maybe it’s intuition, but I can believe these are from him.”

“He approached Mia and Evan at the football game.” Cam runs his hand through his hair. “Fuck. What are we dealing with here?”

“He wants what’s ours.” I won’t let her go. I can’t.

“He doesn’t know that. But if he’s been watching her, he might have an idea. Fuck.” Hawk leans back against the wall and puts his hands in his pockets. “Saying she’s ours would put targets on her here, but it might protect her from him.”

“Or our claiming her in public might make him more eager to claim her.” Cam shakes his head. “He always wanted what Damon had.”

“We don’t know what lengths he’s willing to go to get her.” I want to punch something, but I don’t. We can fix this.

“He might not try anything. Will Evan let us publicly claim her?” Cam sits in the chair and looks up at us. “She’s not like most girls. She doesn’t want to be popular.”

“Claiming her won’t make her popular. It will bring out the worst in people who want to get close to us, but it won’t change Evan.” I glance at my screen that shows where her phone is in the building. “We need to make him aware she’s ours.”

“We need to talk to Mia,” Cam says.

“Why?” I don’t want to encourage that bitch anymore. She thinks we’re a sure a thing. That Evan would never stoop to fuck us.

Fucking Mia.

“Riordan talked to her at the game.” Cam rubs his hands together. “If he was looking for an in with Evan, he might have used Mia. I don’t know anyone else who would give him her number.”

“I’ll talk to Mia.” Hawk steps forward. “I have class with her first period.”

“We need a way to track Evan besides her phone.” I glance at her moving dot on my screen. “Phones are too easy to lose or turn off.”

“You want to chip her like a real pet?” Cam chuckles, but when I look like I’m considering it, he groans. “Fuck, man. You can’t fucking chip the girl. But there might be another way. I’ll find something.”

“Until we have a way to track her, she doesn’t leave our sights except during school.” Some part of me still twists with worry, but I’m ignoring it. He can’t get to her on school property, not when she’s surrounded by other students.

“I’ll look into him.” Hawk checks the time on his phone. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Has she made contact?” I ask needing to make sure our other plan is in place.

“Hook, line, and sinker.” Hawk shakes his head. “Ate it up like candy. She’ll keep him on the hook until we’re ready.”

“I’ve got a few traps ready to spring next week too.” Cam smirks. “But Chase is easy to manipulate. Jackson won’t be.”

We all nod. Fuck. I almost forgot.

“One thing Chase’s dad brought up.” I straighten. “He blamed Abby for drugs in Chase’s room. Cam?”

“On it. As far as I know, he’s not a user, but I’ll see what I can find out. This number isn’t a known student number, but I’ll have to look later to see if it’s a spoofed number.”

“We can’t discount Olivia may have found out about Evan.” I glance toward the door. “I’ll find out if she has a burner or an app that allows anonymous texts. Whoever it is, they won’t touch her. Not without going through us.”

Hawk

Jackson fucking Riordan. I walk into first. Mia sat near me the first day. Chase lingers next to her desk with a smirk on his face. I take my seat, and Chase wanders to one in the back of the class.