Page 61 of Our Darkest Summer

“So, it’s on,” I said, putting my phone away and looking up at the boys.

“You seem surprised.” Thomas watched me. I shrugged.

“I just never really imagined myself breaking into a library… Especially not with you.”

We stepped out onto the warm street. The sky was painted orange and purple as the Sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon.

“Never? Not even once?”

I shook my head.

“That’s kind of offensive, Wise Girl,” he whispered so Connor wouldn’t hear him as he opened the car door. “Although, I bet there are a lot more things you wouldn’t have imagined doing with me…” A crooked grin curled on his lips. “Not me. I imagined everything I would want to do with you, a thousand times if not more.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Kinsley

Connor wavedgoodbye to us and headed to Kevin’s place, leaving only me and Thomas in his big-ass car, driving under the darkening sky. My phone buzzed in my pocket.

BRAXTON

got something for u, Converse Girl

A link appeared. I clicked on it, and a video popped up on the screen with a woman’s face, frozen mid-movement, eyes wide, lips slightly parted.Lizzie.

A strange pressure tightened my chest.

“Thomas.” I turned the phone in his direction.

One glance was all he needed. With a sharp turn he pulled us onto a side street. The soft hum of the engine filled the silence as he leaned over the armrest, his body tense.

I pressed play.

The screen lit up, but the first thing that came through was the faint creak of the floor, the rustle of papers, then?—

“I’m Elizabeth Rhodes. Lizzie.”

Thomas exhaled sharply through his nose.

“And I have a feeling someone’s watching me…”

She shifted on the floor where she was sitting and glanced at something off-screen, twisting a ring around her finger. A ring with a green stone in it.The movement was a clear sign of her nervousness. The grainy lighting flickered, washing her face in a strange glow.

“I started getting these a few weeks ago.”

She lifted a handful of paper scraps, their edges jagged and uneven. I couldn’t help but notice there were a lot more than the two we found under the bed.

Thomas went completely still.

“First, I thought it was just some prank, but then they became more and more aggressive,”her voice wavered. She set the camera down, freeing both of her hands to smooth the papers against her knee.

“I want you gone,”she read, her lips barely moving.“You stole my life.”She paused and swallowed.“You’ll pay.”

Her green eyes lifted, locking onto the camera like she was looking straight at us. My stomach curled.

“A few days ago, I went to the police to ask for their help, but they sent me away.”She picked at the papers in her lap, her fingers trembling.“They said it was most likely nothing, but… I just couldn’t shake this bad feeling.”She glanced around the room, wetting her lips.“So, I hired a private investigator to help me fi?—”

The screen went black. Silence filled the car.