Page 33 of The Deceptions

Jonathan left. Without a goodbye. Without divulging more on my newest case. Just poof! He had to return to headquarters for a newly inducted agent. And left me here with Jordy. Why did he abandon me in my time of need? He knew this was hard for me, but instead, he turned his focus to someone else.

It’s never me.

“He must trust me or something. Asked me to escort you to campus tomorrow.” Jordy tries to keep his voice playful and even, but I feel the doubt from here.

“His trust is awfully misplaced,” I groan, running my fingers through my long strands, savoring the feel of them between my fingers.

“Are you going to be okay with this?” Jordy softly asks, taking a bite of his quesadilla and slowly chewing. “I mean it's one kick in the ass to have to confront your ex-besties, who I can kill by the way.” He raises his eyebrows when I snort. “But having to go undercover as the opposite sex.” He whistles, swallowing his bite. “That's a lot. So, spill your thoughts, buttercup. Tell Jordy your woes.”

“My woes,” I quip mockingly. “I've dressed as everything under the sun while undercover. Old women, hookers...”

“Even I wanted to fuck you, oomph!” He hisses when I throw a cup of queso at him. “You're lucky the lid was on. But fine, continue.” He waves a hand, studying my expression. “You'll do just fine, Liv. You're one of the best agents out there. Besides me, of course. I'm number one.” He wiggles his brows.

I laugh, shaking my head. “Sure, Jordy. You're number one.”

I'm absolutely terrified to walk into this mission. It's not the undercover status I'm scared about. I don't even mind that Ihave to wear men's clothes and parade around campus as the opposite gender.

It's them.

Facing my ex-best friends who watched the life drain from my eyes and left me to die in a fiery tomb has my stomach turning.

“I want to bring them down so badly. I want to watch them on their knees as they beg for their lives.” Like I did that fateful night.

“I think I just popped a chub. Keep talking dirty!” Jordy chuckles, savagely biting into his quesadilla again.

I roll my eyes. “Shut up,” I groan. “I'm serious. I want them to hurt like I did. I want them to feel my wrath from beyond the damn grave.”

I want them to suffer at my hands like I suffered at theirs. They mortally wounded me. Left me to die with little regard for me. We were best friends and lovers.

I loved them with all my heart and they squeezed that from me when they slit my throat.

Looking up from my knees as they dig into the floor of my home, fat tears slip from my lashes and drip down my cheeks. I can’t help the panic flooding my veins, begging for me to run away from this situation. No. They wouldn’t do this, right? They wouldn’t stand above me with black masks covering their faces, holding me down as their father rants and raves with a knife in his hand before me.

I only get a glimpse of their eyes, shining with an emotion I can’t quite place. The same eyes I’ve gazed into since I moved here, and they became my best friends. Blue. Green. Brown. They look at me like an ant beneath their shoes as I beg for my mercy. As I beg for the lives of my mother, sister, and myself.

But it’s useless.

They spare us no mercy. They spit words that rip me in two. And it’s them. My best friends. The people I thought I could count on the most.

As I lay dying on the ground, I think of all the good times we had together—all the fun we had, the love we shared, and the laughs that filled our treehouse.

How could you fake that? How could you slit the throat of the girl you held the night before and professed your love to?

“You could play the long game. I won't tell Jonathan if you accidentally cut one of their dicks off,” Jordy chortles, swallowing the rest of his quesadilla and reaching for another.

In theory, that all sounds wonderful. I could slowly attack them, one puzzle piece at a time, and bring them to their knees.

But I'm on a real mission. There's something more happening in this town, beyond them and their stupid gang.

“Maybe,” I say, shaking my head. “Let me tell you about this stupid town.”

And I do. I tell Jordy everything that happened last night and everything I found, making me think there's a deeper reason I've been sent back here.

Jordy chews slowly, digesting my words. “That's weird as fuck. You ask your little techy criminal to look into that chick's disappearance? Or our database?”

I roll my eyes. “No. He's working on something else for me right now. Besides, he's not a criminal.” Speaking of, I need to send that tracker off in the mail so he can tell who is stalking me. My guess? That damn psycho. But damn, the sex, though. It was out of this world.

Jordy blinks. “You're going to investigate it, aren't you? Just can't help yourself. Always got to throw your everything into the damn ring.”