Page 30 of Unmask (Crew of Elmwood Public #2)

Not the girl who spent almost as much time at my house as I did. Not the girl I’d spent hours on the phone with when we were supposed to be sleeping, talking about the future and boys and stupid dreams.

I tried to remind myself that she was smart. She knew all the dos and don’ts, all the shit girls had to think about when they were alone. She couldn’t have been kidnapped. There had to be a reasonable explanation for her disappearance.

The kitchen was dim, lit only by the fluorescent under-cabinet lights buzzing faintly. I perched on the edge of one of the chairs, my hands clasped in my lap to stop them from shaking.

Kreed stood behind me. Carson leaned against the counter, arms folded, his face pale but resolute.

The officer, Detective Harris his badge read, pulled out a small notebook and clicked his pen. “When was the last time you spoke to Kenny?” His voice was surprisingly gentle.

“T-two days,” I stammered, voice scratchy. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I think. We texted that night. Just…normal stuff. Nothing serious.” We’d been talking about Kreed and Carson and how much we hated guys. If I had known that would be the last time we talked… No, I refused to go there.

Harris scribbled a note. “No mention of plans? Meeting someone?”

I shook my head. “No. She said she had homework. She was going to stay in.”

Another scribble. Another question. “Has she mentioned anyone new lately? Anyone she was seeing? Any new friends she was hanging out with?” He rapidly fired the questions.

“No.” But even as the word left my mouth, a shadow of doubt fluttered in my mind.

The truth was, I had so much going on in my life that perhaps I missed any signs of trouble or change in hers.

We hadn’t spoken as much since I transferred schools, but she’d been so fixed on Carson for so long, I never even considered there might be someone else.

The detective’s pen paused. His eyes lifted to meet mine, shrewd and calculating. “Has Kenny ever talked about running away?”

“What?” I recoiled, anger flashing through my fear. “No. Never.” The idea was preposterous. She loved her parents. She recognized how lucky she was and the privileges her parents allotted her. She’d never been a selfish person like most of the girls at the academy.

“That’s absurd,” Carson chimed in, mirroring my thoughts.

Kreed shifted behind me, the heat from his body seeping into my back, chasing the chill that had taken up permanent residency within me.

Detective Harris noticed, his lips pressing into a thin line. “We have to ask. Sometimes teens?—”

“She didn’t run away,” Carson cut in. “Someone took her,” he insisted. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

The detective’s mouth pressed into a straight line. “We can’t jump to conclusions, but we’re exploring all possibilities.”

What other explanation was there?

The cops had a few basic questions, but it seemed like they didn’t have much to go on, which was beyond discouraging. With there not much else we could do, Kreed, Carson, and I left the Greys’ household, promising Mrs. Grey that if we heard anything from Kenny we’d let her know immediately.

When we stepped outside, the ground was slick, covered in an inch of snow. My shoes crunched on the freshly blanketed white powder, leaving my imprint behind as we walked toward the car.

I glanced at the house I grew up in, the porch light casting a warm glow that once meant home.

Now, it just felt foreign. Another family lived there.

Another girl could be sleeping in my room, completely unaware of the memories soaked into those walls.

My posters were probably gone, the scuff marks on the baseboards from my tap shoes painted over like I’d never existed.

I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I didn’t live there anymore, that I’d never walk through that door again, never tan in the backyard with Kenny, or crash in the theater room for a movie night with bowls of popcorn and old blankets.

It wasn’t just a house… It was my life, and standing here now, watching someone else’s light in my window, I felt the grief in a way I hadn’t expected.

My phone buzzed. A single notification.

I frowned, pulling it from my pocket, seeing one message from an unknown number. The pit of my stomach twisted before my thumb even hovered over the screen. I halted as dread, pure, bone-deep dread, took hold of me.

The message lit up my phone with a quiet ping, unassuming. I shouldn’t have opened it, but I did, and the second the image loaded, the world tilted. At first, my brain refused to process it. Then it hit me all at once, like a punch to the gut, and I gasped.

Oh, God, Kenny.

She looked so pale, deathly so, and every ounce of warmth had been leeched from her. Her wide, terrified eyes were ringed with smeared mascara, staring straight into the lens like she knew someone on the other end might still care. Might still come for her.

She was standing in front of a wall I didn’t recognize, the backdrop nondescript and sterile. Hotel maybe. Warehouse. Wherever it was, it felt wrong. Cold.

She wore a skintight, glittery minidress that barely covered her thighs, an outfit she’d never wear by choice. Silver heels. Lips painted a harsh red though they trembled. Her hair, once so meticulously curled, now hung limp and stringy down her shoulders.

She looked like a doll someone had dressed up for a twisted game.

My stomach flipped.

My lungs forgot how to work.

A sob climbed up my throat, but I swallowed it, blinking hard as my vision blurred. I clutched the phone, wanting to reach through the screen, grab her hand, and pull her back.

Kreed, sensing the change in my form, immediately snatched the phone from my hand. A message had accompanied the photo.

She should be you. Will you give up your freedom for hers? If you don’t, you’ll never see her again.

Kreed swore violently under his breath, a pulse ticking at his temple as his grip on the phone tightened. “Who the fuck sent this?”

“What the fuck is it?” Carson barked. “What’s wrong?”

Kreed didn’t answer. He was staring at me instead. His jaw was locked, his whole body buzzing with violence he barely contained.

I turned away, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes, trying to breathe, trying to think, but all I could see was Kenny dressed like…

like she was for sale. Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe.

My chest hurt, each breath shallower than the last. The edges of my vision blurred, and my fingers went numb as panic climbed up my throat.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. The rush of blood buzzed in my ears.

Then Kreed was there, his hands gentle but firm on either side of my face.

“Hey, hey—look at me, little raven,” he said steadily.

“You’re safe. I’ve got you.” I tried to shake my head, but he didn’t let me pull away.

“Breathe with me, okay? In…and out.” His forehead rested lightly against mine as he mirrored slow breaths, over and over, until I started to match him, until the world stopped spinning, and my lungs worked again.

“That’s it,” he whispered. “You’re not alone. I’m right here.”

It took a minute or two, but the edges of the panic attack slowly receded, and my breathing evened out.

Carson was watching us, his brows bunched together. He had my phone in his hand. “We need to show this to the police. They need to see this.”

He was right. I had to march back inside and show this message to the cops. They would know what to do.

Kreed leaned in, grabbing my chin gently but firmly, forcing me to look at him. “Do you trust me, little raven?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I retorted, my brain unable to predict where this was going.

“If you go in there and show the cops this text”—he held up my phone—“they’ll kill her, and you’ll still be in danger.”

I couldn’t let my mind entertain the idea of losing my best friend. “What do you want me to do then? I can’t sit and do nothing.”

“And we won’t.” Kreed snatched my phone from Carson to keep him from running off with it.

“This is bullshit,” Carson hissed. “You’re putting Kenny’s life in his hands. The Kay I know would never be so reckless as to listen to this bullshit, not with her best friend.”

I dragged my gaze from Carson to Kreed. “Are you suggesting I comply and give them what they want?” Which was me.

“No.” His voice was lethal, a vow. “They’re not getting you. Don’t even think about it. I don’t care who they are or how many of them there are. You are not going to them.”

“But Kenny—” I started to argue.

“We’ll get her back,” he growled. “But we do it smart. We don’t play by their rules. They want you scared, desperate. It makes you easier to control.”

I didn’t know what to do. I was so confused. How did I know which choice was better? Which road led to Kenny alive and home? “Do you know what you’re asking of me?”

“I do.”

Tears burned my throat, but I swallowed them down. There wasn’t time for weakness. Not anymore.

Kreed’s forehead rested against mine for half a second, grounding me. “Trust me,” he whispered. “I’d burn them to the fucking ground before I let them hurt you.”

I nodded shakily.

Because I had no choice.

Because deep down, even through the fear, I believed him.

“If you want my forgiveness, bring her home.” It might not be fair to put such pressure and expectation on Kreed, but I was too distraught. This was my best friend, and I wasn’t above playing dirty to save her.

I just hoped it wasn’t a mistake.