Page 31 of Unmask (Crew of Elmwood Public #2)

KREED

C arson stormed off next door to his house. Good. He got in my way.

He made it very clear he didn’t trust me, as he shouldn’t, unless it had to do with Kaylor.

This was one time I meant what I said. I didn’t give a shit about him or what he thought.

Hell, I didn’t care about Kenny. I didn’t even know her.

The promises I made were for Kaylor. It was Kaylor I protected and would continue to do so. It was her. It had always been her.

She might not see it yet, but I did.

I had my theories about the sudden kidnapping of someone close to her, and I planned to explore them.

Pulling out my phone, I sent the Crew a group message, telling them we needed to meet tonight.

We had some shit to discuss. If we could uncover who the Viper traitor was, I was certain it would lead us to Kenny, and we had to move fast. If my suspicions were correct, it wasn’t death waiting for Kenny. It was much worse.

I wasn’t sure how Kaylor would handle the loss of someone else in her life. Especially to a sex ring. Finding her friend would keep Kaylor safe. Finding the traitor would keep Kaylor alive.

There had been whispers of the Vipers moving girls out of Elmwood, those no one would miss, for the last year, perhaps more, but people were talking about it more now that some of those missing girls were making headlines.

Kenny wasn’t their normal target. She didn’t fit the mold of girls with broken or no homes, girls desperate to survive, or girls who wanted to get out of a shitty home life.

The tricky bit would be safeguarding Kaylor while tracking her friend.

We could afford no slipups. Evan alone wouldn’t be enough.

I needed my crew, and despite hating the idea, I would need my father’s help and the Ravens.

If anyone had details about the Vipers’ activity, it was my father’s crew.

It had been too long since I paid a visit to the Rooftop.

Distancing myself from the Ravens would have to wait. I never thought anything could drag me back. This was why I loathed feelings. They made you do shit you promised you wouldn’t ever do or, in my case, do again.

I snuck a glance at the girl who had changed my world to see how she was faring.

Comforting girls in distress wasn’t my specialty.

I didn’t know what to say or do. It summoned this protective feeling she instilled within me.

I didn’t fully understand why, of all the girls I’d been with, what made her different, a puzzle I wasn’t sure I’d ever solve.

She couldn’t sit still. Her knees bounced like she was trying to shake the nerves out of her. Fingers picked at the already ragged edge of her nail, and her gaze, vacant and unfocused, stared straight through the tinted glass window.

I didn’t say anything. Just watched her, cataloging every subtle crack in her armor, but she sensed my gaze, turning toward me slowly, her legs folding in as her body curled slightly. “You think it’s the Vipers. Don’t you?”

Her eyes locked on to mine, wide, haunted, and too perceptive. She was tucked beside me in the back of the town car as Evan took a turn ahead.

She hadn’t asked to live this life. She hadn’t asked to be part of the game, but the heaviness in her gaze told me she was starting to understand, starting to see that trust was paper-thin. That crew life wasn’t roses, it was rot, and some of us were already too far gone to crawl back out.

I blinked slowly, swallowing the burn in my throat.

She was figuring it out. That someone had betrayed her father.

That monsters didn’t always wear masks. There were dark corners of this world, and people would do all sorts of evil things when greed and money were involved.

They might tell themselves their needs were more important than someone else’s, but it was all excuses and bullshit.

I knew damn well the things I’d done, the pieces of my soul I’d lost, and I’d done so willingly. I was rarely the hero… Except with her, but I wouldn’t classify what I was doing as heroic. It was selfish.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence your best friend was taken,” I said at last, voice flat with restrained fury.

Her brow furrowed, pain lacing every syllable. “Why not just kill me?” she whispered. “Why take her?”

I exhaled. “Because this isn’t about quick revenge.

They want leverage. Something they can use to keep you obedient.

Killing you would create too much noise.

With your parents’ deaths already under suspicion, you drop next, and suddenly, the cops actually start asking questions.

They can’t risk that. This isn’t personal. It’s business. Cold. Calculated.”

She looked down, her hand falling into her lap, clamped in a fist she didn’t realize she’d made. “They’re the ones who took those other girls… Aren’t they?”

I didn’t answer immediately.

Did I think it? Yeah. Deep down, I fucking did, but knowing and proving were different beasts. “It won’t help to jump to conclusions,” I replied. “Not until we’re sure.”

“I’m not asking for proof. I’m asking you. Your opinion. Just say it, Kreed. Say it’s possible.” Her lip trembled, but she forced it still. Her spine stayed straight even though she was on the verge of losing her composure.

I wanted to hide her from this side of the world.

She’d already seen and witnessed traumatic shit, but if she stayed in my world, she would see more.

I should be protecting her from myself. I was as much of the problem.

Perhaps that was one of the reasons I wanted to be the solution, to correct a wrong.

I had to start somewhere, and if I wanted her to trust me, I needed to be honest with her despite how dark the truth might be. She deserved the truth.

“Yeah. I think it’s highly likely. All the more reason you shouldn’t be involved.

I’ll take care of it. We’ll find her,” I promised, one I fully intended to keep while also keeping her safe.

This needed to end, and I had a feeling before it was over, rules would be broken, lives would be altered, and there wouldn’t be enough Vipers left of them to bury.

I would kill for her. I would burn this whole fucking town to the ground if it meant keeping her safe. If the Vipers wanted a war…

They were about to get one.

Her throat bobbed, and for a brief moment, she looked…tired. Exhausted.

We pulled up to Brock’s place, and even before Evan killed the engine, I sensed something was brewing inside… Something unpredictable and volatile.

I stepped out first, scanning the quiet street. Too calm.

Kaylor moved like a ghost beside me. She wasn’t okay, and I didn’t know how the hell to fix it. Not yet.

Brock swung open the front door before we reached the steps. His eyes locked on her, then slid to me. One look was all it took. He could tell something horrible had happened. Kenny’s disappearance hadn’t hit the news yet, so unless Kaylor had texted him, he didn’t know what had occurred.

I handed him the phone without a word.

He took it, glanced at the screen, and everything about him changed. His face turned to stone. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered, those cynical aqua eyes crystallizing.

Josie appeared behind him, peering over his shoulder as strands of pink hair fell into her face. “Shit,” she whispered, her eyes flying up to Kaylor. She stepped past Brock to Kaylor, putting her arm around my girl. “Let’s get you a drink.”

I didn’t know much about Brock’s girlfriend, but I liked the way she handled situations because fuck if a stiff drink wasn’t in order. Kaylor needed something to relax her.

Brock left the door open as he followed Josie and Kaylor down the hall. I assumed that was as much as I was going to get for an invitation inside. He still had Kaylor’s phone, so I trailed behind, swinging the door shut behind me.

The rest of the crew filtered in from the living room like blood called to blood. Grayson. Micah. Fynn. Kenna. Mads. Ainsley. I’d spent years trying to keep my distance from this pack, but right now, I was fucking glad we were on the same side.

Brock passed Kaylor’s phone around to the guys.

The reactions were so similar, shock quickly giving way to fury.

“They sent this picture ten minutes ago,” I said, leaning against the wall.

I was too turned up to sit. Josie had Kaylor at the table with the other girls.

My gaze flicked to her before I continued.

“It came from an unknown number with a threatening message demanding Kaylor trade herself for her best friend’s life. ”

No one dared speak for a beat.

Micah broke the silence. “They want to swap her?” He laughed, but it was hollow and dangerous. “What the actual fuck is this?” He dropped Kaylor’s phone in the center of the island, forking his fingers through his blond hair as Mads pulled out glasses from the cabinets behind him.

“No one’s taking Kaylor anywhere,” Brock stated. “We’ve got connections. We can try and trace the number, see if we can get a location.”

“Doubt it,” I muttered. “Burner phone. No metadata. These guys aren’t amateurs.”

Fynn was already moving, pulling out his laptop. “Still checking. There might be something. A reflection. A shadow. Anything. They might not be amateurs, but even the pros fuck up, and I’m extraordinarily good at finding mistakes, even the tiniest misstep.”

Grayson handed me a beer, and I gave him a quick nod of thanks. Beer wasn’t my go-to drink, but I didn’t want to get shitfaced. I needed to keep a clear head. I accepted the bottle as a gesture of goodwill, but I wouldn’t be finishing it.

Everyone was moving. Planning. Throwing out ideas. Talking at once, and it made me realize I needed my crew. Without Raine, Maddox, Mason, and Nash, I wasn’t doing anything. The Elite weren’t the only ones with connections. I pulled out my phone, shooting Raine a message.

Me: Need a meeting at the Rooftop. Can you send out the notice?

Raine: Names?