Page 118 of Tell No Lies

“We’re closer to finding them. We’re going to be on high alert from now on.”

Carter had been silent through all of this. When I looked at him, he was staring intently at me.

A single tear escaped, and suddenly I broke down.

Who would do this to me? How could someone already hate me enough to torture me?

I felt arms envelop me, and I clung to them. “It’s going to be okay, Aubrey. Remember my promise.”

I looked up at Carter through my tears and shook my head. “How can this be happening again? I thought it was done.”

I felt him stroking my hair. While it was soothing, it wasn’t enough to calm me down. There was nothing that could make this better. Sobs wracked my body as I buried my face in his chest and clenched his shirt for support.

“I’m going to stay here with you tonight, okay?”

I nodded against him, not bothering an attempt at talking. I felt him scoop me up and hold me against him as he walked to the living room. He sat down and kept me sitting in his lap, curled into him. I didn’t care what Brandon thought about us. I just needed Carter.

☼ ☼ ☼

After I picked up Mckayla on the way to school the next day, she took one look at me and knew something was off.

“What happened?” She scrunched her eyebrows together in concern.

I focused my attention on the road, hoping she would let it go but knowing she wouldn’t. I remained silent until I pulled into the student lot and parked. Mike and his normal group of body guards were missing. I wasn’t sure how that miracle happened, but I was grateful.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned to her. “The notes have started again.”

Her head shot back in surprise. “When? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I found pictures in my room on Monday morning when I woke up. They were all taken over the weekend. Whoever is doing this was on Catalina with us.”

“That’s why you missed school …” She seemed lost in her thoughts for a minute. “Did you notify the police?”

“Yeah, the detectives that met with me after the note I found on formal night came back.”

“What did they say? Do they have any idea who it could be?”

I shook my head and sighed. “No. One of them even thought I was making this up.”

Her jaw dropped. “Why would you make this up?”

I offered a half shrug. “It would make his job easier if I was.”

“Have you gotten any other notes or pictures?”

“Yes. There was an envelope icon on my computer the night we were packing, but I forgot about it. Yesterday, when I opened my computer, the icon was still there, but it showed two messages. They freaked me out, Mac.”

“Did Brandon see them? Do the police know?”

“Carter was with me when I read them, so he called my brother and told him to come home. Brandon forwarded them to the detectives, but he had some people at his office look into them too.”

She sat back and was quiet again. After a few moments, she met my eyes, waiting for me to continue.

“Carter found the source. The sender was local. Whoever is doing this is here. It’s not Morgan.”

She quickly looked around, as if the perpetrator would magically appear. “So, this is someone new?”

I nodded in confirmation.